The Cozy Oven
It all started with a “raise” that wasn’t.
Jonathan Young was sitting across from his boss at a trucking company in Aledo, Texas, hoping for a lifeline — maybe a few more dollars on his paycheck. Instead, his boss looked him square in the face and said, “Why don’t you start a side business?”
Young grins when he retells it. “I was like, okay... I can do that,” he says, still half-shaking his head at the absurdity. But what started as an offhand comment — the kind of vague suggestion you expect someone to forget by lunch — became the spark that lit a fire for Young.
The Cozy Oven
Jonathan Young
That fire became The Cozy Oven, a cinnamon roll–driven, made-from-scratch, community-rooted bakery that’s fast becoming a household name in Fort Worth’s local food scene. It’s entrepreneurial grit meets soft dough, held together by icing, ambition, and a whole lot of butter. Less than a year in, and this so-called side hustle is already blowing up.
“We’ve had people from New York try our stuff,” Young says, beaming. “No shipping yet, but if someone from out of town gets their hands on my cinnamon rolls, they pack some to go. They want to spread the word.”
And word is spreading — fast.
Young is the founder, CEO, baker, recipe developer, accountant, delivery driver, market tent wrangler, and, when needed, hype man. His mom — affectionately referred to as “the VP” — helps manage the chaos. Together, they run the operation out of their family kitchen, building the brand from scratch, quite literally.
The idea for the name came late one night in his apartment. Young Googled. He brainstormed. Then he pulled up ChatGPT. One phrase caught his eye: “The cozy something.” That was it. “The Cozy Oven,” he says. “It just felt right. It tells you everything — before you even taste the food.”
That warmth is more than branding — it’s the origin story, too. His dad passed away when Jonathan was only 2 years old, but the memories of watching him cook are as vivid as ever. “I was on step stools in the kitchen, just watching, understanding how it all works,” he says.
Originally more drawn to savory foods, Young admits he didn’t always have the patience to bake. “I absolutely despised baking,” he says. “I didn’t want to wait for the dough to rise — I just wanted to eat.” But eventually, his palate caught up with his passion. By 2021, he was tinkering with sweets and testing recipes. By 2023, The Cozy Oven was born.
The bakery is built on one core product: the cinnamon roll. But, according to Young, these aren’t your average cinnamon rolls. Young’s are soft, balanced, and come in rotating flavors like lemon blueberry, peaches and cream, and his current best-seller — salted caramel made with a homemade sauce.
The Cozy Oven
“When I started out, I thought, ‘They’re just cinnamon rolls.’ I didn’t know how big it could get. But then people started showing up early, buying in bulk. When I opened up online orders, we sold out in hours,” he verifies.
His signature dough recipe is the result of late-night experimenting, flipping through YouTube tutorials, and making endless tweaks — switching from milk to buttermilk, refining textures, and dialing in the sweetness.
“I wanted to be different,” he says. “Everyone does cupcakes or cookies. Cinnamon rolls — no one was doing that full-on around here. I wanted a niche. I wanted people to remember my product.”
That determination carries through every weekend, where he attends two to three markets on any given Saturday. “McKinney, Frisco, Grapevine, Plano — we’re all over the Metroplex,” he says excitedly. Preparation for these events begins at 2 or 3 a.m. on the day of, with Young baking nonstop to ensure everything is fresh. “I want people to get that just-out-of-the-oven experience,” he says. “It’s called The Cozy Oven for a reason.”
He estimates he bakes over $1,000 worth of product each weekend, including seasonal muffins, loaf cakes, cupcakes (like lemon lavender and strawberry shortcake), and his wildly popular mini cinnamon roll bites — for customers who want just a taste, not the whole roll.
“I have this little notebook,” he says. “I wrote down every recipe when I started. And I’m constantly tweaking and improving. I want it to be perfect every time.”
In May — on his birthday, no less — Young quit his day job and committed to The Cozy Oven full-time.
“It was the hardest decision of my life,” he says. “But I was working 9 to 5, then baking all night. I couldn’t grow the business. I couldn’t reach out to people. Something had to give. And it couldn’t be the dream.”
Since taking that leap, he’s booked his first wedding, landed some media coverage, and begun planning for the next big thing: a brick-and-mortar shop. After that? Franchises in different states.“New York; that’s the dream,” he says.
Young didn’t set out to be a baker. He set out for a raise.
What he found instead was purpose, ownership, and a cinnamon roll so good it might just change your weekend plans.
“I want people to hear The Cozy Oven and know exactly who that is, what that is, and where they can find it,” he says. “And when they find it — I want them to come back.”
