From Consulting to Cookies: Joanne Chang Shares ‘The Joy of Cookies’ at the Brattle Theatre

On Nov. 4, Flour Bakery + Cafe founder and Harvard alumna Joanne B. Chang ’91 spoke to an audience at The Brattle Theatre about her new cookbook, “The Joy of Cookies.” The event was moderated by author and journalist Emily Sweeney.

Sweeney began the conversation by asking Chang what draws her to baking cookies. Chang responded by reflecting on her childhood, such as baking Toll House Cookies with her parents who didn’t allow any other form of sweets.

“For me, it’s such a wonderful memory of growing up and baking together with mom. So it’s just a deep memory in me,” Chang said.

The conversation turned to the book-writing process. Chang revealed that she was first inspired to write the book after experimenting with baking cookies during Covid-19. To give an example of how she creates recipes for her book, Chang walked attendees through her process of creating her fig, olive oil, and honey cracker, which was inspired by crackers her friend had purchased at the supermarket.

Afterwards, the duo discussed Chang’s unconventional career path. At Harvard, Chang studied applied mathematics, and after graduation, she worked as a consultant for two years. Growing tired of her corporate work, Chang quit her job in order to pursue her love of cooking, first working as a line cook before training as a pastry chef. In 2000, Chang decided it was time to open a bakery of her own — and thus, Flour was born.

Lisa Evans, an attendee, appreciated hearing about Chang’s career path and the choice she made to leave corporate America behind.

“I think this was an amazing exhibit of what somebody in Boston can create in changing paths, in going from one discipline to another and building a business and inspiring us all to do the same,” Evans said in an interview with The Crimson.

During her talk, Chang reflected on her early days in the industry and how difficult they were, revealing that she considered selling Flour just ten months after opening the business.

“I was working from 2-3 a.m. till 7 p.m. That’s not sustainable, but I was doing it, and so I was tired. It was hard. I was stressed, and about ten months in, I said, ‘I gotta sell it. I did it. I did it for ten months. I think I’m good’ and I wanted to sell. It was that challenging,” Chang said.

At the end of the talk, Chang returned to discussing her cookbook and the rewarding feeling of seeing readers recreate her recipes in their own kitchens. When asked what her favorite recipe was, she cited her homemade mallomars, a cookie consisting of a marshmallow on a graham cracker that is dipped in chocolate.

For the final 15 minutes, audience members were allowed to ask Chang their own questions. Audience members expressed their appreciation for getting to hear Chang speak in person, as many are long-time fans of Flour as well as Chang herself.

In an interview with The Crimson after the event, Chang spoke about her preparation process before speaking to audiences.

“I’m in the middle of touring the book throughout Boston mostly, and coming to an event like this is a really fun way to share the book with an audience that I might not normally get to see,” said Chang. “And hopefully people who are coming get a chance to hear from me and from Emily about what makes the book special, and why I hope they’ll buy it, and why I hope they’ll bake from it. So it’s really a lot of fun.”