The sourcing, the blind judging, the refusal to cut corners, none of it was invented for a brand. It came out of one kitchen. This is where it's from.
OhioMy dad raised us on his own, an electrical engineer with more than a dozen patents, who grew up on a farm in Iowa. He grew ingredients at home and cooked with us out of necessity. That was just how food worked: you knew where it came from, you tasted the difference, and you didn't cut corners.
MatildaBaking started after I watched the cake scene in Matilda and talked my dad into letting me try it. Box mixes became pies. Pies became cook-offs: Boy Scouts, local fairs, anywhere they'd let me enter.
2013In 2013, a mentor I met during an internship pointed me toward an ingredient that changed everything. The first version of the cookie was born that year. Then six years of iteration: tailgates, family dinners, company parties, anywhere with people to feed.
Judged blind, against more than two hundred cookies, by pastry chefs who owed me nothing. It didn't win on a story. It won on a bite. That became the standard.
Hi, I'm Steve
I moved to Chicago in 2022, for the people I consider family. A long international project kept me from really living here. A health wake-up call in 2024 brought me back, present in the city for the first time, exploring its food scene, back at the oven with a clarity I hadn't had in years.
Verdict Goods is what came out of that.
He passed away before the cookie journey began. He never tried a single one I made. But the standard he taught me is in every batch that leaves the kitchen: know where it comes from, taste the difference, don't cut corners.
It wasn't invented for a brand.It's how I learned to eat.
Dad's rule was simple: know where it comes from. So the sourcing list isn't a marketing page, it's the spec sheet the kitchen bakes against. Three ingredients carry every exhibit. Here is each one, with its supplier on the record.
Blommer has made chocolate under a Chicago name since 1939. It is in this recipe for one reason: in blind side-by-sides, it kept winning.
Cultured, 85% butterfat. Higher fat means less water, and less water is why the crumb stays dense without turning greasy. The creamery is named on the record, which means they answer for it the same way we do.
Milled to order, no substitutions. Stone milling keeps the germ in the flour, which is where the flavor lives, and it's why a batch tastes like wheat instead of just texture. If the mill has a bad harvest, the drop waits.
One kitchen, two recipes a month, batches small enough to get right. The full sourcing record for every drop is published here, named and on the record.
Same rules as the ribbon: no names, no stories, just the cookie on the table. If a batch misses its numbers, it doesn't leave the kitchen.
How much the sugar leads the bite.
Butter, chocolate, weight on the tongue.
How many things happen in one bite, and in what order.
How long the flavor stays after the bite.
