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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#71: Sugar and Spice

One of my favorite parts of the holidays is baking cookies. Or, to be more honest, eating cookies — but you can’t have one without the other! From peppermint to gingerbread to iced sugar cookies, there are so many mouth-watering choices, and that’s just in my own culture. The flavors get even more varied and delectable as you head around the world.

But whether you’re a professional pastry chef in real life or someone whose cookies turn out looking more like lumps of coal, in stories our desserts can be whatever we want them to be. So get your imaginations preheating, because this week we’re going to be exploring all the different reasons and flavors that drive people to pick up the mixing bowl.

This week's prompts

Write about a group of people determined to win an award for making the biggest cookie ever.

High School – 62 stories

Write about someone investigating a break-in at a bakery. The only thing missing? A very secret ingredient.

Mystery – 106 stories

Write about two people who run rival bakeries, but fall in love during their town’s annual holiday festival.

Romance – 137 stories

Write about someone trying to recreate a grandparent’s signature baked good from memory.

Kids – 161 stories

Write about someone hosting a cookie exchange as a cover to hide the true reason for inviting one of their guests.

Dark – 141 stories

Stories

“Baking With Love” by Ayesha Bibi

Submitted to Contest #71

Hailey watched with silent envy as Aiden set up a new menu board outside his little booth. He just thought he could get a bakery across from hers, steal all her customers, and compete against her at the local holiday festival? How dare he? As she stacked her blueberry muffins on a white baking sheet, she saw from the corner of her eye as Mrs. Asher walked up to Aiden's booth and bought a few cakes. Mrs. Asher who had always supported her was now buying from the enemy. When the old lady had finished up buying her goods, Hailey caught Aide...

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“Sweeter Than Cupcakes” by Ariel Grossman

Submitted to Contest #71

“19 orders in the past month,” Laura said to Trevor, the phone balancing on her shoulder while she put cupcakes in the oven. “21,” Trevor responded, smirking. “Damnit,” Laura muttered under her breath. Her goal for the year was to beat Trevor’s bakery, Crumble and Flake, in monthly orders. It was the end of November, and so far it hadn’t happened. Laura’s parents had owned The Better Batter Bakery since before Laura was born, and Trevor’s parents had also started a bakery, two blocks down, in the same month. The two shops w...

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“Business women” by Trixie Pereira

Submitted to Contest #71

Esme was caked in flour, powdered sugar, icing, and food colouring. Nonetheless, she smiled at the counter completely covered in a variety of Holiday cookies. Esme slogged all day in the kitchen for no less than 12 hours that day to make over a thousand cookies to sell at the holiday festival. This was an important event their town held every year and for the first time since they opened their bakery, Esme managed to acquire a spot for a few hours to sell their cookies. Esme was exhausted but the adrenaline rush from completing her goal kept...

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“The Meaning Behind Christmas Cookies” by Kateland Altman

Submitted to Contest #71

Baking cookies has never been short of therapy for me. We tend to overthink the sheer amazement someone can get out of simply watching cookies rise in the oven. It only takes around fifteen minutes in that hot metal box, and that once gooey ball of flour, sugar, egg, vanilla, and chocolate chips will change into a crispy and magical delight. Normally every holiday, we'd go over to my Grandparents' house and marvel as my Grandma was able to so easily whip up her unbelievably delicious Christmas goodies, but this year was different. Grandma ha...

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“Grandma's Secret” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #71

Sylvia Melikian passed away peacefully in her sleep, just like she had prayed for all her life. Her service was short, but well attended by the Armenia community which she had always associated with by working for the St. Cyril Eastern Orthodox Church at various capacities from tidying the altar to typing out the Sunday announcements. There was little doubt Sylvia Melikian would be missed. Angie Trombley sat near the front, wiping her eyes as her husband Robert sat stoically, like a stone-gray statue against the cold gray...

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“My dear, Sweet, Grandma” by Melina Verhoff

Submitted to Contest #71

My dear, sweet Grandma, Do you remember those cookies you made all those years ago? The oatmeal ones? I do. Those were my favorite. Everytime I sink my teeth into those fresh, soft, and warm cookies, I can feel my mouth feel like I'm drowning my tongue in my own saliva. I never liked oatmeal cookies. Only yours. Your cookies were special. For many years, I tried to recreate them, but I never could get the recipe. I th...

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“Down memory lane” by Myriam Bell

Submitted to Contest #71

Attempt No. 1Today is the first day my son has started school full time. He has joined his sister there, and I am left pondering what I will do with my days now that the house is empty. As a mum of two, of course I’m excited about getting some time to myself, but mostly, I’m scared. I’m scared of being lonely, of being bored, scared that the kids don’t need me anymore.I know I’m being ridiculous, I have plenty of work and what children don’t need their mother? But there it is, let it not be said that I am a rational person.Anyway, I think ab...

