CL
n NEWS & NOTEWORTHY n
“WHEN I SEE PEOPLE COME
IN, AND THEY HAVE A LOT
OF FUN AS WELL FROM
SOMETHING THAT I’M ABLE
TO DO FOR THEM, IT’S
VERY REWARDING.”
Michelle Gowan | Owner of Cookie Nip Studio Kitchen
will make baking easier to the finer details of
culinary arts. Gowan, who has been baking
for nearly 20 years, said she started baking
cookies once they became too expensive to
buy.
Once she perfected the recipe, Gowan’s
friends and neighbors wanted to learn from
her. What started in Gowan’s kitchen in
central Georgia with a group of friends baking
together has quickly morphed into a learning
experience for the community.
Gowan was still running classes out of her
home when she met co-owner Mark Lipson, a
retired math teacher who recently moved to
Cobb. Lipson’s wife had signed them up for
Gowan’s cookie class and by the end, he was
impressed.
“(This experience) has been so rewarding
and fulfilling as far as the many people that I get to meet and
something that is just so much fun,” he said. “And then when I see
people come in, and they have a lot of fun as well from something
that I’m able to do for them, it’s very rewarding.”
Gowan and Lipson were working out of a communal kitchen
before deciding to open their own space at 2211 Roswell Road
in Marietta. Gowan said she’s had people travel from as far as
California to attend classes.
Gowan’s recipes contain a secret ingredient developed by her
and Lipson: Cookie Nip. After searching for the perfect vanilla
blend for her cookies, the duo decided to produce their own
buttery blend of vanilla bean and salted caramel.
The Cookie Nip Studio Kitchen oers several types of events,
ranging from birthday parties, cooking classes, decorating parties
and more, throughout the week, Gowan said.
“The beginner class is our premier class,” she said. “It’s the one
for people who are serious about wanting to bake.”
During the entry-level course, students learn to mix, roll,
cut, bake, frost and decorate sugar cookies. After the class and
graduation ceremony, students head home with “homework” —
trying out the recipes at home and posting them to the Cookie
School Facebook page for feedback.
Gowan said the school also oers in-person and online
“graduate” and “PhD” classes for more advanced bakers and an
entrepreneur-style workshop for preteens and teens who want to
develop a business selling their baked goods.
“I teach them how to write a business plan, how to make
financial goals, how to price their products, how to know what
their products are worth, how to test market and all that,” Gowan
said.
Her hope for the new studio kitchen is to get as many people
as possible excited about making their own cookies, Gowan said.
“There’s something about a teacher that wants to empower
other people to be able to do something for themselves,” she
said.
52 COBB LIFE | SEPTEMBER 2022
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