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How a Dorchester cookie shop became ‘embedded in Boston culture’
“My goal isn't to make billions of dollars. My goal is to make the best cookies in Boston,” Top Shelf Cookies owner Heather Yunger said.
When Heather Yunger decided she was going to open a brick-and-mortar cookie shop, there was never any doubt it was going to be in Dorchester.
Top Shelf Cookies opened its doors in 2021, but Yunger had been building a loyal following for years prior by selling cookies at local pop-ups, farmers’ markets, and online. Yunger lives in Dorchester and previously baked in the Dorchester-based food incubator CommonWealth Kitchen, so it was a natural fit. But the move was more than just a business decision, according to the baker and business owner.
“I didn’t come to open a cookie shop to take everybody’s money. I came to be a neighbor,” Yunger told Boston.com.
Holiday treats
She regularly attends community meetings and gives money to local schools, raises money for Dorchester Running Club members who run marathons and works with local businesses to source ingredients. If someone needs support (or cookies) for a fundraiser, Top Shelf Cookies is the business to call.
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“That’s important to me because it’s my neighborhood, too,” she said. “And that’s what being part of the neighborhood is.”
We asked Boston.com readers for the small businesses that keep their neighborhoods thriving and got an outpouring of support for Top Shelf Cookies. Readers praised their commitment to the community and Yunger’s story as a woman entrepreneur, but above all, they love the cookies.
“Top Shelf is a member of the community, a partner to local nonprofits, and a champion for local businesses. They also make delicious cookies made with the highest quality ingredients,” Matthew M. from Dorchester said. “Our family reinstated the cookie jar just to house these beauties.”
Last year, Boston.com readers named Top Shelf Cookies as one of the best cookie shops in Greater Boston. The Black & Gold cookie — chocolate with peanut butter chips — was a favorite with readers then and now. The story behind them is another testament to Yunger’s connection to the community.
In 2010, Yunger was a hobby baker and a Bruins superfan. She started bringing the Black & Golds as a good luck charm to share with fans before every Bruins game. The night the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011, she was at The Fours near TD Garden with 10 dozen cookies. It became an inside joke among local fans that her cookies were responsible for the win.
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Inspired by the enthusiastic support, Yunger left her corporate job and went all-in on Top Shelf Cookies. Now, the Black & Golds are a fixed menu item and a customer favorite.
Where to shop local
“Fresh, delicious, unique cookies with quality ingredients make Top Shelf the best truly local bake shop. Their dedication to all things Boston and support of the local community can’t be beat,” said Amy R. from Quincy. “The original Black & Gold cookie is thought to have contributed to the Bruins’ historic 2011 Stanley Cup win! What is more Boston than that?”
You can order Top Shelf Cookies for delivery or pick them up at the shop in Dorchester. They’re great for an everyday treat or gifts for the holidays. Several readers told us they’ve even had the cookie shop cater their weddings.
That customer support has been there from the very beginning, Yunger said, but she felt especially during the pandemic. In March of 2020, she and her team were scouting for storefronts for Top Shelf Cookies. When pandemic lockdowns thwarted those plans, Yunger was able to sustain the business through online orders.
“I get choked up thinking about it because a lot of people messaged me and said, ‘We’re not going to let you go out of business because we care about you,’” Yunger said.
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Brad S. from Woburn was one of many customers who were more than happy to support the cookie company’s journey.
“I have watched this company go from farmers’ markets to their current brick-and-mortar (and still farmer’s markets),” he said. “They were embedded in Boston culture and family from day one and continue to do so giving back every step of the way.”
Aside from the Black & Golds, you’ll find a rotating selection of cookies on the menu. The Boston Lager chocolate chip, a Sam Adams-infused milk chocolate chip cookie, and the peanut butter toffee cookie were among readers’ favorites. A personal favorite of Yunger’s is the Hazel chocolate chip cookie, named after her grandmother, who first instilled her love of baking.
Around the holidays, customers love the Enchanted Blueberry, a recipe inspired by the legendary Jordan March blueberry muffins. Another big hit is the Christmas Miracle, a gingerbread peppermint cookie that was developed accidentally when one of the bakers mistakenly added crushed peppermint into a batch of gingerbread stout cookies.
Amid the holiday shopping season, Yunger wants people to turn to small businesses in their local neighborhood instead of big corporations.
“I recognize money’s tight and people are trying to figure out how to spend their money but, ultimately, when you spend your money locally, it stays in your neighborhood,” she said.
For as much as she gives to the community, there’s no greater reward than seeing that appreciation returned.
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“My goal isn’t to make billions of dollars. My goal is to make the best cookies in Boston,” Yunger said. “I would much rather have the people that live across the street think the world of me than have some nationwide recognition. I do what I love for the people that I love in the city that I love, and I’m really lucky to do that.”
This store is one of more than 100 local businesses recommended by readers as among the best in the Greater Boston area. See Boston.com’s guides to local businesses in and outside of Boston, and find a small business near you using the interactive map below.
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