Not just a cookie business
To Madison Park’s Tiffany Lewis, the treats she regularly produces in her commercial kitchen and delivers throughout Seattle and the country are not just cookies.
To Lewis, they represent so much more. They are a way to share good will and bolster a community, a nostalgic treat that comforts and unites. They are also the tasty product of her new business, Cookies with Tiffany, which went live Aug. 1.
“To me, a cookie is not a cookie,” Lewis said. “A cookie is a form of love and joy and happiness, which is something we can use more of right now.”
Lewis said her idea to launch Cookies with Tiffany really came about because of COVID-19. She was let go from her job, and Lewis decided to do something she enjoyed: making cookies, a love she developed as a child, baking at home with her parents.
“I have always been obsessed with cookies,” Lewis said. “I have to try the cookies everywhere I go.”
Now, living in and based out of Madison Park, where she grew up and her family still lives, Lewis said she likes being back in her community and feels like now was the right time to launch a new venture.
“Everything I’ve done has just prepared me for this moment,” Lewis said.
Lewis has professional training in the culinary industry, working as a food stylist and in recipe development in California before returning to Washington almost four years ago. During that time, Lewis worked for celebrity chefs Curtis Stone and Giada de Laurentis and also also served as culinary director for two food festivals in California, which hosted celebrity chefs.
Before that, however, she worked in marketing, which is when she decided she one day wanted to work in the culinary industry. Lewis said she was living in Columbus, Ohio, at the time, working for a big banking company. To break the ice with her coworkers, Lewis baked cookies and brought them to work to share.
“I felt so alone, and I made an entire community of friends through my cookies,” Lewis said. “The cookies were a handshake. That’s when I realized how powerful a cookie was.”
Lewis, who calls herself the Chief Cookie Officer, said, because she knows firsthand how cookies can unite people, opening a cookie business was an obvious choice when the opportunity presented itself.
Cookies are relatable because most people have had them and they can be enjoyed and shared by people of any age, Lewis said. The nostalgia of cookies and the idea of bringing comfort to people at a time when comfort is sorely needed keeps her motivated even as she learns about every aspect of running her own business.
“I’m a person who likes to bring people together, and the cookie happens to be that vehicle that helps me accomplish that,” Lewis said.
Before launching her enterprise, Lewis said she did “a ton of research” into running her own business and the other cookie shops in Seattle. Cookies with Tiffany sets itself apart by using quality ingredients, such as 100 percent vanilla, and focusing on the details.
“My personal goal is to create the best cookies by using great, great ingredients,” Lewis said, adding she doesn’t use preservatives or take shortcuts. “I believe if you use really stellar ingredients, your cookie will stand for itself.”
She describes her cookies as “refined but not fussy.”
“I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel,” Lewis said, adding she just wants to create the best cookie, the best experience.
Currently, her No. 1 seller is her S’more cookie, which she describes as ooey and gooey and “everything but the campfire.” Her second-best seller is her snickerdoodle, followed by her chocolate chip, which is topped with flaked sea salt. She offers some vegan and gluten free options for customers, as well. While she will swap out cookies depending on the time of year, Lewis said she will keep her menu to around 10 cookie selections, with five or six classics.
While Lewis one day wants to have her own storefront, right now she is focusing on her product, her customers and growing her wholesale business. She already sells at Madison Park Bakery and Cone & Steiner in Pioneer Square and on Looking Homeward Coffee’s website while the business is closed for construction in Madrona.
Cookies with Tiffany ships nationwide, but Lewis regularly delivers all over Seattle and the east side. Lewis will deliver for free up to four miles from downtown Seattle, and she said she delivers quite frequently to Queen Anne and Magnolia. Her deliveries come with hand-written notes on boxes to let people know she appreciates their business.
“I share joy and love and affection through my food, and people like cookies, it turns out,” Lewis joked.
For information about pricing, her cookie menu and to place orders, go to https://www.cookieswithtiffany.com/. Check her out on her Facebook and Instagram pages, @cookieswithtiffany, as well.