TYLER, Texas — An East Texan returns to win another cookie contest airing on the Food Network Thursday night.
Dylan Humphrey is the owner of Kool Kakes by Dylan and a former Christmas Cookie Contest Champion. He is competing on Food Network's "Christmas Cookie Challenge."
In 2016, he made his TV debut on Food Network’s Cake Wars. Humphrey finished in second place but impressed the network enough for them to reach back out afterward.
"Once you kind of get into the Food Network group, your name kind of stays in it. And that’s when Food Network contacted me about being on the Christmas Cookie Challenge, and they said ‘Do you decorate cookies?’ and I said ‘Actually I just decorate Christmas cookies and that’s about it’ and they said ‘Oh great you’re going to be on Christmas cookie challenge’, and I said ‘I’ll give it a shot’," Humphrey said.
Humphrey said he got a list of about 45 different cookies he needed to learn how to make and despite his experience being in cakes, not cookies, Humphrey won the competition, as well as ten-thousand dollars.
He used that money to help run a successful storefront that lasted about ten years. Now, Humphrey is in the process of converting his backyard into a bakery, so he can continue to live out his passion.
"And it’s honestly carried me to meet most of my dreams I’ve had as a child. With traveling, and being on TV, and things like that. I never would’ve guessed that just cake decorating would’ve been able to do that for anyone," Humphrey said.
Humphrey created a nationally recognized brand with Kool Kakes by Dylan and has gained some notoriety from his multiple TV appearances. He’s glad he had the opportunity to represent East Texas.
"We have a lot of really cool names that come from Tyler, Whitehouse, and local areas. It seems to be a pretty talented group of people here living in Tyler," Humphrey. "So it’s really awesome that we can portray that on the big screen and nationally, and just keep that trend going."
Watch Humphrey compete on the Food Network's "Christmas Cookie Challenge on Nov. 16 at 8 p.m.