When she quit her job as pastry chef at Vanderlyle, Sian Richardson was readying herself to go back to Australia, leaving a couple of months free to say her goodbyes and prepare for the next chapter. But when lockdown hit, making a return to Oz impossible, the young chef became stranded indefinitely in the UK.
At a loose end, she started getting creative in the kitchen and decided to throw herself into making a go of Gnawtybites, the cookie business she’d started years before in the southern hemisphere. Offering creamy cheesecake sandwiches, oozy s’mores bars and gloriously gooey brookies (cookie/brownie hybrids) – along with colourful cookie pops, indulgent cookie trays and more – the business became an instant hit.
Collabs with Steak & Honour and various Cambridge cafes followed, and Sian now posts her bakes nationally. “I like the idea that there are Gnawty little treats dotted around in different locations, and someone sat drinking a coffee might have a little smile or happy food dance when eating one,” she laughs. “My aim is to spread the joy with my Gnawtybites!”
Sian’s cookies are freshly baked and dispatched on Tuesdays. And since everything is sent by first-class post, you can look forward to enjoying your baked goods the very next day.