Denton Baker creates whimsical cookies for the Denton Community
For the past eight years, Elizabeth Hassett has been whipping up and creating whimsical cookies in Denton. Hassett has been baking cookies since she was in high school and started making them as a full-time job in the past two years with her business, Elizabeth Bakes.
After moving to Denton, Hasset said she realized going back to the university was not going to be the path for her. Instead, Hasset wanted to go back to what she loved to do — baking.
Hassett never went to culinary school, but that did not stop her. Hasset began applying to different kitchens in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and got a position under a pastry chef in a high-end bakery in Dallas. Later, Hasset worked under a classically trained pastry chef who worked out of a kitchen built in her garage.
After gaining experience under two pastry chefs and working as a cake decorator at a small bakery in north Fort Worth, Hassett went into the field and started at the bottom and built her way up.
“I guess I’ve done apprenticeships, picking up experience here and there and then just kind of making it my own,” Hasset said. “That’s kind of how you do it in kitchens anyway.”
Hasset has always had a passion for baking, but she did not grow up baking homemade goods. While she used box cakes and desserts, Hasset said she always found decorating as the most interesting part of baking.
Through Elizabeth Bakes, Hassett sells custom iced cookies with watercolor or hand-painted designs of florals, intricate lettering, logos, characters and more.
Gíann Amparo Del Alba, Denton resident and Bewitched Denton employee, admired the marbled cookies Bewitched received from Hassett in February.
“The marbled pattern […] I feel like it requires a level of precision that I personally don’t have,” Del Alba said. “I definitely have an appreciation as an artist for this.”
Denton resident Lauren Jackniewitz is a high school friend of Hassett’s and helps Hassett with her business by packing cookies and assisting Hasset during markets.
“Elizabeth is very sweet,” Jackniewitz said. “[She] has fine attention to detail.”
Hassett said she did not intend to go full-time with her business, but the pandemic changed everything. While she does not have any intention of opening a brick-and-mortar shop, all of her orders were put on hold Hassett said she had to think of another way to sell her cookies.
“I had this idea,” Hassett said. “‘What if I put together these decorate your own cookie kits?'”
From there, Hassett said her business took off. The world’s obsession with “Tiger King” also helped Hassett’s business. In April of 2020, Hassett did a cookie set of “Tiger King” with a cookie of Joseph Maldonado-Passage, known as Joe Exotic, and iconic quotes from the show such as, “I’ll never financially recover from this.” Hassett posted the set on the Denton Downtowners group on Facebook and marketed her business that way.
Since Hassett does not ship, her customers are the Denton community.
“I’m not looking for followers, I’m looking for locals,” Hassett said.
Hassett’s cookies can be found at Bewitched Denton as well as several markets popping up in the spring season. Hassett will have cookies for Easter and will be doing a set of cookies for 4/20.
Featured Image: “Devil duckie” cookies made by Elizabeth Bakes sit on Bewitched Denton’s checkout counter on March 30, 2022. Photo by Abigail Mueller
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