After scrolling through the Free & For Sale page on Facebook, I came across a post containing pictures of delicious cookies and a caption saying “… freshly baked cookies delivered right to your door.” As an avid cookie lover, I was immediately intrigued. In February of this year, Baked By Ber went live and began to provide fresh cookies to the citizens of Isla Vista. Baked By Ber is an online bakery owned by one of our very own Gauchos, Amber Jorgensen. As a fourth-year biochemistry major, she manages this online bakery and fulfills orders while maintaining her studies. 

Photo Courtesy of Amber Jorgensen

Jorgensen began baking in her freshman year of high school. Since she lived in a town with nowhere to buy good sweets, she decided to bake them on her own. Occasionally, she would post pictures of her treats on her Instagram account (@chefamb) where she received many comments encouraging her to open up a bakery. Instead, on New Year’s Eve of 2018, she decided to start up a website to sell her cookies. The next day, she went on the Santa Barbara health department website to apply for a Cottage Food Operations permit and was granted permission a week later. She began to build her website and practice recipes for her website’s “grand opening” in February of 2019. 

When the bakery was first launched, Jorgensen received a lot of orders during the first weekend which proved to be difficult to manage. As she recalls, “I didn’t even have a stand mixer at the time so I was doing everything by hand … my biceps were sore all the time. I stayed up super late every night that weekend just getting everyone’s orders done and didn’t go out or do anything else.” As a biochemistry student, Jorgensen can find it tough to balance her workloads of an online bakery and academics. However, she conquered this challenge by learning how to efficiently manage her time by consistently planning out her next day’s schedule in order to keep herself accountable. 

Photo Courtesy of Amber Jorgensen

Because she will be graduating soon, Jorgensen is unsure of her future plans with her online bakery, so make sure to stop by her website soon and order some cookies before it’s too late! Jorgensen recommends the s’mookies, as they are her personal and her customers’ favorite. She also recommends the double chocolate cookies, which are “really rich and indulgent,” and therefore perfect for chocolate lovers. Oatmeal cream pies are a childhood favorite; Jorgensen enjoyed this treat as a child and claimed they “totally bring [her] back to childhood,” so be sure to order one if you’re feeling nostalgic!

Photo Courtesy of Amber Jorgensen

I managed to get my hands on the s’mookie, double chocolate cookie, (vegan) chocolate chip cookie and gooey confetti cookie flavors. The s’mookie was an amazing experience. Jorgensen successfully takes the idea of s’mores and creatively makes a cookie out of it. I was pleasantly surprised at the texture of the cookie since it wasn’t chewy like a regular cookie but crumbly, imitating the graham cracker part of a s’more. The double chocolate cookie was just as Jorgensen described it to be —  rich and indulgent. She sprinkles on sea salt to counteract the sweetness that would typically come with a double-chocolate dessert, making this cookie a perfect amount of sweet. The vegan chocolate chip cookie was interesting, since it was my first time trying a vegan cookie. Due to the different ingredients used, the cookie had a slightly different taste than regular chocolate chip cookies. Nevertheless, the cookie still tasted amazing. Lastly, the gooey confetti cookie was my personal favorite. It was soft, chewy and thick, and it just melted in my mouth. The cookie was topped with confectioners’ sugar, which paired perfectly. The cookies were wonderfully delicious, and I strongly recommend sending an order in ASAP!

Orders are usually completed within a week, and they are available for pickup or delivery (the latter for an extra charge) in I.V. You can change the ingredients to fit your dietary needs and/or cravings. However, if you are in need of an immediate sugar fix, you can now stop by Campus Point Coffee to grab one of Baked By Ber’s cookies!

Feel free to check out her Facebook page (@Baked By Ber) and Instagram account (@bakedbyber) to get updates on newly released cookie flavors!