Cooler weather makes us crave a delicious cup of coffee and a few bites of something sweet.
Monster-sized cookies
Ana Arriaga moved to the Atlanta area in 2020 and began baking for her East Point neighbors. Soon, she opened an online bakery, Ghoul Next Door Bakeshop, and began to sell cookies that she refers to as “monster-sized.” Each cookie weighs a half pound and comes packed, or covered, with an array of flavors and textures. Some are filled with surprises, such as bites of caramelized peaches and pecans in the Peach Gobbler (which is topped with cinnamon streusel); spiced apples in the cinnamon-sugar covered Poison Apple; or the creamy peanut butter center and morsels on the Peanut Butter Massacre. Other cookies are covered with a range of sweet treats, such as crumbled Oreos, chocolate morsels, toasted marshmallows and green chocolate pearls. Our favorite was the Monster Smash, an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie encrusted with candy eyes (eerie!). Because they’re baked to order, not all flavors are available at all times.
$7 per cookie. Order at ghoulnextdoorbakeshop.com for pickup on Saturdays at Beer Girl, Growlers & Bottleshop in Hapeville, or for local delivery and nationwide shipping. Check the website for events where the cookies also are available.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Creamy fudge pie
Susie Mickler said she started baking because she loves chocolate, and in 2021 she founded an east Cobb bakery to share her love of chocolate and baking, naming the business Schmoo Pies, after the nickname of one of her sons, Schmoopy. The bestseller is her original fudge pie, which has a filling that some of our taste-testers compared with rich, fudgy brownies. Mickler offers many variations, including a peanut butter version and Monkey Business, which is the fudge pie topped with sliced bananas and house-made whipped cream. There usually are a dozen flavors available, including Heath bar pie, the Mar (a combination of everything you love about German chocolate cake) and coconut pie. Several flavors can be made gluten-free and/or dairy-free in the 9-inch size.
$10 per 4½-inch pie, $25 to $30 per 9-inch pie. Available at Signature Gifts in east Cobb every Tuesday, the Roswell Farmers and Artisans Market through the market’s close for the season on Oct. 29, or order at schmoo-pies.com for pickup at McDaniels QN2 in Sandy Springs or delivery.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Freshly roasted coffee
A sweet treat needs a good cup of coffee, which starts with really good coffee beans, freshly roasted. Suwanee-based Volcanica Coffee Co., founded by Maurice Contreras, provides customers with a choice of more than 150 coffees from volcanic regions across the globe. All are roasted within hours before they are sold. We sampled Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, a light to medium roast coffee that was fruity, with no bitterness at all; Costa Rican Tarrazu, which is a decaf coffee you truly could drink all day; and rich, dark roasted Sulawesi Reserve. Choosing from 150 coffees could be overwhelming, but Contreras is happy to talk with customers about their preferences, and guide them in their selection. The website offers tips for making coffee, as well as other information, ranging from coffee history to what it means to purchase fair-trade or shade-grown coffee.
Coffees range from $12.99 to $79.99 per pound, with special coffees, such as Jamaican Blue Mountain, available from $59.99 to $149.99 per pound. Order at volcanicacoffee.com for pickup at 4110 Tench Road in Suwanee, or have the coffee delivered.
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