Giant cookies support Knoxville's LGBTQ community, and now Mama Bear Sweet Treats branches out

Chrissie Batts launched Mama Bear Sweet Treats last year, but the small business soon outgrew her Fountain City kitchen. She now bakes regularly at Real Good Kitchen, a shared commercial kitchen space.

“The cookies are bigger now; they are a quarter-pound each. I couldn’t make them this big at home,” Batts said. “I could only fit about eight in the oven at a time. I can just produce a lot more.”

Over the holidays, Batts wanted to expand beyond her signature sugar cookie and add some new flavor profiles for Christmas. “We have some staples that will always stay around: a chocolate chip with sea salt, peanut butter and ‘Everything but the Kitchen Sink’.”

For Valentine’s Day, the Oreo White Chocolate and Strawberry Cookies & Cream have proven so popular that Batts is considering keeping them around forever.

The cookie flavors aren’t the only change. Last year, Batts spotted Batch It Cookie Company’s pink trailer set up at the Dogwood Arts Festival.

“When I saw it, I thought I’d love to have something like that. It lit a fire in me to do this more seriously, not just as a little side thing and a fundraiser,” Batts said. “At Christmas I saw it listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace, and I think the owner loved the idea of it staying local and still selling cookies.”

Batts put her stamp on the curved trolley and added a revamped Mama Bear Sweet Treats logo on the side. “We are waiting to have a local artist paint a mural on the other side so people can use it for a photo backdrop,” she said.

Since purchasing the trolley, Batts has had an event every weekend, starting with ChocolateFest in January. “On average we are selling 100-200 cookies a weekend, in addition to selling out at South Press every week,” Batts said.

Last fall, Batts made more than 1,000 cookies for PrideFest, and 2023 looks like it will be even busier as she applies for bigger events such as the Dogwood Arts Festival.

When Batts needed help naming the trolley, she turned to her supportive social media followers and surprisingly, Dolly the Cookie Trolley was the first suggestion and it stuck.

In search of the perfect pink cookie to go with Dolly, Batts tried various recipes out on her neighbors. “I wasn’t convinced,” she said. “I forgot about them, then pulled one out and stuck it in the oven and thought ‘oh wait’ – and now it’s the best seller by far.”

Just like other food vendors, Dolly the Cookie Trolley is available to rent for weddings and other private events.

“I think the possibilities are endless,” Batts said. “I hope that the wind will take us where we want to go. We have a lot lined up, but we have left room on the calendar so that as people hear of us, we can take advantage of more opportunities.”

Initially, the focus for Mama Bear Sweet Treats was to give back to the Knox Pride community, and it is definitely still a cause close to her heart. At the time, Batts’ son, Zane, had just come out as gay and identified as nonbinary. Mama Bear Sweet Treats will continue to be a vendor once a month at events at Knox Pride Center, which recommence on March 5, and donate a portion of her profits to other LGBTQ services.

“We have been in this little queer bubble, but at ChocolateFest we had our banner up with ‘Cookies for a Cause’ and our Mama and Papa Bear T-shirts. It was subtle, but we had so many positive responses to that,” Batts said. “It really warmed my heart that people noticed we were allies; they were people we had never seen before, and we made connections with them...

“Being able to build community, even if we build it slowly, we don’t want to push anything,” she continued.

Although still in the early stages of growing her business, Batts said that community will always be a top priority. “We are revamping our website, and I’d love to get to the point of shipping. That is the big goal now that we are in a commercial kitchen.”

Follow @mama.bear.sweettreats on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter for the latest flavors and event updates.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Mama Bear Sweet Treats bakery in Knoxville supports LGBTQ services