Bethney Grove and Shannon Hanchett were meant to be "baking besties."
In separate ventures, the pair spoke to people through a shared love language of food by making Oklahoma-themed goodies, with Grove baking cupcakes and Hanchett cookies. When Okie Baking Co., Hanchett's homestyle cookie company, followed Grove’s Facebook page, she thought she might be checking out the competition.
But, in true Hanchett fashion, she reached out to applaud Grove on her work at the time through Prairie Kitchen Confections and to wrap her arms around Grove in a virtual Hanchett hug. The pair became fast friends, keeping in touch over social media.
When Grove started Meant to B Bakery, which specializes in decorative sugar cookies, Hanchett reached out, asking if she could meet with Grove for the first time in person and drop off some gifts. Nothing special, she said.
She brought Grove, whose nickname is B, her first cookie jar, which was a vintage jar shaped like a beehive, along with bee-inspired items to honor her bumblebee signature.
To Hanchett, it was nothing. But to Grove, it was everything. Her "baking bestie," as they would come to refer to one another, was magic.
Hanchett, a 38-year-old mother of two, died Dec. 8 in the Cleveland County Detention Center after being detained for 12 days on charges of placing false 911 calls and obstructing an officer inside an AT&T store on the 1400 block of 24th Ave. NW.
Before Hanchett died, the pair planned to partner up at the Artifactory — a Norman gift shop — with Grove baking cakes, macarons and decorated sugar cookies and Hanchett baking her signature cookies. Hanchett said she wouldn’t want to work with anyone else. Neither did Grove.
Hanchett’s husband knew Grove would cherish her recipes, so he entrusted them to her.
In Hanchett’s death, Grove hopes to honor the collaboration that could have been, with the help of former Ward 1 Councilmember and Yellow Dog Coffee co-owner Kate Bierman, by baking and selling Hanchett’s cookies, with profits going toward organizations she supported like Bridges of Norman, Heartprints Animal Rescue or Norman Pride. However, it is unclear where the vision may carry on.
Originally, Bierman wanted to work with Grove to create a business plan where Grove would bake Hanchett’s cookies at Yellow Dog Coffee. The 80-year-old, 414-square-foot Cookie Cottage on 231 W. Main St. provides limited room to bake, so Grove and Bierman hoped to rent the Cookie Cottage as a retail space and sell the cookies there in partnership with nonprofits.
Grove wanted the cottage to remain a place where Hanchett’s sons could remember their mom and feel her presence. She planned to decorate it with objects from her “Shannon shrine,” which currently exists on a shelf in Grove's home, housing a collection of items she purchased from Hanchett’s estate sale.
Most importantly, that would mean displaying pictures and classic Hanchett t-shirts with phrases like “I make cookies and sarcastic comments.”
“How neat would it be for it to be just the Cookie Cottage, and Shannon of Okie Baking Co. would be our founder, and the whole area would be an homage to her having photos?” Grove pondered.
But, after the existing lease expired, rent on the property increased from $1,000 a month to $1,500, causing dreams of renting the Cookie Cottage to crumble.
Before Hanchett, Amber Neel operated a gift shop and boutique where the Cookie Cottage now stands called Moonstruck for about a year. She said watching her friend — who she bonded with through their big attitudes, children and love of glitter — secure the Cookie Cottage in 2021 was a beautiful thing.
Now, Neel has worked with friends of Hanchett’s, like Grove and Bierman, since December to communicate with the space’s landlord to let them know there was interest in keeping the cottage running. Neel said they had intended to find a tenant who would treasure it when the time was right and didn't want to rush.
When news of the rent increase came, Neel wrote in a Facebook message to OU Daily that she fears the cottage is off the table.
“I know how business works and I know what the market looks like. We were, and are, extremely disappointed,” Neel wrote. “I do believe however, just like Shannon bringing that cottage back to life, that things always work out as they should in the end.”
Grove said Hanchett overcame many obstacles to obtain the Cookie Cottage, including moments where different spaces to house her business — like the now defunct Gibble gas station — fell through and her struggles with lupus. Every time she visited Hanchett, the door to the shop was revolving, and she was constantly selling out of her baker’s dozens.
“She always said her cookies were ‘nothing special’ — but they were. And what made them special was her,” Grove said. “That’s what kept people coming back.”
After watching her friend follow her dream, Grove said she and Hanchett’s friends aren’t ready to let what Hanchett had in the Norman community go away.
Bierman said she never accepts a “no” until it’s finalized and believes expenses will remain relatively low, offsetting the cost of rent. But, she knows things are out of her control, and hopes putting the pieces of the plan together will be enough.
“One of my biggest lessons from 2022 is learning what my role is and not overstepping that so that I don’t burn out myself,” Bierman said. “ … I’ll do the best that I can. I’m going to put my whole effort into it until I’m told not to.”
Yellow Dog Coffee Company on Sept. 2, 2022.
If the Cookie Cottage isn’t a possibility, Grove will work as an in-house baker for Yellow Dog Coffee. That’s where Hanchett started, and Grove hopes to pick up where she left off.
Day to day, Hanchett’s friends look for ways to remember their baking bestie. For Valentine’s Day, Neel baked sugar cookies in her honor, hoping to “channel her inner Shannon.” Grove is compiling Hanchett’s recipes to create a cookbook she hopes to make available soon to share a bit of her magic with everyone.
Neel wrote that losing Hanchett was unexpected and a reminder not to take people for granted. But, in Hanchett’s death, she wrote that she’s witnessed an outpouring of love and stories, reminding her of the daily need for the unconditional love and support Hanchett gave so freely.
“I have said it before and I will say it again. Hug your friends and family. Hug a stranger. Tell people you love them. Don’t wait. Make memories. Eat the cookies. This life gets shorter by the minute,” Neel wrote. “While we can’t replace Shannon, my hope is that we all live a little more like she did. The world could use more of her magic.”
Bierman said, although Hanchett poured everything into the Cookie Cottage, it wasn’t ultimately her. Hanchett wouldn’t want her legacy to live and die with that location.
As Grove prepares to pass on Hanchett’s cookies, Grove said she hopes, with community support, she can find a way to honor Hanchett.
“People don’t want to see the Cookie Cottage go away,” Grove said. “I think that’s been one of the biggest concerns is to watch that little dream just die off, and it doesn’t have to be that way. We want to carry the torch.”
This story was edited by Karoline Leonard. Teegan Smith and Nikkie Aisha copy edited this story.
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