Cookie Bar Brings Gluten-Free Sweets to Ravenswood

Imagine having an intense, chocolatey cake with chocolate ganache. Now imagine that cake with less sugar and a little healthier than the average option.

That’s the aim of the Chocolate Black-Out Cake, just one of many deserts from a new bakery coming to Ravenswood.

Pending city approval, Cookie Bar hopes to open within a month at 1746 W. Wilson Ave. 

Cakes, pumpkin bread, brownies and of course, cookies, will be available at the full-service bakery, partner Jeff Steinberg said.

Cookie Bar isn't new to the sweet life; burger lovers may have sampled their chocolate chip cookies at DMK Burger Bar in Lake View.

In 2010, Steinberg and co-owner Joe Bova expanded the business and opened Cookie Bar on Lincoln Avenue near DePaul University.

Gluten and dairy-free goods were on the menu, but because of such a high demand, the new Cookie Bar will be entirely gluten-free.

“We’ve done gluten-free and vegan selections from the start, but they’ve just become more popular,” Steinberg said. “We decided to reconfigure and open as a gluten-free bakery.”

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Cookie Bar uses their own blend of flours like amaranth and quinoa, Steinberg said. While many gluten-free places use potato starch that can make deserts heavy, the higher protein flours create a similar texture to cakes with gluten.

The new Ravenswood location will be three times the size of the Lincoln Park bakery.