John Diamantopoulos has always had a special place in his heart for cookies. Now, the Marblehead resident has started his own home-based micro-bakery business titled “Baked by Johnny.”
While growing up in Lynn, Diamantopoulos was surrounded by food through his family-owned restaurant businesses. He said his mother would regularly bake traditional Greek cookies.
After graduating from Lynn Classical in 1999, he said he went on to pursue culinary arts at Newbury College in Brookline, where he has built a career as a corporate executive chef.
“I love being around food. Food is good for the soul,” Diamantopoulos said.
When not in the kitchen, Diamantopoulos enjoys being in nature, biking, and spending time with his family.
“My most important job is being a dad,” he said. He has two children, ages 7 and 9.
The idea for his own cookie business sparked during the COVID-19 pandemic. He baked and experimented with lots of cookie recipes during the lockdown.
“Baked by Johnny” officially launched with its first cookie drop on Saturday, Aug. 22.
Diamantopoulos said he baked hundreds of cookies, and the response was enthusiastic, with customers returning and offering feedback.
The micro-bakery operates out of Diamantopoulos’ Marblehead home. He said customers place orders online through the Hotplate app. Customers will have about a week to place orders, giving Diamantopoulos time to test new recipes and prepare cookies.
One part of baking that Diamantopoulos loves is experimentation. In total, he said he has made approximately 80 different cookie flavors.
“Cookies are a great canvas,” he said.
He said his recipes often begin with caramelized brown-butter dough, European butter and his own blend of Valrhona chocolate. From there, he builds flavors using combinations of texture and ingredients.
“Caramel is always invited to the party,” he said.
One of his favorites is a Captain Crunch cookie, which combines caramelized white chocolate, caramel, white chocolate and smoked sea salt.
Being a 90s kid, Diamantopoulos said he loved cereal. He added that he wanted to play around with different cereals and incorporate them into the dough to make a cereal-infused cookie.
“Wow, this is crazy good,” he recalled when tasting the cookie for the first time.
However, when it comes to experimentation, Diamantopoulos highly recommends understanding the basics of what every ingredient does.
“Before you break the rules, you need to understand the rules,” he said.
Since his first successful cookie launch, Diamantopoulos plans to let the business evolve organically, listening to customers and learning what they enjoy before making decisions.
“I love being a chef,” he said. “It’s nice to see people smile through anything.”
“Baked by Johnny’s” next monthly order is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19, with orders opening on Monday, Sept 14. Customers can pick up orders during designated times at Diamantopoulos’s home.
The order link is located on his Instagram at baked_by_johnny or at hotplate.com/bakedbyjohnny.
