Joliet's Milano Bakery Photo Gallery: 'Christmas Definitely Is Our Big Cookie Time'

JOLIET, IL — Milano Bakery remains one of Joliet's most time-honored hometown businesses, after opening on South Chicago Street in 1915. And while fresh loaves of bread continue are still coming out of the ovens daily, Milano has shifted into its Christmas-cookie making and decorating season.

While Milano strives to create cookies for various holidays throughout the year, Christmas cookies are a big hit with the customer base. This year's assortment of Christmas cookies include: Santa Claus belly, snowflakes, a gingerbread man, snowman and Christmas trees.

"Christmas definitely is our big cookie time. We've had a lot of orders for them from a lot of businesses," explained Genna Shaw, head baker and cake decorator at Milano Bakery. "They go fast."

Milano sells its Christmas cookies in boxes of six, or customers can buy the cookies individually inside the retail bakery.

"It's just a sugar cookie. It's a cut-out sugar cookie," Shaw explained. "It's royal icing. Your classic decorated cookie that a lot of people like."

In addition to the assortment of Christmas cookies, Milano sells plenty of Italian cookies during the Christmas holidays.

"One day, we baked 800 pounds of Italian cookie mix," Shaw pointed out.

The boxes of Italian cookies sell for $15.

"It's a pound of cookies," she said.

Milano's Russkie Italian cookie is very popular this time of year.

"It's very similar to a Kolache," she said.

Besides the Italian and Christmas cookies, Milano creates red and green-colored Christmas dinner rolls and loaves of butter bread for the holiday season. Another major seller during Christmastime is Milano's potica, a traditional Slovenian festive sweet bread or pastry.

Milano also sells its potica in Chicagoland grocery stores, including Jewel-Osco and Berkot's, as well as the Mitchell's Grocery Store on Joliet's Raynor Avenue.

"We also do mini-pastry trays, mini cannoli's, éclairs, brownies, little cheesecakes," Shaw said. "We do them year-round, but they are pretty popular this time of year."

During last Friday's interview, the Milano's Bakery was packed as customers walked in and out and new customers showed up and replaced them.

"It's one of our busiest seasons. It goes Christmas and Paczki Day as our two biggest holidays," Shaw remarked.

Located at 433 South Chicago Street near Joliet's downtown, Milano Bakery retail storefront is open six days a week. It's from 5:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday and 6 a.m. to noon on Saturday. To place orders over the phone, Milano's number is 815-727-2253 and by email at milanobakeryretail@gmail.com