Bakes of Art
The process of making a Bakes by Lo cookie is not like your average Tollhouse recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag. Cookier Laura Young makes the dough, lets it chill, rolls it out, cuts out her shapes, bakes them, makes the icing (still with us?), colors the icing, decorates, and lets dry completely. Then she can bag, seal, and label. She’s been known to spend three hours on a batch of a dozen. This attention to detail is what takes this baker’s creations way beyond… cookie cutter. (Forgive us…)
In a time when carbs are becoming villainized, Young has created a living out of the good old fashioned sugar cookie. The simple joy her clients find in her tiny creations is undeniable. As is the colorful attention to detail that every single cookie receives from Young’s hand, and piping bag. Her Instagram feed boasts finely decorated sugar cookies that follow clever themes, and great attention to detail. Bouquets in Ball jars, diamond rings, fruits and veggies, even a child’s favorite toys.
Young relishes the thematic concepting part of her process. She works with her clients to interpret the visions of sugar cookies that dance in their heads. And each and every one is a tiny work of art.
“My favorite part of baking cookies is that every week I get to decorate something different. The beginning of the week usually starts off the same, where I spend time gathering ingredients, and making and baking dough for the week. The rest of the week is solely for decorating. A cookie takes no time at all to consume but I may have spent anywhere from 1-5 minutes decorating just one.”
Growing up in Cleveland, her house usually smelled of something baking in the oven. She came to the capital city to attend OSU, and made Columbus her home. Young comes from a large family of skilled cooks and bakers, and she’s wielded a spatula since she was a tot. After college, she worked at a dental office while baking on the side. Word of her adorable and customizable sweets spread. Young found herself having to turn down orders because there just weren’t enough hours in the day for her to handle the volume along with her day job. At some point, she realized that the sleepless nights were an indicator that she was ready for the next step. She said goodbye to the 9-5 in June and hasn’t looked back.
Young finds these picturesque pastries to be an outlet for her creative side. Edible artwork for her clients to enjoy.
“Decorated sugar cookies appealed to me because I loved the idea of combining my other passion, art, with baked goods. I used to spend my time with a canvas and a paintbrush, but now it’s with a blank cookie and a piping bag full of icing.”
The requests she gets for custom designs change with the times. Lately wedding requests have been filled with a neutral color palette and plenty of greenery. The clean, crisp, and dainty look of them is Young’s jam right now. But she waxed nostalgic about a design she’s had cooking (Baking?) in her imagination. She wants to do a set of Peter Rabbit-themed water colored cookies.
“I love painting with food coloring on top of blank white icing. Plus, how nostalgic and sweet is Peter Rabbit?”
Her design ideas don’t stop flowing. When asked about Ohio-themed cookies, Young excitedly ideates about Ohio shapes with hearts over Columbus, Short North arches, the Ohio State Fair, and our various sports teams. The sky’s the limit, it seems, for her sweet ideas.
Check out Young’s work on IG @bakesbylo.
To order, visit her website at bakesbylo.com
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