Meet Zenobia Dewely. She loves to sing gospel music while she bakes. 

What You Need To Know

  • Tired of her husband buying store bought cookies, Zenobia Dewely started baking homemade cookies

  • Faith is important to Zenobia and she often sings gospel songs while baking and delivering her cookies

  • She bakes out of her small home kitchen and even though sales are down for Zenobia’s Sweet Tooth, she’s still baking as many cookies and donating whenever she goes from hospitals to the Salvation Army
  • Her husband and kids are all fans and there are many cookies to choose from. She makes nearly 40 kinds and does custom cookies with your favorite cereal or candy bar, too

“It just gives me an extra push, especially when I have large orders. And sometimes a song just drops in my spirit and I just belt it out,” said Dewely.

Dewely started baking cookies back in 2009 to replace the store-bought cookies her husband brought home. She said the first batches were a disaster. 

“But then I begin to master it. And over time, I mastered the chocolate chip, and then I moved on to oatmeal raisin,” said Dewely.

Encouraged by friends and coworkers, she left her office job to start Zenobia’s Sweet Tooth in 2011. These days, Dewely can't even keep track of all the cookies she makes. 

“Oatmeal raisin, oatmeal raisin coconut, chocolate chip, chocolate chip walnut, chocolate chip brownie, apple pie, peach cobbler, banana pudding, pineapple upside down, red velvet, lemon, strawberry, sugar, gluten-free banana pudding. My favorite would probably be the banana pudding. Did I say lemon?” Dewely asked as she got through most of her flavors.

And it’s all done here out of her apartment. 

“My family, they cannot come in here when I'm baking. There's no room,” she lamented about her apartment kitchen.

She dreams of a bigger kitchen and getting her cookies into stores. She has online orders coming in, but sales have been down during the pandemic. 

Still, she continues to sing, bake, and donate cookies. When she goes out, she brings cookies to donate to essential workers, those who may be homeless or hungry and others in need. 

When we visited, she took a few dozen to the staff at the Salvation Army as a thank you for their work in the community. They love them. 

Back at home, her family loves them, too. Maybe too much! Her husband Kevin Sr. is cutting down to three chocolate chip cookies a day. Her son Kevin Jr. likes the red velvet. 

“Sometimes I try to sneak them away. But that is just between you and I,” he told me in confidence.

“Whether it's the vanilla pudding cookie or the apple pie cookie, I'm always asking does she have extras,” said her son Titus. He also plays the keyboard while she sings along.

“It warms my heart that they do like them because your kids are the best critics,” said Dewely.

And no matter what the batch there is always a lot of sweets and song to share.