Four Inane Questions with Sweet Peaches Cobblers CEO Denisha Jones

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Holy decadent dessert, Batman. After Denisha Jones whipped up a peach cobbler for her brother-in-law’s birthday a few years ago, she “received so much positive feedback” she decided to create a business built around it. 

After no less than seven attempts, she perfected her recipe during the pandemic—a recipe that was inspired by her grandmother. Once word of mouth took off, the proud Kansas Citian knew she had a money-making enterprise on her hands. 

In 2021, Sweet Peaches Cobblers LLC was chosen to travel from state to state, city to city with barbecue festivals, increasing the brand’s national exposure. Today, Sweet Peaches Cobblers remains a family-operated empire, including Jones and her husband Willie, their oldest three children, their mothers, a sister, and some close family friends. 

Over the last three years, Jones has been awarded three impressive business grants and sold more than 40,000 of her frozen, ready-to-bake cobblers. She adds her product can now be found in more than 200 grocery stores, including select Sun Fresh, Price Chopper, and Hy-Vee stores. 

She tells us she’s not stopping until she’s conquered the continental United States. “One of my goals is to be in 24 states this year,” she mentioned in a recent Drinks With Leaders podcast. “We’re trying to be smart and strategic about where we go.”

Another goal? “I’m working on getting licensed with Jack Daniels to get my Daniels cobbler in stores,” she tells us. “Everything works in God’s timing and when He says go, we do just that.” 

We caught up with the cobbler queen recently to pepper her with our bevy of bonkers questions. We can’t tell if she was impressed or appalled that we ate an entire cobbler whilst she came up with her thoughtful answers. Bless our hearts. 

The Pitch: If I’m attempting to make cobbler at home, what super-secret ingredient should I consider? 

Denisha Jones: A super-secret, non-traditional ingredient for an at home cobbler? It’s fresh squeezed orange juice. A little goes a long way. 

The orange juice not only adds acidity to your cobbler, but it also adds a citrus-tropical flavor for a summertime cobbler! I stumbled upon this ingredient by mistake. I didn’t realize I was out of lemon juice while making a peach cobbler and my children had some Cuties oranges in the fridge, so I thought why not—and it was delicious!

Describe your best hair day in the history of hair days. Like, ever. 

Listen, I live for—and love—a good, feathered bob haircut. There was one particular day I was feeling myself just because my hair was living a life of its own. I was in a wedding and when I moved, my hair flowed and had so much body, then went right back to its place. 

No one couldn’t tell me anything! Whenever I had a chance, I was moving my hair. What made it even better was, it was all mine. No extensions. I have many days that I rock my bob, but I remember this day in particular because it was the staple of my go-to hairstyle.

Speaking of weddings, what song will absolutely, positively get you on the dance floor every damn time? 

It’s so hard to choose just one song. I love to two-step with my husband. I also love to hit the dance floor every time the “Wobble” song comes on. 

My favorite part is, “you big girlz—back that thang up.” For me, given that I’m a big girl, it brings positivity to the term and unity to all sizes. You see thin, plus-size, men, women and all shades of color run to the dance floor when this song gets played. So, yes, I’m hitting the dance floor every time “Wobble” comes on.

If you were an exotic bird, what exotic bird would you be? 

I would definitely be a Scarlet Macaw. They’re so colorful with red, yellow and blue feathers—and they have the ability to mimic human speech. I would love to travel and see the world through their eyes and still be able to speak the human language. They’re smart birds—and strikingly beautiful.

Bonus 5th Question: Name a fruit (or fruit by-product) that you wouldn’t think belongs in cobblers, but absolutely does? Blow my mind!

For those that know me, you know I love to cook with liquor more than I drink it. 

A fruity product that I would use in any cobbler would be any flavor of Crown Royal. But my favorite flavor, of course, is peach! The Peach Crown Royal just adds extra flavor to the ingredients. I don’t cook it to get you tipsy. It’s not a laced cobbler! It’s as if you go to Olive Garden and eat shrimp scampi that’s cooked with wine. I love to cook using alcohol because of the natural ingredients that marry with the peach flavor.