Tower Treats boasts gooey, half-pound cookies

Kerry Anna Stallings started baking during the pandemic and is working on expanding her cookie business

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Kerry Anna Stallings, founder of Tower Treats

Courtesy of Photos by Cayley

As I was leaving the Summer Shade Festival in Grant Park the other weekend, something sweet caught my eye. “These are the best cookies you’ve ever tasted,” the woman behind the Tower Treats booth called. I muttered something about Levain, my New York City cookie obsession, and she responded, “That’s what inspired these.” Now that caught my attention.

At $6 a pop, Tower Treats’s original—a dense, gooey, peanut butter-chocolate chip cookie—is not cheap, but I’m a sucker for a good cookie. (I could’ve opted for a $3 mini, but where is the fun in that?) It was softer than Levain and very peanut butter heavy. If you’re the type of person who sneaks a spoonful of Jif from the pantry, this is the cookie for you. It also has a cute, distinctive shape modeled after an ice cream scoop.

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookie

The woman manning the booth was Kerry Anna Stallings, founder of Tower Treats. The public relations maven moved from New York to Atlanta during the pandemic and spent her spare time baking.

“I was rethinking my priorities. I wanted to work for something I cared about and create something on my own,” she says. “I’ve always had a big sweet tooth, and New York is really big on oversized cookie culture. I decided to perfect my own version.”

She took about a year to develop the cookies, create a website, and secure proper licensing and commercial kitchen space. She named her company Tower Treats for both the size of the cookies and her own towering, 6-foot, 2-inch height.

Mini peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

Courtesy of Photos by Cayley

“I like the idea of treat—it’s about treating yourself and treating others,” she says.

In September 2021, she began selling her cookies online. Today, they’re available at Lucy’s Market in Buckhead, Front Porch Market in Vinings, the local Exchange in Marietta, and Phoenix Roasters in Duluth. She partners with Roam coworking space for event catering, while shipping nationwide through DoorDash. She also pops up at select festivals and events around Atlanta.

She chose her initial flavor based on her favorite candy: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The cookie “has that Reese’s taste and texture—it fills your mouth with peanut butter,” she says.

Soon, she’ll launch a chocolate chip version, followed by a gluten-free variety.

“I founded this amazing product people down here were shocked by,” she says. “I want to spark joy in the South.”

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