Some people bake to relax. Paul Cooney bakes because the golfers at Lakewood Golf Club would not let him stop. Cooney, one of the head golf supervisors at the Point Clear club, is the man behind Uncle Paul’s Cookies, a small-batch chocolate chip cookie business that grew out of word-of-mouth requests from golf groups and turned into a local favorite sold at McKenzie Farm Market. In 2022, his cookies were selling out almost as fast as he could deliver them.
A Cookie Worth Carrying Around
There is something about a homemade chocolate chip cookie that sticks with people. Many Southerners can recall a grandmother who arrived for a visit carrying a tin of homemade Toll House cookies, and a child who guarded that tin until the last cookie was gone. The Toll House cookie itself dates to the 1930s, when Ruth Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, stirred chopped chocolate into her cookie dough and created what became America’s signature cookie.
Nearly a century later, bakers are still chasing the perfect version. Paul Cooney is one of them, and his customers around the Eastern Shore will tell you he is getting close.
From Mobile to the Magic Kingdom
Cooney grew up in Mobile and spent his summers on the Eastern Shore. He graduated from McGill Institute in Mobile, played golf as a kid, and did not get serious about the game until around 2000.
His path to the golf business ran through Orlando, where he worked at Walt Disney World. His first job there was driving a monorail. He also worked as a television extra, which led to some photo shoots, and his résumé from those years even includes landing on the cover of Time magazine.
While in Orlando, Cooney decided to commit to golf. He completed the Players Ability Program, a playing-skills requirement for those pursuing a career in the golf profession, and began working in the industry as both a teacher and a supervisor. He gravitated toward supervision and went on to work at a string of well-known facilities:
- Reunion Resort in the Orlando area
- Beaver Creek Golf Club in Colorado
- Reynolds Plantation in Georgia
- The Robert Trent Jones-designed Celebration Golf Club in Celebration, Florida, the planned community developed by Disney
Golf supervisors are the people who keep a club running smoothly day to day. Their work typically includes managing the tee sheet, coordinating starters and course rangers, keeping an eye on pace of play, organizing member groups and leagues, and helping stage tournaments and outings. It is a people-focused job that puts supervisors in regular contact with the same golfers week after week, which helps explain how news of a good cookie can travel so fast around a clubhouse.
Home to Lakewood Golf Club
By 2022, Cooney had been at Lakewood Golf Club in Point Clear for six years. Lakewood is one of the most storied golf properties on the Gulf Coast, with 36 holes across its Azalea and Dogwood courses, set among live oaks and pines near the Grand Hotel. The club is part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and has hosted golfers on the Eastern Shore for generations.
Point Clear itself is one of the oldest resort communities on the Gulf Coast. Wealthy families from Mobile and New Orleans began summering on this point of land on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay in the 19th century, and the Grand Hotel, whose history there reaches back to the 1840s, anchored the community as a destination for vacationers, golfers and wedding parties. Today the area mixes historic bay houses, newer homes and resort amenities, and the golf club remains a daily gathering place for residents and visitors alike.
It was there, working with members and golf groups, that the cookie business took root. Cooney had begun baking chocolate chip cookies on the side, steadily refining his recipe, upgrading his ingredients and working on both the flavor and the quality of what went into each batch.
The Goofy Golfers Spread the Word
At the time, Cooney was managing a men’s golf group at Lakewood known as the Goofy Golfers. Word got out that he made homemade cookies, and the requests started coming. Soon the Lakewood Ladies Golf Association asked for some. Then Niall Fraser, Lakewood’s director of golf, requested a batch and encouraged Cooney to grow what was clearly becoming a business.
Before long, people around the club were ordering cookies for family outings, business associates and parties. Joe Bullard was his biggest fan, and Cooney could not keep them in stock.
Going Legit Under Alabama’s Cottage Food Law
To sell his cookies legally, Cooney obtained his food certification under Alabama’s Cottage Food Law. The law allows home-based producers to make and sell certain foods that do not require refrigeration, such as baked goods, candies, jams and jellies, directly to consumers without operating a commercial kitchen. Producers must complete an approved food safety course and properly label their products, including a statement that the food was made in a home kitchen that is not inspected by the state health department. Alabama expanded the law in 2021, giving cottage food businesses more room to grow.
For small bakers like Cooney, the cottage food framework is what makes a side business possible. It lets a talented home baker test demand, build a customer base and sell to neighbors without the large upfront cost of renting or building a licensed commercial kitchen.
Baking by Night
With the secret out, Cooney settled into a routine of baking in the evenings several times a week after his day at the golf course. One batch yields about four dozen cookies. During the holidays he ramps up to baking almost every night.
In 2022, a two-dozen box of Uncle Paul’s Cookies sold for $55. The lineup included:
- Dark chocolate chip, his best seller
- White chocolate macadamia nut, a popular second option
- New flavors in development, which Cooney said he would not release until the recipes met his own exacting standards
His largest order came from a local real estate agent who wanted 300 cookies, which meant six full batches. Realtors, businesses and hosts often turn to local bakers for client gifts and closing presents, and a box of homemade cookies has a way of making a stronger impression than another branded pen.
What Goes Into a Great Chocolate Chip Cookie
Cooney keeps the specifics of his recipe to himself, as any serious baker would. But the broad principles that separate an ordinary chocolate chip cookie from a memorable one are well known among bakers. The ratio of brown sugar to white sugar shapes texture, with more brown sugar producing a chewier, more caramel-like cookie. Butter quality matters, as does how it is creamed with the sugar. Many bakers rest their dough in the refrigerator before baking to deepen the flavor and control spreading. And the chocolate itself, whether chips, chunks or chopped bars, and whether milk, semisweet or dark, often defines the final product more than anything else.
Those choices are what Cooney described as refining the recipe and improving the ingredients over time. The dark chocolate version that became his best seller is a reminder that customers notice when a baker sweats the details.
On the Shelves at McKenzie Farm Market
Uncle Paul’s Cookies also found a retail home at McKenzie Farm Market, the family-run produce stand and market known across Baldwin County for its sweet corn and seasonal produce. In 2022 Cooney was delivering 10 to 12 bags twice a week, and they sold out quickly.
Farm markets have become natural outlets for cottage food producers across Alabama. Shoppers who come for tomatoes, peaches or corn are often happy to add a jar of local honey, a loaf of bread or a bag of cookies to the basket, and the markets benefit from offering products customers cannot find at a chain grocery store.
Why “Uncle Paul”
The name, it turns out, is a tribute. Cooney is named after his uncle Paul in Minnesota. When Cooney shipped his uncle a box of cookies bearing the brand name, the elder Paul “was ecstatic” with both the cookies and the name.
Tips for Buying From Local Bakers
For readers who want to support cottage bakers like Cooney, a few general pointers apply:
- Order ahead for big events. Home bakers work in batches, so large orders, like 300 cookies, need lead time.
- Plan early for the holidays. Many small bakers reach capacity quickly between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
- Check local markets. Farm stands and specialty shops often carry products from cottage producers, but popular items sell out, so go early.
- Read the label. Cottage food labels list the producer and ingredients, which is helpful for anyone with allergies, especially to nuts.
Paul Cooney’s career has taken him from the Disney monorail to some of the country’s best-known golf clubs and back home to the Eastern Shore. Along the way he picked up a second calling, one batch of four dozen at a time, and a fan base that stretches from the Lakewood clubhouse to the shelves at McKenzie’s.