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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

“Cakes by Pam” by Rachel Kenley Fry

Submitted to Contest #71

It’s really stupid to be jealous of a ten-year-old, right? I mean, I know it is, obviously, but I can’t help it. I put everything into my business. I’m a professional. People think fancy cakes are easy, they take a few hours, but it’s not true. TV has totally ruined people’s ideas of what it takes to make a cake that is both beautiful and delicious. Not unlike how TV has distorted how quickly crime scenes can be tested and evaluated, I might add! And I know, because I watch a lot of crime TV when I’m doing mindless tasks like rolling out hug...

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“Italian Scallions ” by Joe D

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #71

Anthony looked down at the charred crust of his latest pizza. He took another bite opposite the burnt end and evaluated the flavor. Take the temp down about five degrees, he wrote in his notebook. Change the schedule to have the birch wood go in every ninth pizza. Put the first two rounds of mozzarella on cheese cloth. Anthony put down his pen and looked up at the afternoon sky. The clouds were clearing for what should be an evening perfect for pizza. The Tenth Annual Food Truck Pizza Mixer was taking place in Clem...

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“How I Found Serendipity” by Anna Mosqueda

Submitted to Contest #71

You are cordially invited to celebrate the holiday season at the Leopold Estate on December 14th at 7 o'clock.Bring your favorite Christmas dessert, whether it's unique or quite simple, the gathering will be delightful.I expect to see you there!~Ann Leopold***A giddy feeling bubbles through my torso, tingling at the top of my ears. My family's annual cookie exchange was a jubilant event that everyone looked forward to. In fact, I am sure that I saw it marked on Norah's calendar in January of this year, and I've overheard many conversations i...

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“Aging Improves the Flavor” by Kathleen March

Submitted to Contest #71

Here I am, trying to remember something from centuries ago, and I’ll be damned if it isn’t almost impossible. I may have bitten off more than I can chew. My cooking group decided to do this, not me. Still, I didn’t want to protest, and accepted the challenge. That’s the whole problem. I’ll try to explain. We are supposed to prepare a baked good that was a signature creation by a grandparent. This is going to be painful. What follows should explain why. Baked goods? Hmmm... I have very few memories of my grandmother, but they would fill a b...

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“Slaughter, spells, and sweets” by You'd Think A Writer Would Have A More Creative Name .

Submitted to Contest #71

1153 wordsRated PG; some mature subject matterAuthor's note: No, I have no idea what I just wrote. It's almost midnight, and my mind is trying to comprehend how I mixed evil magic and baked goods. Tell me if I should do another part, or abandon this God-Forsaken anomaly.When I was younger, I would run up and down the home with my brother and sister, the three of us dressed in Grandma’s old dresses, pretending we were cottage girls-- with flowers in our hair and big ideas in our mind. My Mom would always joke she'd put something on the counte...

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“Bridging the Divide” by Philip Clayberg

Submitted to Contest #71

The Dandridge community center was more crowded that it'd been in a long time. And not just because Christmas was in a week. There was an excited buzz in the audience until the mayor stepped onto the stage, took the microphone from its stand, and raised her hand.“May I please have your attention,” she said. “Excuse me, if I may please have your attention.”The buzz ebbed into respectful silence.“Thank you,” she said. “As you all know, with the end of the pandemic, we've had little time to plan our usual Christmas festival. It will still take ...

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“It Kind Of Tasted Like... Cinnamon?” by ✰ 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐲 𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐞 ✰

Submitted to Contest #71

It kinda tasted like… Cinnamon? But she was allergic, it couldn't have been that. I stared at the table, wishing it would magically show me the recipe. Stupid reality. Sometimes it would be better to be in a book. Unlike most grandmothers, my grandmother was a terrible cook. One time, she tried to make toast and set her kitchen on fire. She was that bad. But she always did have a way to make things right. It’s not like her cookie was that good, it was pretty nasty in fact, but the memories are what made it special. I just… Then there was Unc...

