Christmastime is full of hustle and bustle — gift shopping, movie marathons and holiday baking, the times cherished by many. Senior Savannah Hanak and her dad Scott have a true love for baking, taking the time out of their busy schedule to make cookies and sweet treats in their family business for the special people in their lives. 

“Savcott Bakery is something that me and my dad do. We started in December, during Christmastime, and we make cookies for our family,” Hanak said. “But it’s kind of just evolved into every so often we bake cookies … and we deliver to people.”

This passion didn’t start overnight, though. Hanak and her family have a rich history in the baking department. 

“When we were little, we used to go to my grandparents’ house and make cookies with them, and then as we got older we kind of just kept the tradition going …” Hanak said. “Then it would become me and my dad’s thing, so we kind of just call it Savcott Bakery.” 

The family tradition is not the only thing that Hanak loves about this bakery.

“We look forward to it every year … because it brings holiday cheer to everyone,” Hanak said. “We kind of ding-dong ditch a little bit. We just put out the cookies, knock on the door and leave.”

While some cookie deliveries are quick and easy, others have been memorable. 

“… There were some funny moments caught on video,” Hanak said. “I actually hit my head on a door trying to jump back in the car, and then I almost slipped on some ice a few years ago.”

Other difficulties presented themselves during previous years, but this year the baking process was different.

“We used to bake out of one oven, but we actually redid our kitchen this year,” Hanak said. “Now, we have multiple ovens that we can use to make over 2,000 cookies on the weekend, which is a lot of cookies.” 

The extended period of time Hanak spends with her dad making this many cookies is one of her favorite aspects of baking. 

“There’s a lot of bonding that goes into it. We spend the whole entire weekend together obviously, and it’s really fun because my grandparents will come over and they also like to help in it,” Hanak said. “So it just means a lot to spend time with my family, especially during the holidays.”

Part of them getting to spend so much time together is that the baking process takes 3-4 days from start to finish. 

“… We start making batters normally on Friday. We cook a lot of them on Saturday, and then we decorate our sugar cookies on Sunday. And then those kind of have to dry for a little bit so they don’t stick together when we put them in the boxes and then we deliver them Monday or Tuesday. It just depends,” Hanak said. “It’s like a whole weekend thing.”

Although this process is lengthy, the variety of cookies made during this time is worth it.

“So we make eight or so different types of cookies. We make sugar cookies, butter cookies, Snickerdoodles, M&M, chocolate chip, rum balls and oatmeal … And then we [make] peanut clusters, pretzel rods and sometimes chocolate …” Hanak said. “I would say our fan favorites are definitely our sugar cookies. Those go every year, everyone loves those. They fight over them …” 

The joy and happiness expressed from the community is just one reason Hanak is eager to keep this tradition alive. Staying close with family seems to also be an important benefit to helping this family business. 

“I definitely see this continuing in the future. Since I’m going to college next year, it may be a little harder. But like last year, I was at my mom’s. So we just did it closer to Christmas. So depending on when I get off, we can still make time to do it,” Hanak said. “But I just love spending time, and I know that we don’t get a lot of time together. So it’s just really fun to do that.”

Gallery • 9 Photos

Photos courtesy of Savannah Hanak

Savannah Hanak (12) and her dad bake cookies during the holiday season. “We look forward to it every year … because it brings holiday cheer to everyone,” Hanak said. They have been doing this since they were little and plan to keep the tradition going.