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“The Spritzlenugan” by Sheila Payne

Submitted to Contest #71

Marcella was seven years old the first time she got to bake with her Ome. She was so happy to be spending the whole weekend in Ome's little cabin in the mountains. It was her favorite place to be. Ome loved to bake. Her cabin always smelled so good. When you walked in the door, you could always smell the cinnamon, and vanilla, or chocolate. Mmm...she thought, I want to be a great baker like Ome someday. Ome let Marcella crack the eggs, and measure the ingredients. She learned so much from her. The best part of getting to help was licking...

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“Heavenly Chocolate Cake” by Debbie Teague

Submitted to Contest #71

All you need is love – but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt – Charles M. Schulz Here we go again Becky said to herself. Maybe this time the cake would taste like the ones she remembered. Two cups of flour, instant coffee (only a teaspoon of this), cocoa powder, three eggs, vanilla, chocolate chips (semi sweet) ... one by one she checked off the ingredients and whispered pleas. If she timed it right, the cake would be cool enough to eat when the children, Pam (six) and Pete (eight), came down from doing online sc...

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“Almost” by Niyyah R. Haqq

Submitted to Contest #71

Isabelle lifted the recipe card and tried, yet again, to decipher the smudged instructions at the bottom. The last two ingredients and all the assembly steps faded into the water stain, unchanged from the last time she looked. The kitchen timer whirred. The latest attempt at Nana’s cookies had cooled enough to be tasted. She lifted one of the golden circles off the rack, brought it to her mouth and bit down. This batch was better. It had the snap she remembered. The shape and color were right, the edges impeccably dressed with their g...

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“Butterscotch Cookie Surprise” by Angela Dempsey

Submitted to Contest #71

Carol Ann had a dilemma; she just received news that would change her life. Sharing the information with her family could have a couple of possible outcomes. How would she ever be able to tell them? It would be nice if she could tell everyone before Christmas, mostly if the result was a good one. Of course, if it went the other way, it would ruin Christmas. She wondered how to get everyone together to see how they treat each other under normal circumstances. Her mother used to do cookie exchanges every year. Carol Ann stopped the tradition t...

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“Snips and Snails and Puppy Dogs' Tails” by Emmanuelle Shemko

Submitted to Contest #71

Once upon a time, there was a nasty witch who owned a bakery. She was gross, with her long oily grey hair and her giant wart covered nose. Her name was Hazel. She loved kids. Sorry, I meant to say she loved eating kids. In her opinion, they were juicy and delicious, and when baked just right, she could use them to make her world-famous oatmeal raisin little boy and little girl cookies. Of course, she didn’t sell these; they were purely for her enjoyment alone. Instead, she sold regular baked goods, and the town adored them. Sometimes she fea...

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“Sweet Treat ” by Kayla Joseph

Submitted to Contest #71

I haven’t stepped foot in my family’s manor since I was a teenager, I realize as my cabbie passes through the manor’s tall, heavy, gates. The path up to the manor is long, I forgot, although it’s long it’s beautiful, so I don’t mind it. The path is surrounded by vibrant American elm trees. As the cabbie drives closer and closer to the manor, memories of my childhood start rushing back. I remember when my little brother and I used to play hide and go seek, it was especially fun because we had so much space to hide. But then I remember the las...

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“That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles” by Amy Jayne Conley

Submitted to Contest #71

All was quiet and still in perfect suburbia that night. A last dot here and a line there, and Jane Cleverley's cookies were complete. She, like the twelve other people invited to the cookie exchange, had made thirteen perfect Christmas-themed cookies. Jane had opted for a simple gingerbread man design, with a very special ingredient indeed. A smile spread across her face as she pushed that last cookie into line with the others. The innocent smile each one bore made her chuckle softly to herself. All except one single gingerbread man, whose ...

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“Dangerously Sweet” by Stefanie Starnes

Submitted to Contest #71

It's been two years. Two years since I was deceived and left all alone. Most people would've gotten over it by now, but, not me. If you can't tell, I have an issue with holding grudges. I smiled, finishing the last letter to my worst enemies. I knew who they were, alright. I doubt they knew who I was, but even if they don't, I have hope they'll come for the cash prize because all they care about is money and reputation. I looked over the letters and read the names to myself. Lindsey Holland... The girl who bullied my younger sister behind ...

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$50

Prize money

607

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 11, 2020 EST

Won by A.Dot Ram 🏆

Title: The Craving

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

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