If you grew up in the Piedmont area around Winston-Salem, at least one school field trip was to Old Salem where we learned about the German settlers who came to live in Forsyth County and the town of Salem. The history and stories behind Old Salem were interesting and I loved coming home with a small beeswax candle with a fluffy red decorative paper skirt to catch the dripping wax, but the highlight of every trip was a stop at the Winkler Bakery where we sampled and learned about Love Feast buns, Moravian Sugar Cake and paper-thin Moravian cookies.
Those visits sparked a love of Moravian baked goods, especially around the holidays. Along the way, my family discovered Mrs. Hanes’ Handmade Moravian Cookies, a fourth-generation business that continues to carry on the handmade Moravian cookie tradition with a delicious array of flavors.
Shoppers will find tins of six different flavored cookies including the original Sugar Crisps cookies. Other flavors include Black Walnut (my favorite!), Butterscotch, Chocolate Chip, Lemon and Ginger Crisps.
Mrs. Hanes’ Moravian Cookies have been a family favorite of ours for many, many years, but we are definitely not alone in our love of them as they proudly note on the company website that they have been named the #5 cookie shop in America by USA Today readers. That love extends well beyond the U.S. borders, too, as Mrs. Hanes’ cookies have been shipped to 74 countries in addition to all 50 states.
All the cookies are still rolled and cut by hand, a process that is remarkable when you consider they baked and sell around 10 million cookies a year. When visiting the shop at 4643 Friedburg Church Road in Clemmons, you can watch through big windows as the “Artists in Aprons” roll out the dough to a perfect thinness and then cut and place each one on big cookie sheets for the oven.
It’s a treat to see how quickly the rollers can move the cookies to a pan. According to its website, it takes about three months to train someone in the fine skill of rolling out the dough and cutting the cookies, in part because each flavor of dough has its own unique characteristics and they have to learn each one.
But the even bigger treat is being able to sample the cookies at the store! As soon as you walk in the door, the cookie smell is unmistakable — warm, welcoming and familiar. They can bake around 14 pounds of cookies at a time, but only make one flavor cookie at a time.
The namesake of the company is the late Mrs. Evva Hanes, who was the daughter of Alva and Bertha Foltz. Mrs. Hanes’ mother began making cookies to sell at Christmas in the 1920s to supplement the family’s farm income. Mrs. Hanes helped her mother growing up and took over the seasonal business in 1960. Through word of mouth the business grew and became a full-time operation in 1965, with the bakery and shop located on part of the family’s land. In the store you will see a photo of Mrs. Hanes mother, whose cookie recipe continues to be used.
The Hanes family is also a member of the NCDA&CS Century Farm Program and you can read more about the farm in this 2020 article.
Today, Mrs. Hanes oldest grandson, Jed, runs the company with the assistance of a number of other family members and longtime staff members.
You can learn more about Mrs. Hanes’ Moravian Cookies and order them here, but be prepared … those crispy thin cookies are the stuff holiday traditions are made of! You are welcome!