McKayla Marie Sweets Opens in Ashwaubenon

I first met the mastermind behind the sweets at a June event in the Revolution Market and found something special in the crisp shells of her miniature macarons. I checked on her facebook page once a week waiting for that final announcement of opening day. It came almost a month later than her original estimate.

A crisp fall morning in Ashwaubenon rose over the grand opening of McKayla Marie Sweets, a much anticipated event by yours truly. I arrived nearly thirty minutes early to discover that a line had already formed outside of the door, bisecting the parking lot. I had to park along the road. I waited patiently alongside other connoisseurs of the baker’s goodies, listening as they talked about their plans for the rest of the day after this. ​

No one was ignorant of what they were about to eat. McKayla Marie Sweets attended several events in town, spreading the anticipation over the summer– and it worked. I’ve attended many openings like this since I started writing for this blog, but I can’t recall this level of anticipation in a crowd. It spoke highly of the mind behind the product.

When nine a.m. finally came, the crowd was welcomed inside through an orderly line that flowed from the macaron case to the checkout counter. It was slow going from where I wound up in line, but as I watched those with greater foresight than mine go by with arms full of goodie boxes, there was no blame for the slowness to be placed on the staff. We all wanted to taste as much as we could, and of course that takes time to package.

Twenty minutes passed before it was my turn at the counter. The clean, comforting decor of the front of house made the pastry cases the center of attention. At the center of the back wall, a large print menu with clearly displayed prices helps in the decision making process. There is no guessing on price at a distance. I had enough time in the line to examine the cases at a distance to decide on my purchases.

They were prepared for the wave of business that morning with a full cabinet of everything from their famed macarons to chocolate hazelnut tarts, brownies to cupcakes to cookies. Early visitors were lucky enough to receive goodie bags on their way out the door, and if you missed out on that, there were free pieces of cake to soothe the wound.

​I walked away that morning with a box of macarons and another of cupcakes, satisfied with the movement of the line and the price of the product. The smoothe movement of the line reflected the level of planning that the staff went through to get ready for opening day. The sheer volume of cookies and other sweets available at the counter showed that thoughtfulness in the food preparation as well. I had high hopes for my treats.

And those hopes were met. The crisp shell of the macarons that I remembered from my last encounter with McKayla Marie sweets carried over into that morning. The pumpkin spice macaron specifically carried the flavors of fall perfectly. I’m still holding onto the chai and peanut butter fudge macarons as a treat for myself today.

​The cupcakes I took home surpassed my expectations. Cupcakes are often a safe choice in a pastry case for those who can’t decide what they want. Often the cake is dry. The buttercream could be store bought anywhere for all we know– but not here. The vanilla cupcake I started with had the smoothest, softest buttercream I can recall anywhere. The cake stayed moist in its paper cup.

I fully intend to return next weekend to try some of the other offerings in that long pastry case to expand my own horizons, and you can too. McKayla Marie Sweets is now open Tuesday through Saturday at 9 a.m. with closing hours varying between weekdays and weekends. You can find them on Holmgren way across from Nakashima of Japan.

Want to do some window shopping before heading in to pick up some treats of your own? Follow their social media on facebook and instagram to see what the owner is cooking up.