In March of 2020, the pandemic was beginning, and everyone was stuck at home in need of good food. To accommodate our customers, we created “Granola Factory at Home,” which was a weekly menu of specialty baked goods and savory fare that could be ordered ahead online and either picked up at our bakery or shipped all over the country. We needed a new cookie to offer with GF at home, so my mother crafted a new shortbread cookie made with salted pecans, pure maple extract, and a whole lot of butter! The cookies were an instant hit. We named them “Shorties” and began offering them as a regular item on our website.

Soon after, Wegmans took an interest in the Shorties, and we were able to add them to their stores throughout Pennsylvania. We now offer four flavors of Shorties, and their popularity continues to build. But despite the increased production, we still make or shorties with the same hand-made, artisanal methods we used two years ago.

No one understands Shorties better than our bakery operations manager, Jordan Manzo. Jordan oversaw scaling our artisanal baking process on the shorties to accommodate more orders, along with assisting in the creation of two of our flavors:  pistachio, raspberry and white chocolate, and the dark chocolate mint Shortie.

We sat down with Jordan get her take on what makes our Shorties so special:

How are Shorties considered artisan baked? What makes them different from other cookies found in grocery stores?

“We don’t make your typical ‘cookie cutter’ cookie. At the grocery store, every cookie looks the same and that’s because most of them are machine-made. Each part of the Shorties process is hands-on from rolling the dough to the final touch of sprinkling salt.”

Were there any learning curves when scaling from making a few dozen shorties at a time to a few thousand?

“Definitely! Baking a few dozen cookies is like a walk in the park but baking a few thousand at a time takes it to a whole new level.”

Have you had to change any of the processes since you first started making Shorties back in 2020?

“There was a lot of trial-and-error when scaling to where we are now. Although we tried tweaking the methods to save time, we ended up sticking to our original method. There are probably easier ways to make the shorties, but I don’t believe there’s a better way and that’s what makes them artisan.”

What part of the Shortie making process makes the most noticeable difference in the outcome of the cookies?

“The two things I think make the biggest difference are the sugared edges and sprinkle of Maldon salt. The demerara sugar around the edges gives the cookie that extra crunch. The flakey sea salt really helps bring out the flavor in each cookie. We use it to top off every variety of our shorties.”

How is the process different from baking any other cookie?

“Just about every aspect of our baking process is different from baking other cookies. Often times to bake cookies, you’ll use a scoop. For our shorties, we roll the dough into logs, freeze them for a couple hours and then baste them with an egg wash. We then roll the logs in sugar and hand-cut each cookie. With our butter pecan cookies, we hand pick each pecan that goes on top to make sure you aren’t just getting tiny pieces of pecan. It really makes a difference in the outcome of the cookie.”