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Food & Drink

Christmas Cookie Champion offers twist to festive treats

2025-12-04

A Houston pastry chef, who was crowned Christmas Cookie Champion on the The Food Network, is wowing fans with her unique take on holiday treats.

"You can get a regular gingerbread cookie anywhere, you can get a regular decorated cookie anywhere. If you want something weird, you gotta come to me." Andrea de Gortari said.

Andrea runs The Bake Happening from her home in the Museum District. She calls her style a mix of mid-century vibes sprinkled with horror.

"The cakes and cookies I do really translate to who I am," de Gortari said.

Click the video above to see the story.

The Bake Happening's next pop-up is at Dandelion Cafe's Market Sunday December 7, 2025 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

You can view The Bake Happening's holiday menu on Instagram.

Or place an order through its website, here.

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Creamy vanilla pudding, fluffy whipped topping, juicy mandarin oranges, sweet pineapple, and crunchy cookies come together in the kind of Midwestern classic that somehow lands between side dish and dessert. Every spoonful is cool, creamy, fruity, and packed with crisp cookie pieces that soften just enough without disappearing completely. The citrus keeps the mixture bright, the pudding makes it velvety, and those chocolate-striped cookies turn an ordinary bowl of fruit into the one dish everyone recognizes from church suppers and family reunions. It is playful, nostalgic, and exactly the kind of recipe that makes people smile before they even take the first bite.

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abc.com

Good food. Good people. Good living. Localish is all about bringing out the good in America’s cities.

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Christmas Cookie Champion offers twist to festive treats

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