Many Athens residents with a sweet tooth may be interested in cookies. Sol Flour Sweets is a new cookie business in Athens, sold in several storefronts and locations in the area. Rachel Tedtman began baking cookies in her kitchen in February, with the intent to share her passion and love for baking with those around her.
Sol Flour Sweets sells boxes and individual cookies at the Athens Farmers Market, pop-ups in Athens and Albany and in several businesses. Its cookies can be found at Kindred Market and Café, Ohio is Home, Big Run Kava Bar, Cherry Ridge Retreat, Cabins by the Caves in Hocking Hills and on its website.
A sampler box with four cookies is available for $18 dollars, regular cookie boxes are $26 for six cookies and the best-value party cookie box is $50 dollars for a dozen cookies. Greg Grippa, Tedtman’s husband, is originally from Athens but moved around the U.S. before coming back in 2025 to be closer to family.
Grippa and Tedtman have three young children whom Tedtman watches throughout the day. Grippa said Tedtman wanted to use some of her time to bake cookies, as people always doted over her baking.
“On top of being a stay-at-home mom, she decided to branch out and try her hand at selling her cookies,” Grippa said. “We have been doing that for the last, maybe two months almost now, and it has grown pretty fast in the last two months.”
Grippa said the popularity and number of orders they receive for their cookies can get overwhelming, especially for a busy mother. Grippa said Tedtman baked about 400 cookies in one week recently, but the workload is manageable for now.
“We're just using the one oven right now, so it's a lot, taking care of all those little kids and then baking stuff,” Grippa said. “We're just trying to figure out the scale we want to be at. Right now, it’s manageable.”
Sol Flour Sweets sells about nine flavors of cookies, including s’mores, cookies and cream, Funfetti, cinnamon cloud, peanut butter, sugar cookies and three variations of chocolate chip. Grippa said Tedtman is interested in introducing new flavors into her rotation. He said he loves all of his wife’s cookies, but a few stand out to him.
“I don't think there's one that's above and beyond all the rest, really,” Grippa said. “They're all pretty popular, but I think if I had to narrow it down, it'd probably be the s'mores or chocolate chip. I like them all. She does a really good job, and they're soft and they're big, they're bigger than an average cookie.”
Grippa said they can provide gluten-free cookies if requested, and they may start bringing a couple of batches to the farmers' market. There will be two pop-ups this weekend at The Godenschwager’s Homestead, a self-serve farm stand in Hocking County, from sunrise to sunset Saturday, and in Nelsonville Public Square in front of Mountain Mystic Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
As Tedtman and Grippa try to figure out how much they want to take on with the business, they plan to stick to the farmers' market and pop-ups for now. Grippa said Tedtman would probably like to have a storefront, but due to their young children and other responsibilities, they are happy to provide cookies for Athens in other ways.
Sol Flour Sweets attended the Athens Farmers Market for the first time last week, and Grippa said it was a little competitive due to the other established bakers and products available, but it was a good experience. They will be at the market every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.
At Big Run Kava Bar, located on 72 N. Court St., Sol Flour Sweets cookies are sold for $4 a piece. Shaylee Tucker, the owner of the kava bar, started selling the cookies about a month ago. Tucker said Grippa came into her store and offered her some samples, which Tucker said were “probably the best cookies” she had ever had.
“The only way I've ever been able to describe it is if a grandma made it, you know, so almost nostalgic in a way, it's a really good-sized cookie,” Tucker said.
Tucker said the first batch Grippa and Tedtman brought in sold out in a couple of days and said she would recommend the milk chocolate sea salt cookie for anyone interested.
“I've never had a food item sell so well here,” Tucker said. “It was really nice to see that change. I texted (Grippa) a couple days later, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, they sold out, you guys want to bring more?’ And they brought them.”
Ohio is Home, located on 43 S. Court St., also sells Sol Flour Sweets in its store for $4. Lilly Cochran, a cashier at Ohio is Home and sophomore at Ohio University studying graphic design, said she tried the Funfetti cookie last week and loved it.
“They're so good, genuinely,” Cochran said. “Even being in the packages for a couple days, you still open them up, they're soft, they smell so good. The inside is really soft. They're delicious cookies.”
Cochran said as a worker in a small business, it’s important to support other community members and keep the town a close-knit group.
“I think it's so good to support every small business that you can,” Cochran said.
For those who are interested in trying Sol Flour Sweet’s cookies, its Facebook and Instagram stay up to date on upcoming pop-ups, or they can visit any location selling their cookies in Athens.