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“𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑎'𝑠 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑠 𝐶𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑒𝑠” by 💖♎ℂℍℝ𝕀𝕊𝕋𝕐 ℍ𝕆𝔽𝔽𝕄𝔸ℕℕ♎💖

Submitted to Contest #71

"Crap!" Maggie yelled. "What's wrong honey?" Tripp asked in concern. "Did you burn yourself?""No. I'm just frustrated. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I want these cookies to be great when everyone comes for Christmas dinner, but I can't seem to get it right." She threw her oven mitts down on the counter and with one hand on her hip, she rubbed her head with the other. "My gramma made these cookies every year. I thought I knew her exact recipe. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong."Tripp walked to her and grabbed her in his arms wi...

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“The Biggest Cookie” by Tessa Takzikab

Submitted to Contest #71

“This was it. I could practically taste the sweet victory. My sister and I were just about to set a new record for the largest cookie ever. How, you ask?” “I didn’t say anything.” “I’d love to explain.” The strange boy continued as if I hadn’t said a thing. Or rather, as if I had said a different thing. “Of course, baking a huge cookie was tricky because the oven wasn’t big enough, and it took so long to mix up all the dough that it was hard to make sure the first batch was still good by the time the fiftieth one was ready to join the gr...

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“Cookie Recipe” by Xiao McdonaldsWorker

Submitted to Contest #71

Cookie recipe~1~“One batch of chocolate chip cookies.” A lady said, sadly. “Why so sad?” Sophie asked, whipping out her secret recipe. “My son always loved chocolate chip cookies but now he’s.…” The lady said. “Oh.” Sophie said, taking out the ingredients. 10 minutes later, Sophie handed the lady some cookies. The lady bit into one and her face immediately brightened. She smiled and paid for her cookies. Now, Sophie’s cookies were not ordinary. They made each person how they should feel. Like that lady. She was sad and now she’s happy. ...

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“Gloriously Glazed” by Zoé Nöel-Lemieux

Submitted to Contest #71

*Author’s note: contains use of alcohol and adult language* “Get your ass in here Connor Henderson!” Father yelled from the storage room. “Coming Father.” I catch my mother’s gaze. She’s serving another customer at the counter, so I signal that I’m heading to the storeroom and she nods. Father probably needs help with another sack of flour. You’d think after working in a bakery for your whole life, you’d have the strength to lift bulk bags of flour, but for my father, that’s not the case.Our family bakery, ‘Gloriously Glazed’ was found...

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“The Fruit Bakery ” by Lilah Blackburn

Submitted to Contest #71

There once were two bakeries. They had been rivals since they were built back in the 1700s. Now it is 2020 and they are still adversaries. The two bakeries are called Blueberry Bakery and Strawberry Bakery. They both were known for their fruit flavored pastries. The two bakeries both had a 17 year old child in the family that currently governed the bakery. The Blueberry Bakery had a boy named Scott. And the Strawberry Bakery had a girl named Sarah. One day the two kids were ...

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“Sugar and Spite” by PK Spice

Submitted to Contest #71

On June 27, 1986 I lost my grandmother’s necklace. It was the summer after my junior year in high school and I’d gone to see the Violent Femmes at Summerfest in Milwaukee. It was a great show and even with people pushing and shoving me all night, it’s still my all-time favorite concert. When I got home, I realized the necklace was gone. It was my sole inheritance from my grandma, and I was devastated.My great-grandfather made the unique necklace for her when she was a teenager. He’d combined delicate gold and silver chains, twisting them tog...

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“The Sacher Torte” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #71

My grandmother would make the sacher torte every time my grandfather created an infidelity. I must apologize for my English is not very strong. Though I am not foreign, I am quite pretentious. After years of boarding schools and backpacking trips in Europe with schoolmates who were vaguely related to the royal family of Hungary, I have found that my consonants are harder and my trust is soft as Swiss. The cheese, not the people. I always found them to be remarkably hard-hearted if you crashed through their living room window on a chill...

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“Only the Sweetest” by Lena Johnson

Submitted to Contest #71

My first day as a police officer began with a stomach ache and a decidedly absent appetite. I put on my brand new uniform, aligning the badge on my jacket and sliding my stun pistol into its stiff holster. As I looked at myself in the holomirror in the living room, my roommate, Ginger, came out, stretching and yawning. “You’re up early,” I said. “I wanted to see you before you headed out.” Yawning, she shuffled to the kitchen unit and pushed the button for coffee. “You’re still sure this is your dream job?” “Of course it is. You know how...

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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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