We kick off Black History Month with a sweet treat!
A Black-owned cookie company from the south suburbs is expanding their reach to grocery stores.
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There are currently 40 different Black-owned products in Jewel-Osco stores, and one of them is “Signature Sweets.” They’re turning a childhood memory into a booming butter cookie business.
The cookies were once handmade by CPS lunch ladies in the 1960s.
“The butter cookies were just that good, so instead of eating lunch that day, we would save money,” said Marilyn Freeman with “Signature Sweets.”
The recipe has been perfected by “Signature Sweets” CEO and baker Marcus Freeman. With the help of his mom Marilyn, a former CPS student, he said the final recipe was trial and error for three straight years.
“It was a very thin line,” Marcus said. “I wanted it to really bring back memories, but I want it to be made with even better quality ingredients.”
Those ingredients, once mixed together by just the two of them at their South Holland bakery, have gotten an upgrade.