OUR STORY
John, Roger and Juella Steenstra
In 1926 the Steenstra family immigrated to the United States bringing with them the family recipe for making delicious Dutch Windmill Cookies. In 1947 the Steenstra’s built a bakery in now the City of Wyoming, Michigan, just down the road from the then cookie baking leader Hekman Bakery. They made cookies in that plant until June of 1988 when the building burned down. This did not put Steenstra’s out of business but did force a move to the neighboring Dutch community of Hudsonville where keeping that same family recipe, the cookie business prospered.
The cookie cutter die used for shaping the cookies dates back to the early 1900’s and shows 5 distinct shapes telling “The legend of St. Nicholas” and is the reason they are often known as Santa Claus Cookies. The shapes are; St. Nick on his horse, a windmill where he lived, a rooster that would wake him up, an owl that made him wise, and a boy and girl that are the recipients of St. Nick’s good cookie treats.
The Steenstra's Cookies are still made using fresh ingredients and the historic recipe that has been a popular favorite for many years.
