Foodie Friday: Dancing Deer Cookie Factory Tour

Last week local Boston business Dancing Deer Baking Co. invited me for a behind-the-scenes tour of its cookie and brownie factory. Having been the recipient of a crazy delicious Dancing Deer gift basket last month, there was no way I was missing this press opp. I’ve eaten more than my fair share of Dancing Deer treats recently, sent Dancing Deer gifts to friends and family over the past couple of years, and seen their packages at Whole Foods, but other than that I didn’t know much about the company.

Dancing Deer started 20 years ago as a bakery that provided cakes to cafes and restaurants, quickly added packaged consumer goods, then expanded into a retail shop when neighbors demanded taste after taste. Three years in, Dancing Deer won a major industry award for its Molasses Clove Cookie. As a chocolate devotee, who doesn’t believe non-chocolate calories have any value, I can tell you it is delicious; perfect with a cup of tea.Dancing Deer cookies and brownies are scratch made in relatively small batches in an industrial park in Boston. All of the products are certified kosher, some of them are gluten-free; none of them are vegan.

A huge amount of its business is conducted this time of year, when they increase the labor force hugely, with workers returning year after year, and often coming on full-time when spots open. Dancing Deer is committed to environmentally-friendly practices as well as philanthropy, with its Sweet Home Project initiative, which helps homeless families move into stable lives and homes of their own by providing funding and support for low-income single parents to complete their college education and enter family sustaining careers.

Let’s take the behind-the-scenes factory tour. You can easily order cookies and brownies online—they are perfect presents for birthdays, holidays, sympathy, congratulations, pretty much anything, and come in adorable recycled cardboard boxes or natural baskets. Dancing Deer is offering StyleCarrot readers an exclusive 30% discount sitewide from today through Nov. 15, 2014 with promo code CARROT.