Our Fancy Schmancy Cookies classes are a hot commodity!

There’s always a lot of excitement going on at Zingerman’s, and this week did not disappoint. BAKE!, our hands-on teaching bakery, just release its highly anticipated calendar of classes for the new semester through January 2019—that includes our super-popular Fancy Schmancy Cookies sessions and two NEW classes. Some have already sold out!

Our Fancy Schmancy Cookies 2018 edition will feature four new sweet holiday creations, including Buckwheat Sablé, a traditional French cookie made with buckwheat flour that we’ll cut into festive shapes and drizzle with vanilla glaze; Merry Masala cookies that plays on a Gujarati snack from India (we’ll make a grated carrot cookie that’s subtly sweetly spiced and dip ’em in white chocolate); the romantic Sarah B’s, a chocolate-dipped, bite-sized almond meringues cookie topped with french butter cream and sea salt; and Passionfruit Einkorn Bars with a flaky pastry crust made from an ancient wheat variety and layered with exotic passion fruit custard.

“I’m impressed that in our eleventh year of Fancy Schmancy cookies, I’m so excited about the cookie line up our instructors and bakers came up with!” says Sara Whipple, Zingerman’s Bakehouse Marketing Manager, adding that some customers have been calling since April inquiring about when they can start signing up for our December cookie classes.

Many of our students sign up for Fancy Schmancy year after year, and over half of this year’s classes have already sold out (We know! It’s crazy). Our guests tell us they love that the recipes change for every edition—and because each student goes home with eight dozen cookies, many participants take the impressive goodies they make to holiday parties and give them as gifts. It’s also a holiday tradition for some, who come back with the same group of friends or family member—and some add more people to their cookie crews each season.

“I have enjoyed so many classes over the years with your wonderful instructors,” says BAKE! student Robin. “We are hooked on Baking with Zing.”

We’re offering other holiday dessert classes, too, including Buche de Noel and Holiday Sweet Breads, where we make our guest favorite Bakehouse item German Stollen (pictured above)—we sell a ton of stollen at the Bakehouse and through Mail Order every holiday season. Imaging being able to present your friends and family with one you made yourself! Like all our classes, you’ll leave these session with recipes, the knowledge to recreate them at home, everything you make, and great coupons to Zingerman’s and other local businesses.

Our Showstopping Dessert: Gateau St. Honore class is new, and it packs in a variety of techniques that can be used for other recipes

Entirely new is our Showstopping Dessert: Gateau St. Honore class. If you’ve never heard of this over-the-top French delight, it’s a harmonious marriage of cream puffs and a napoleon. While it’s an absolutely delicious treat, what’s really cool about this class is the myriad of classic techniques that you’ll learn from taking the course and be able transfer to other recipes. This dessert combines puff pastry, pâte à choux (the main component of cream puffs), pastry cream, whipped cream and caramelized sugar. It’s a real tour de force and includes the building block for so much deliciousness.

It’s not all about the holidays at BAKE! though. We are also offering Paczki & Doughnuts, so you can start your own Fat Tuesday tradition or just make ’em whenever the craving hits. You’ll learn how to fry doughnuts properly to keep them light, fluffy and scrumptious. And of course, we’ll be teach all the classics, too, from Cinn-ful Cinnamon Rolls and Signature Sour Cream Coffee Cake to Ooh La La Croissants and Baking Pies a Plenty.

Happy baking and making!

BAKE! classes sell out fast and some are already gone. Check out the list of classes for the new semester on our website.