The aroma of cinnamon, ginger and freshly baked cookies greets visitors to The Gingerbread Cottage in Draper. The bakery, which had its grand opening Oct. 16, represents a new chapter for shop owner and baker Summer Pugh. "I had a little dream, and now it's here," she said.

For over 12 years, Pugh baked cookies out of her home and sold them at local farmer's markets and boutiques. "We turned the garage into a little cookie studio," she said. "I've been doing cookies before cookies were a 'thing.'"

 While chains like Crave Cookies and Crumbl Cookies compete for their share of the local freshly baked cookie market, Pugh offers something unique and different namely soft, cutout gingerbread cookies hand decorated with colorful icing. The Gingerbread Cottage also sells chocolate chip, peanut butter and snickerdoodle cookies. "People really come to us for the gingerbread," Pugh said. "We enjoy it year round, it's too good for just Christmas."

Pugh fell in love with gingerbread as a child. She spent part of her childhood in Germany when her dad served in the Air Force. Her family adopted the German tradition of making gingerbread houses at Christmas time and brought it back with them to the U.S.

She noted that there is a slight difference between the gingerbread treats enjoyed in Germany and her own American recipe. “Our specialty is soft and delicious, just a bit addicting,” Pugh said. “Germans like a little harder cookie.”

She explained that she started baking gingerbread cookies for the Swiss Christmas festival in Midway. "I was so happy to see people eating my gingerbread," she said. "People would be so joyful."

Pugh spreads that joy by not only freshly baked cookies in her shop, but also selling the mix for people to make at home. She emphasized that her ingredients are all natural with no preservatives.

The Gingerbread Cottage, located at 12210 S. 700 East, had its grand opening on Oct. 16. (Photo courtesy of Summer Pugh/The Gingerbread Cottage)

The cookies come in a variety of shapes and designs. For example, during the fall months, customers can buy gingerbread cookies in the shape of pumpkins, sunflowers and scarecrow faces. Each is carefully decorated with icing. Sometimes a special airbrush is used for shading.

Nina Briggs is one of a small team of bakers and cookie decorators employed at The Gingerbread Cottage. She began working with Pugh three years ago, during the busy holiday season. "It was so great, I just stuck around," Briggs said.

She has a background in cake decorating, but hadn’t professionally baked and decorated cookies until she met Pugh. "I enjoy the creativity,” Briggs explained. “The cookies take some artistic skill and can be challenging. It’s really hard to have a bad day at work when you’re baking cookies!”

Transforming a historic home into a working bakery was a labor of love for Pugh. Renovations on the home, built in 1962, took four years. “I’m so pleased that we’re here,” Pugh said. She explained that she has lived in Draper for 31 years. “We raised our nine kids here,” she said. “They are all grown up now.”

Baking and managing The Gingerbread Cottage takes up much of Pugh’s time now. The shop accepts custom cookie orders and can create cookies with themed designs for events as well as business logos. Customers can place orders on the bakery’s website, by phone or in person. “Now you can just walk into our cottage and buy it,” Pugh said.

In addition to cookies and gingerbread mixes, the bakery has a small gift shop featuring seasonal items and holiday decorations. There is a large selection of realistic-looking gingerbread houses made of resin in addition to cookie jars and cutters.

The Gingerbread Cottage is located at 12210 S. 700 East. For hours and more information, visit thegingerbreadcottage.com.