Have you heard the one about a baker who couldn’t eat gluten? Jennifer Pedersen can’t taste her cookies, but she knows they’re delicious.
Tequila shots, beer Olympics, Harry Potter underwear and Notorious B.I.G. baby cookies are just some of the many whimsical and unique cookies that Pedersen has created for customers.
Pedersen is a self-taught baker, who says “stubbornness” got her where she is.
“Some of those first batches were awful, they tasted fine but looked terrible because I had no idea what I was doing,” she says.
Pedersen mastered baking and now teaches cookie decorating classes in Oak Cliff and Highland Park. Her “Friendsgiving” themed class sold out in five minutes.
Most recently, Pedersen designed Jimmy Choo cookies for Neiman Marcus in North Park Center, and she still does custom work for businesses like Chili’s restaurants and Bleu Ciel Real Estate.
A Dancing Baker also makes a mean gluten-free cookie.
On starting her business: I love it, so I get to be creative. I get to call the shots and have something that gives me some pride. You give that up when you’re a stay-at-home mom. You don’t feel like you’re contributing as much, and I struggled with that quite a bit, so it felt good to have something of my own that I built and show my girls.
Hardest part of cookie decorating: It’s a lot about getting the icing consistency right which is hands down the hardest part of cookie decorating. Figuring out when you need a stiffer icing or a looser icing. I mean I could mess that up almost every day, just a little too much water, not enough water and it doesn’t settle the way you want it to.
How she chose her business name: I listen to a lot of music, but I also danced for about 18 years so just trying to think of something different, something that applied to me more than anything — background in dance and dancing in the kitchen listening to music [as I bake].
Lake Highlands’ support: The moms have been insanely supportive, lots of word-of-mouth referrals. They are the ones that have built it. A lot of them I’ve been doing birthdays for the last three to four years or baby showers or bridal showers. I would like to think my hard work, too, but mostly, them.
Weirdest cookie request: This was pretty early on in my cookie making, so that’s probably why it sticks out. I had a friend whose lifelong best friend was turning 40, and she is an avid bird watcher and traveler. I guess she really likes hot dogs, so I had to do a hot dog on safari bird watching. It was a hot dog in tall grass with a safari hat on and binoculars.
Her daughters’ involvement: They are dying to help me. The oldest just learned this past year how to make the dough, so she’ll make the dough. I pay her, and she’ll help with packaging but, no, I don’t have them decorate. It’s mostly just for fun, I mean my 12-year-old is dying to get in there and do it on a regular basis. She kind of rolls her eyes when I ask her to make dough. She’s like, “That’s not fun.” Tell me about it; that’s why I’m asking you to do it.
Neighborhood pop-ups: Pop-ups are my absolute favorite because I can make whatever I want, how many of whatever I want. Those tend to be the ones where you will see my spin on things more than the client’s spin on things. Those sell out in about 10 minutes usually. The girls get a kick out of seeing the line go down the walkway to the streets. I don’t know if my neighbors love that all these strangers come to our neighborhood for pop-ups. No one’s complained. It’s a bunch of young families so they get a kick out of it.
Find more information at
adancingbaker.com and see the latest cookie designs at @ADancingBaker on Instagram.
