Life, unlike baking, doesn’t follow a recipe. Anne Grossman, owner of Rebel Daughter Cookies in Norwalk, knows that well. Grossman is now in search of a new home for her beloved bakery after announcing on social media that she’ll close in mid-May.

Grossman began the business at home in 2019.

“When I first started, I thought, ‘You know, there's a million other cookie companies out there, but Rebel Daughter is me,’" Grossman explained. "My mom always called me her Rebel Daughter, meaning if I put my mind to something, you're not going to be able to talk me out of it.”

Which plenty of people did. Grossman was a full-time mom to a toddler and infant at the time and had no formal culinary training.

“I wanted a creative outlook that was focused on just me, so I started baking again, which is something I loved to do when I was younger. I wanted to get back into it and make these amazing chocolate chunk cookies that I couldn't get in the suburbs that I used to get all the time in the city,” Grossman said.

She got through the COVID-19 pandemic using a ghost kitchen and doing her own deliveries. Then, in February 2022, Grossman opened up a storefront, moving into a space at the art park on Isaac Street. It was a fitting location, in part, because baking is art to Grossman.

“I feel like the stars aligned at that time. This art park is beautiful, and the murals were on brand with Rebel Daughter Cookies. It was everything I wanted in a building,” Grossman told News 12.

Life was sweet. Rebel Daughter Cookies developed a cult following for their handcrafted, huge cookies, made from high-quality, gourmet ingredients and their messaging of female empowerment.

“Then the construction started. Condos are going up everywhere, and this area really changed, and that's not a bad thing until the road started being closed, which is our main artery off of Wall Street. Our building became harder to find. Our customers are having to detour, and they don't know where they're going, so our destination location became even harder to find,” Grossman explained. “It just hasn't been a great customer experience and our customers deserve better.”

More people began ordering for shipping and delivery than showing up at the store, according to Grossman. Plus, the building itself is slated to be demolished for condos or an extended stay hotel as part of the development, but it’s unknown when. Grossman has decided not to wait to find out. She’ll close in mid-May, which she announced on social media earlier this month.

“I can't continue to put money into this location knowing that I might get my notice that I have to be out in six months, so I'm going to take the bull by the horns, and I'm going to take all of this time and effort that I’m putting into just running this place, take a little bit of a hiatus, little bit of a step back just from the day to day and really focus on finding that next spot,” Grossman said.

She stressed it’s not if the bakery and her one-of-a-kind cookies will be back, but when.

“If there's anything that people have probably figured out by now, I have the name Rebel Daughter for a reason,” Grossman said, smiling.

The Rebel Daughter brand will still be visible on Grossman’s newly created YouTube channel, where she’ll highlight other female entrepreneurs.