Poppies Dough — The Story Behind the Cookie
My father Poppie had a motto.
Make the best quality products you can, do not cut corners, and your customers will keep coming back for more.
He said it simply. He meant it completely. And he proved it every single time he walked into a kitchen.
Howard Garson — Poppie, to everyone who loved him — was born in New York City in 1925, served his country in World War II, and then moved to Dallas, Texas to build a life and raise his family. He was one of the most creative, brilliant, passionate and funny and people I have ever known, with a sense of humor that kept our whole family in stitches. And he loved to bake — not casually, but with the kind of precision and passion that turns a good recipe into something truly unforgettable.
He would spend over a year perfecting a single cookie recipe. Adjusting, tasting, adjusting again — never satisfied with almost right. That was Poppie. That was his standard.
In 1993 he gave me 25 of his original recipes. I did not know then that those recipes — and that motto — would shape the rest of my life.
👣 Following in Poppie's Footsteps
After 15 years practicing dentistry, I decided to make a career change and follow my passion — and my father's footsteps. I took his 25 recipes and started showing up at Chicago restaurants and hotels with cookie samples.
I did not need a long sales pitch. I just needed people to take one bite.
They did. And they called me back.
It has been a long road of hard work. I would not trade a single day of it.
🍪 The Cookie That Started It All
The first cookie Poppie's Dough ever sold was Poppie's Chocolate Chip — the one he had worked on longer than any other. It was followed by Oatmeal Raisin, Peanut Butter, Sugar, and Toffee Bar Crunch. Each one perfected in that Dallas kitchen, for no reason other than because he refused to settle for anything less than the best.
Restaurants baked the dough fresh. Hotels served it to their guests. Word spread the way it always does when something is made with genuine care — one person at a time.
📈 From a Home Kitchen to a Chicago Institution
Those 25 recipes grew. Over the years, working alongside talented bakers and a team that has stayed loyal for decades, the collection grew to several thousand recipes — cookies, muffins, scones, brownies, bars, loaf cakes, and more.
Poppie's Dough outgrew my kitchen, then a pizza restaurant, then location after location — always growing, always baking, always holding to the standard my father set.
Today we operate in the City of Chicago producing thousands of freshly baked products every single day for Chicago's finest hotels, food service restaurants, cafes, and customers all over the country.
🧈 The Standard That Has Never Changed
My father taught me that people can taste the difference when something is made right. I have never forgotten that. Every product we make starts with the best ingredients we can source — Wisconsin AA butter, fresh heavy cream, sourcing locally as much as possible, walnuts from a family farm partner, vanilla — and is made the way Poppie made everything. With care, with precision, and without cutting corners.
I only put out products I would be proud to serve my own family. That has been my personal standard since day one and it always will be.
That is what Poppie taught me. That is what Poppie's Dough is built on.
🚚 Poppie's Dough Today
What started as one woman, 25 recipes, and a father's motto has grown into one of Chicago's most trusted artisan bakeries — serving businesses and shipping to homes all over the country.
Poppie's Dough is a WBE Certified Woman-Owned Chicago business, proudly baking since 1993.
Start with the cookie that started it all — Howard's original Chocolate Chip. The one he spent a year getting just right.
I think he would have liked that it is still our best seller.
Browse our full collection at poppiesdough.com.
📦 Baked Fresh to Order
🧈 Real Wisconsin AA Butter
⭐ Trusted by Chicago's Finest Hotels and Restaurants
🏆 WBE Certified Woman Owned Chicago Bakery
Taste a Little Happiness.