The maker of an Oprah’s ‘Favorite Thing’ has opened a new bake shop in Chapel Hill

A famed cookie and a culinary legacy are at the heart of a new bakery in Chapel Hill.

Tonya Council, granddaughter of the late Mildred “Mama Dip” Council, has opened Tonya’s Cookies & Bake Shop in the Chapel Hill shopping center The Galleria.

The new 1,200 square foot bake shop quietly launched this month with a limited menu, selling cookies, pies and cakes. A grand opening will be held Nov. 17.

Next year Tonya’s Cookies & Bake Shop will add a cafe component, selling soups and sandwiches for lunch.

Council continues her family’s generational legacy of acclaimed cooking, starting with her grandmother’s legendary Chapel Hill restaurant, Mama Dip’s Kitchen, known for traditional Southern dishes and desserts.

Those desserts, which Tonya learned as a child, inspired her own culinary path.

Tonya Council’s first blockbuster cookie was her Pecan Crisp, richly sweet and crunchy rounds inspired by Mama Dip’s perfected pecan pie. Tonya has been selling the cookies for nearly a decade and in 2021 the Pecan Crisp Cookie was named to Oprah’s seismically influential Favorite Things list.

With the new bake shop, Tonya Council sees the storefront as a return to Chapel Hill. Her cookies were first launched in the town where Mama Dip’s Kitchen was born and for years have been sold in specialty stores. Since 2017, Tonya Council has operated pop-up and permanent shops in the Crabtree Valley Mall and in downtown Raleigh.

“Being from Chapel Hill, my family has always been really big in the community here,” Council said. “I wanted to open the shop where I grew up. Chapel Hill has seen a lot of growth and we have a lot of customers in Chapel Hill...I decided it was time to bring it back home.”

Tonya’s Cookies has had a major online presence for years, but Council said she’s most excited about spending time in the kitchen and with customers in the Chapel HIll location.

The Pecan Crisp continues to be her top seller, she said, with major holiday orders already flying in.

When the full bake shop is up and running, expect a grab-and-go style of lunch and pastry service. The menu will be a blend of sweet and savory items, like collards and sausage rolls, cinnamon rolls, sweet potato cornmeal muffins and candied bacon doughnuts.

For more information, or to order holiday pies and cakes, visit tonyascookies.com

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