Western Pa. bakers out to set wedding cookie table world record

Never mind the cake, guests at weddings in Western Pennsylvania are far more interested in the cookie table.

A tradition that can send wedding hosts — and bakeries — into a frenzy, the cookie table plays a starring role in regional weddings.

It also will star in Monongahela’s upcoming 250th anniversary.

Planners say a Guinness World Records representative will be on hand at Washington County’s Chess Park on Aug. 11 to establish the category of world’s largest wedding cookie table. Volunteers who bake 10 dozen cookies for the event will receive a ribbon noting their participation in the record-establishing attempt.

And if there is a cookie table, there ought to be a wedding or two, or more, right?

Laura Magone, Monongahela Area Historical Society president, is scheduling back-to-back-weddings and seeking more couples interested in exchanging vows as part of the celebration. “We have had a handful of inquiries, and two ‘committed’ couples,” she says.

Calling all bakers

She’s hoping for cookies numbering into the “hundreds of thousands.”

“Our goal is to make this record harder to break down the road,” she says.

Magone, 58, who started the Facebook page “The Wedding Cookie Table Community,” says anyone is welcome to contribute cookies, from hobbyists to professionals.

“Our membership goes all over the world. We have some bakers who are making cookies (to ship or drive in), we’ve had people offer freezer space for cookies,” she says.

“We will make the best dent we can in the cookies (on Aug. 11). We are negotiating with charities to take the leftover cookies,” Magone says.

“I have a fascination with wedding (cookie) tables. I started baking at a young age. My mom (Wanda Magone) is an excellent baker,” she adds. Born and raised in Monongahela, Magone is an independent filmmaker who is working on a documentary about cookie tables.

Cookie table history

Just how did cookie tables come to be such a staple at regional weddings? Some believe the practice came about during the Great Depression, when extended family members baked homemade cookies, saving the couple the cost of an expensive wedding cake.

Magone says during the time of her mother’s wedding, in 1947, people showed up at celebrations with cookies.

“It was not arranged or asked for or orchestrated. This was their way of contributing,” she says.

Gerry Manko of Monongahela, who plans to make nut horns and rosettes (a fried batter cookie) for the record attempt, notes cookies can feed more people than cake. “It’s just a friendly thing to do, and some people like to show off their skill,” she says.

Magone sees the cookie baking — and contributing — as an act of generosity. She notes cookie tables are common in Youngstown, Ohio, and Wheeling, W.Va., as well. “They are every bit as entrenched in this tradition as we are,” she says.

Must-have cookies

Magone has reached a few conclusions from conducting her own cookie research at weddings.

The chocolate chip, she says, is “the most controversial.” Some guests think one can’t have a cookie table without it; others think the cookie is “too common,” she says.

Maybe if they are heart-shaped?

Cookie cutters are a great way to add texture and shape to your cookies. We love these simple chocolate chip heart cookies #cookietable pic.twitter.com/0O053EZBCQ

— Wedding Cookie Table (@KarenLaszlo1) September 28, 2016

And what is the cookie everyone makes a beeline for?

“Lady locks,” Magone says.

What is your favorite cookie on the Wedding Cookie Table? https://t.co/GFzus5uQ6a I love the lady locks! pic.twitter.com/9szEExcUEb

— Wedding Cookie Table (@KarenLaszlo1) May 26, 2016

Plum home baker Kimberly Lodge agrees.

“Probably my biggest request is lady locks,” she says.

Lodge, 58, says clients also clamour for more traditional cookies — the controversial chocolate chip and snickerdoodles are favorites. “Those two just disappear.”

“I (offer) 30 types of cookies. I make mini-cherry cheesecakes, the peaches (peach-shaped cookies) and thumbprints with icing to match the wedding party so there is some color on the table. Kolache, a Slovakian tradition (filled with jam or nuts) also add color,” Lodge says.

One recent trend she has noticed is couples skipping the wedding cake in favor of a cookie table and/or cupcakes.

Anita Miller, who runs Anita’s Sweet Escape — Cookies and Sweet Treats out of her licensed Jeannette home kitchen, has noticed that trend as well.

Miller, who refers to the summer season as “cookiepalooza,” says cookie tables have staying power. “In Western Pennsylvania, it’s almost a primary part of the wedding.”

Among the most popular cookies she makes are the peaches, lady locks and caramel cup tassies. Cutout sugar cookies, often heart-shaped, also are popular, she says.

“You know your family. Some couples are traditional — (they want) snickerdoodles, chocolate chip, peanut butter blossoms and buckeyes,” Miller says.

Feeding a crowd and favors

How many cookies should one plan on per guest?

Depending on whether they will be “tabled” before or after dinner, many bakers suggest half a dozen or more. Guests often consider cookies as both dessert and party favor.

“There is always a Tupperware container in someone’s purse,” Miller says, laughing.

Some hosts provide pretty, even personalized, “take out” containers for cookies.

In that case, Miller says, plan on a dozen. Per person.

Wedding Favor Bags: Midnight Snack #Wedding #Favor #Bags Cookie Donuts https://t.co/C5Txn4a4sd #elegant #Personalized #Invitations #rustic #BusinessCards pic.twitter.com/GSNztDhvUz

— Tees Print (@tees_print) July 16, 2018