The Curious Case of the Snoogle: Story of a Sweet Ohio Invention

Photo: Kiedrowski's Bakery

Want a snoogle?

No, I'm not trying to come on to you. I'm trying to introduce you to my newest obsession, a sweet specialty from the Cleveland area called "Snoogle". It's the invention of Kiedrowski's Bakery, a serendipitous mix-up resulting from a batch of Lady Locks (a sort of cream-filled cookie which vaguely resembles a cannoli visually if not taste-wise) and Cheese Danish being combined in a way that turned out to be delicious (and they're not telling what the secret is!). I was alerted to this sweet wonder by CakeSpy reader Anne, who said of them "I was lucky enough to try one of these for the first time today. like whoa! it's as delicious as it is fun to say. snoooooogle!".

Here's the tale of the Snoogle (tm) from the Kiedrowski website:

Accidents can be disastrous in a bakery, but the “snoogle accident” was a welcome one for Kiedrowski’s! Late one evening in the bakery, Tim was preparing Ladylocks and Terri was working on a batch of cheese danish. With leftover ingredients, these two happy bakers set out to create something new. After a little of this, and a little of that, “voila!”, the Snoogle™ was born! These airy, cheese-filled concoctions have become Kiedrowski’s biggest seller. It is not unusual for the bakery to sell 25 dozen snoogles daily, and 100 dozen Snoogles™ over any given weekend.

As you might have noticed on the page, we have a few tiny letters next to the Snoogle™ name and that is because it is an officially trademarked item! After many years of hard work, and tons of help from many wonderful and talented people, we were able to go through the necessary steps to get the trademark. We’re all very proud and we’ve even got the official paperwork framed to prove it!

 Photo: Kiedrowski's BakeryBut as it turns out, the tale of the Snoogle isn't the only fascinating thing about this bakery, which itself has a sweetly serendipitous-sounding history:

On Christmas Eve, 1983, Tim Kiedrowski got a job at the Simply Delicious Bakery in downtown Amherst. One month later, the owner was heavily in debt, and offered to sell the business to the employees. Never afraid of a challenge, Tim (a drummer for Nite Flite) and Terri (an OB-GYN RN at St. Joe’s) took out a small business loan to buy the bakery. Proud of their polish heritage, the name was officially changed to Kiedrowski’s Simply Delcious Bakery, and remained in downtown Amherst for 11 years.

In 1994, Tim and his crew packed up the mixers, ovens, as well as all the baking ingrdients, and moved to their current location on Cooper Foster Park Rd. Tim loves the Christmas season, and the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” He truly believes that one person can change your life…stop in and ask Tim for the rest of the story!

Are you as fascinated as I am? If so, check 'em out: Kiedrowski's Simply Delicious Bakery 2267 Cooper Foster Park Rd. Amherst, OH 44001 (440) 282-2700. Online here.

Comments

[Susan]

My mother-in-law, Linda, loves these. She was unselfish enough to share her stash with us and now we love them too. I've never been to Kiedrowski's bakery myself, but will make it a must stop next time we visit Northern Ohio. Snoogles are wonderful. Thanks for highlighting them.

[Diana]

Bakery is just wonderful. There are no other words to describe it. The people are great and the goodies are delicious. We met Tim while we were there and he's a delight. Looking forward to the hour and a half ride to go back.

[Angelica]

I wanted to add that Kiedrowski's bakery is also pretty famous ('round these here parts) for their paczkis. They are doughnuts that are filled with assorted fillings, covered in powdered sugar and are a popular treat on Fat Tuesdays. The idea behind them, from what I've been told, is to get "everything into the doughnut before Lent".