A skilled Louisville baker has won the Food Network’s annual “Christmas Cookie Challenge,” and now, she’s sharing some of her secrets to help make your holiday baking a winner.
For Courtney Yopp Norris, owner of The Pocket Bakery, a cozy home bakery in Louisville, the fourth time is the charm. A long-time fan of the Food Network’s holiday baking competition, Norris applied to the show four times before her big break.
“I am not a good liar so keeping the fact that I was on the show and that I won has been really difficult,” Norris told the Courier Journal. “We recorded the show over six days in April, so it’s been seven months that I couldn’t tell anyone.”
Hosted by Eddie Jackson and Ree Drummond, this season of “Christmas Cookie Challenge” celebrates the magic of the North Pole with top cookie artisans from across the country.
And the Kentucky baker got a lot of face time with the celebrity judges.
“I’d say the question I am asked most often about my time on the show is whether the hosts remain in the studio while the constants are baking or do they wander off?” Norris said. “They are right there in the studio observing us and asking questions the entire time. They’re totally in.”
Now that the cat is out of the bag, and Norris has won $10,000 in prize money on the “Christmas Cookie Challenge,” we had some questions about the realities of being a contestant on a Food Network competition and also asked her to dish on a few tips to make cookies worthy of the coveted Gold Ornament, the second prize the show presents its winner.
What is it like to compete on a Food Network Show?
“The first thing that struck me was how hard it is to race against the clock and perfect what you are baking while the judges are asking you questions and cameras are recording all of it,” Norris told the Courier Journal. “If you mess up, the judges are right there asking you how you are going to fix it so it’s like you have to be Martha Stewart and MacGyver all at once.”
In the premiere episode, Norris competed in two creative challenges. First, she baked cookies depicting North Pole farm animals in holiday mode, and in the second round, she crafted a festive 3D Christmas tractor cookie, using herbs like thyme and basil to create a unique twist.
“I was proud of what I accomplished in the second round because I have very little experience constructing things out of cookies,” the winning baker said. “Maybe a Gingerbread house now and then, but never a tractor. I was also very proud that I was able to showcase some of my Kentucky spirit by making bourbon ball cookies using Kentucky bourbon.”
Norris is the second Kentucky baker to win the ‘Christmas Cookie Challenge’
Norris isn’t the first Kentucky baker to win the “Christmas Cookie Challenge.” In 2022, Lauren Jacobs of Versailles, Kentucky, who is known professionally as The Cheerful Baker, won the title.
“I feel like there is something special about bakers from Kentucky because we are raised on flavors you won’t find anywhere else,” Norris explained. “For me, I am inspired by the flavors of desserts I enjoyed as a child and learned to make from my grandmother.”
Walnuts, blackberries, pecans, and bourbon, all ingredients prevalent in Kentucky, go into the creations at The Pocket Bakery.
“In Kentucky, we look at food more than a way to nourish people, we put a lot of love and memories into our baking,” she said.
How did Courtney Norris become a professional baker?
For 18 years, Norris has worked in communications for businesses like Churchill Downs Racetrack, Senator Mitch McConnell, and Congressman Brett Guthrie and she currently works for RunSwitch PR.
But in the evenings, The Pocket Bakery is open for business.
“After my third child was born, I took a cookie decorating class and loved it so much I went home and immediately bought everything I would need to make and decorate sugar cookies,” she said. “That was September of 2018 and in October, my friends started to purchase cookies from me and the rest is history. The bakery took off through word of mouth.”
Today, Norris is known for her high-quality, from scratch cookies. She teaches cookie decorating classes, takes pre-orders for cookie kits, and has an e-book filled with recipes and tips and tricks for sugar cookies. You can find more information at thepocketbakery.com.
Cookie dough secrets from the winner of the ‘Christmas Cookie Challenge’
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To help your cookies keep their shape: “Whenever I make sugar cookies my butter is not super mushy and soft,” Norris said.”You want it to be firm in the middle.”
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Don’t over-mix the dough: “I mix only until the ingredients are incorporated,” the baker said. “When you over-mix your wet ingredients it allows too much air into the batch and they will spread. If you overmix the flour, it will make your cookie a lot tougher.”
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Chill the dough before the cookies go into the oven: “After I cut them out I always chill my cookies,” said Norris. “Even if it’s just 10-30 minutes. I always chill them before they go into the oven.”
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Add interesting extracts: To up the flavor quotient in her cookies, Norris will use bourbon vanilla, lemon, and cream cheese extract in her carrot cookies, and orange extract in her gingerbread.
Royal icing recipe from The Pocket Bakery
Courtesy of Courtney Yopp Norris’ The Pocket Bakery
Perfectly decorated cookies start with well-made royal icing. Consistency is the key to this recipe. Royal Icing uses meringue powder, which is more convenient than whipping egg whites. Meringue powder is a dry, shelf-stable powder made from pasteurized, dehydrated egg whites. It adds volume and stability to royal icing. The addition of corn syrup helps ensure your icing will be not only shiny but soft to the bite.
Royal Icing
Using a stand mixer, combine powdered sugar and meringue powder.
Add in corn syrup and 1/4 cup of water. Mix.
Add the other 1/4 cup of water and extract. Mix.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix again, increasing the speed to medium-high, and beat for 5 minutes, until it is lighter in color and fluffy. The icing should be thick and glossy.
Now you can adjust for consistency and color depending on what you doing with the icing.
For outlining cookies: You want icing that is toothpaste consistency. This is the consistency it starts out from the mixer.
For flooding cookies: Add water a teaspoon at a time, until your icing is a honey consistency. Norris uses a spray bottle when adding water to thin the icing while avoiding adding too much. If you add too much, add a bit of powdered sugar to thicken it back up.
OF NOTE: Royal icing dries out very quickly, so you not only have to work quickly when decorating, but you should also keep it covered when not using. Use a damp paper towel or cling wrap over your mixing bowl.
Reach features reporter Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville baker wins Food Network Christmas Cookie Challenge 2024
