By Finley Timon EDITORIAL INTERN
Uncle Dan’s Cookies has been part of Big Sky tradition for nearly 40 years. In early 2024, the business entered a new chapter when Shannon Hubbard acquired the business and officially took over from founder “Uncle” Dan Wade.
The bakery began in 1985, when Uncle Dan started selling homemade cookies to skiers out of a cookie cart. According to the company’s website, he “happened to bake the most wonderfully perfect cookies,” and soon his reputation spread. The business has been baking from scratch in Big Sky ever since.
Hubbard, who grew up skiing in the area and once worked in Big Sky Resort’s ski school, said the opportunity to carry on that legacy felt like a natural fit.
“When I realized that he wanted to sell it, it was sort of like, ‘Ooh, it can’t go away,’” she told EBS during an interview at Uncle Dan’s Cookies’ commercial kitchen along U.S. Highway 191 beside the Gallatin River in Big Sky.
With a degree in food and nutrition from Montana State University and years of kitchen experience, Hubbard felt ready for the transition and decided to go for it.
“I love living in southwest Montana,” she said. “Why not try and make some cookies and sell some cookies?”
Since purchasing the business 15 months ago, she’s focused on preserving its identity while introducing new flavors and processes. The company continues to operate as a hybrid wholesale and retail bakery.
“Our cookie shack at the bottom of Madison 8 [at Big Sky Resort] runs from right before Christmas until the mountain closes in April,” she said. “And now we’re gearing up to do Music in the Mountains every Thursday.”
For Hubbard, baking offers a different pace than her past traditional restaurant work. She said the team sets its own schedule and leans into creativity.
“Baking is such a science,” she said. “Cookie science.”
Each week, the kitchen experiments with new recipes. Not every trial makes it out of testing, but some rise to the occasion.
One of those is “Cookies and Dreams,” a chocolate-based cookie made with Oreo chunks, white chocolate and dark chocolate.
Another summer creation is the rocky road cookie, which she hopes to serve as part of an ice cream sandwich at upcoming events.
The bakery also offers gluten-free options, including Rice Krispie treat ice cream sandwiches introduced last summer.
That mix of creativity and collaboration has helped the brand grow beyond Big Sky. Customers across the country still place special orders, many tied to memories made here.
“There’s a couple getting married and they want 60 huckleberry bars sent to their wedding in Washington,” she said. “A woman from Arkansas recently ordered cookies for a birthday party. She said, ‘We have to have Uncle Dan’s Cookies there.’”
‘A cult following’
EBS caught up with “Uncle” Dan Wade for a phone call, and he reflected on the ways the business grew over his 38 years of ownership.
“We just did the basics, right?” Wade said. “We had the same product every time we made it. And people liked what we did. We baked them from scratch and figured out how to package them and how to get them in people’s hands. It just became kind of a cult following, I think.”
For Wade, some of the most rewarding moments of his 38 years of ownership came from connecting with customers face to face. He said his baking skills were generational, taught well by his mother, who taught high school home ec.
“You know, handing a big cookie to a small child and seeing their eyes light up never got old,” he said. “That happened at the kiosk down at the Six Shooter lift… and that never got old.”
As the business grew, the formula remained simple.
“We have really good recipes, we have good ingredients, we have good equipment, and we bake cookies,” he said. “That’s all we do.”
Now, with Shannon Hubbard leading the bakery, Wade said he’s proud to see the tradition continue. He still lives in the area, in the Gallatin Canyon about eight miles north of Big Sky.
“I’m ready to mentor her at any time, but she sounds and seems like she’s got it wired,” he said. “You just got to keep working.”
He didn’t shy away from the realities of the job—he said running a small business has it all, from ecstasy to agony to heartache, sometimes all at once. “It’s just a constant… You just got to work it.”
There were lighter moments, too.
“Delivering cookies is probably the funnest job outside of baking them,” she said. “Who’s upset when the cookie person comes?”
She smiled, the smell of cookies wafting from the cooling trays sat beside her.
“Everyone’s happy when you hand them a cookie,” she said. “They are magical.”
