On the menu
The bakery’s March and April specialty flavors include matcha cream, strawberry milk tea, taro coconut cake, saba banana blondie, cereal milk butter mochi and more. Other cookie combinations offered are pandan (a leafy plant that has a nutty flavor) with toasted rice, Vietnamese coffee with cacao nibs, and black sesame cookies and cream—a nod to some of Hom-Yern’s childhood favorites.
“I'm Chinese but I grew up in America so my parents would eat a lot of things like red bean paste or black sesame,” Hom-Yern said. “But, I really wanted brownies, cookies and cakes—stuff that aren't normally in Asian cuisine—so I mixed those two and created something new.”
Hom-Yern said she hopes to make trying new foods more accessible through mixing flavor profiles in the form of familiar treats.
“The whole purpose of this brand is to bridge the gap between cultures,” Hom-Yern said. “So if you've never tried red bean paste or black sesame, trying it in the form of a cookie or a cake might be a little more feasible”
Staying local
After taking a break for the summer in June, Cookie Wookie is back and accepting pre-orders starting July 6.
Hom-Yern takes pre-orders for treats on the Cookie Wookie website from Sunday-Tuesday, and spends all week preparing, baking, packaging and marketing her products. By 1:30 p.m. on Friday, each order is ready for customer pickup.
Cookie Wookie’s primary pick-up locations are Parker and Scott, Roommate Collective and Asahi Imports; customers can also find Cookie Wookie at the Paper + Craft Pantry markets.
Hom-Yern said she believes in the importance of supporting small, and sources ingredients from Maggie’s Micros Extracts, Yegua Farms Pecans, Matcha is for Lovers and more.
“Austin has been really, really great for small businesses and cottage bakeries,” Hom-Yern said. “We all get along and help each other.”
More details
In building her brand, Hom-Yern said she has amassed a loyal customer base. She has customers who have been ordering from her since the beginning, but has now expanded to corporate and bulk orders.
Hom-Yern said the most rewarding part of running Cookie Wookie is “when [customers] enjoy it so much they want it at their wedding or baby shower or to celebrate birthdays,” noting experiences like that feel like customers are welcoming her into their family.
The next step for Cookie Wookie is to release dry mixes of popular flavors, including miso chocolate chip and black sesame cookies and cream. The launch date for these new products is not yet confirmed.
“Nation[-wide sales] is always the goal, but I think it's step by step,” Hom-Yern said. “So, I want to start with local retailers that I have a relationship with.”
