{"id":333094,"date":"2025-10-26T04:59:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T04:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/333094\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T04:59:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T04:59:22","slug":"the-cookie-lady-sugar-kilns-oh-my-god-cookie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/333094\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cookie Lady: Sugar Kiln’s “Oh My God” Cookie"},"content":{"rendered":"

Any small business owner who made it through the pandemic<\/a> will tell you the obvious\u2014it was hard as hell to survive. But once you walked through the fire and reached the other side, it should have gotten easier at some point\u2026 right?<\/p>\n

Not really, laughs chef Lea Dennis<\/a>. She\u2019s run a catering and private chef business out of a commissary kitchen in Barrio Logan<\/a> since 2010, and launched Sugar Kiln<\/a>, her line of small-batch cookies around 2018. After Covid, everything about operating a small business seemed to get harder and harder. From inflation instability on supplies to property insurers pulling out of California to unsubstantiated immigration shakedowns toward her employees\u2014you name it, she went through it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI could do something easier than this,\u201d Dennis assures me.<\/p>\n

So why does she keep baking?<\/p>\n

Well, first off, who doesn\u2019t want their friends\u2019 kids calling them the Cookie Lady? (A more honorable title does not exist.) Plus, her other gigs have limitations: catering\u2019s a bit of a lonely kitchen job, and being a private chef is generally regulated to those in a certain high-end tax bracket. Making cookies means most people can actually afford her creations and she can see them purchase her goods at various locations<\/a> around San Diego like Panama66, Gelato Vero, TNT Pizza, or Jacumba Hot Springs Hotel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a really, really rewarding feeling,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Sugar Kiln bakes and packages around six to eight different flavors<\/a> of cookies out of the Barrio Logan kitchen, but one stands out from the bunch.<\/p>\n

\"OhCourtesy of Sugar Kiln<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call it the Oh My God cookie<\/a>,\u201d Dennis laughs. With browned butter, two types of chocolate, crunchy toffee and a bit of finishing salt\u2014it tends to make eyes roll in the back of heads. \u201cIt\u2019s chewy, crunchy, crispy, textural,\u201d she explains. She\u2019s used it to collaborate with distilleries like Heaven Hill and WhistlePig for different whiskey pairings, thanks to the cookie\u2019s ability to accentuate notes of caramelization, brown sugar, and vanilla.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another favorite is the mazap\u00e1n snickerdoodle<\/a>, a play on marzipan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happens to be vegan, and I\u2019ve almost stopped telling people that because people get scared to try it,\u201d she says. The almond and vanilla bean dough rolled in cinnamon sugar ends up with a light, almost cake-like structure that crackles beautifully in the oven, each sugar sparkle glistening.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just perfect. That one is magical,\u201d she promises.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"CateredCourtesy of Sugar Kiln<\/p>\n

Dennis says her fellow small business owners and community keep Sugar Kiln going. Jeff Motch and Clea Hantman, owners of Panama66<\/a>, were the first ones to give her a shot to get her business off the ground. Now, she gets to work with other businesses with the same communal mindset.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m never going to be the cheapest,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m never going to be the one who has the most services and can just overnight you that tomorrow. But we never would have made it if someone was just driving down to the bottom line\u2026 So they choose us. And that choice means everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dennis wants to eventually get more space to be able to expand its flavors, and maybe even get Sugar Kiln in grocery stores. But for now, she\u2019s just stoked to be in places like The Sound<\/a>, where as of this month, Sugar Kiln cookies will be in every gift box given to any artist who performs at the venue.<\/p>\n

\"FounderCourtesy of Sugar Kiln<\/p>\n

As someone who grew up among musicians, \u201cit just gives me butterflies,\u201d she says. But when her insurance company unexpectedly pulls their property coverage after a wildfire\u2026 or a legally documented employee leaves because their family members are being intimidated by immigration officials, she has to ask herself: Why am I doing this?<\/p>\n

Because she wants to help make San Diego<\/a> the way she wants it to be\u2014a creative, tight-knit community.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to lose businesses if you don\u2019t continue to choose local creators,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause nobody\u2019s getting rich doing this.\u201d Not even the Cookie Lady.<\/p>\n

Sugar Kiln cookies are available for nationwide shipping and local San Diego pickup at sugarkiln.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"FoodCourtesy of Mia\u2019s Solana Beach<\/p>\n

San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events<\/p>\n

Mia\u2019s Has Landed in Solana Beach<\/p>\n

I\u2019m already a fan of fusion cuisine, but make it a mix of Mediterranean and Baja California and I\u2019m completely sold. Are there two more incredible food traditions to explore? I think not, especially with local coastal seafood<\/a> available for dishes like seared bluefin tuna and hamachi crudo. There\u2019s a new spot in town dedicated to melding the two together\u2014Mia\u2019s in Solana Beach<\/a>, which soft-opened in the former Alce 101 space this month. The team behind Bluewater Grill reimagined the space as a Baja-Med escape, with lots of craft beer, tequila, mezcal, and rum from Catalina Rum Company to go along with seafood and fire-roasted meats like carne asada, ancho-rubbed skirt steak, and rack of lamb. Everything is seed-oil free with a bunch of vegetarian and gluten-free options<\/a> to cater to a variety of dietary needs<\/a>. All I know is my dietary needs demand a volcano tostada and mezcal margarita, pronto.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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