Last fall, Roommate brought home some cookies one day from work, and I was more than happy to help her enjoy them. It was a chocolate espresso cookie - Awaken Bake. Never have I ever had such a fresh and chewy cookie from a package. Days later, I couldn’t get this cookie out of my head (and I consider myself someone who enjoy potato chips over a cookie). The Cookie Department is doing something right. Founder, Akiva Resnikoff, was only too kind to send over some samples and chat with me for a bit.
Whilst sitting in a cafe, Resnikoff noticed that during the afternoon-slump, almost half the patrons that purchased a cup of coffee would buy a cookie along with it. Then it hit him - why not a caffeinated cookie? Thus, beginnings of The Cookie Department was born.
But here’s the million dollar question... does functional equate to healthy? Could we be swapping out protein bars for cookies? When Resnikoff started the term “fully functional,” it wasn’t on the peripheral to brand the cookie as a “health product.”
“If you’re gunna eat a cookie, eat a cookie that has a benefit!”
I asked Resnikoff if, in theory, I could eat these cookies all day. On his spectrum of functionality, these cookies cater to all hours of the day. So... yes, but it’s not recommended!
My day would start with the “Great Full” cookie. It’s a vegan oatmeal, sweet potato and cranberry cookie that is reminiscent of the thanksgiving season. Very moist, chewy and has a perfect balance of fall spice. It has anti-oxidants. It counts as breakfast.
I go to work, type a little bit, answer some calls and before I know it, lunchtime rolls around! Time to bust out the Cherry Bomb cookie. A semi-sweet chocolate cookie studded with bing cherry scruptiousness gave me the sweet satisfaction of eating a cooke with some probiotic goodness. I definitely forgot that it said “Gluten Free” on the label.
(Photo Credit: Stephanie Mercurio)
After lunch, that 4PM slump slowly creeps up. The Awaken Bake espresso cookie is so freakin delicious (after all, you never forget your first... cookie). Rich chocolate and a hint of sea salt, this cookie has the caffeine equivalent of one cup of coffee. (I dunked it into a glass of cold milk. I felt like the most grown-up kid on the block).
(Photo credit: The Cookie Department)
Before I hit the gym to lift things up and put them down, I nom on my pre-workout Peanut Butter protein cookie. Appropriately named the “Tough Cookie,” this is just like the classic peanut butter cookies we hoovered as ids, but with 5 grams of protein. I would love to crumble this cookie on top of strawberry ice cream for a little bit of childhood nostalgia.
I pump some iron and find out I have a hot date (score!). We share a little Chocolate Chip Nookie. Sweet, delicious and studded with chocolate chips, this is too good NOT to share!
After a beautiful evening of dinner and dancing and, of course, drinks, I end the night with the Ginger Snapback detox cookie (my personal favorite). I love a good spicy ginger cookie to “snap” me back to reality - all deliciously good things.
Looking to purchase some cookies from TCD? Right now, they’re featured at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (mostly on the west coast). This year, they plan to be in your nearest Whole Foods, Fairway and Wegmen’s (rejoice!). If you need your fix now, check out their online shop.
Speaking with Resnikoff, I definitely got a sense of a family business here, which I adore! His brother and sister-in-law helped start the company with all the branding back in 2009. Resnikoff’s passion for baking came from; you guessed it, his mother. To this day, Mama Resnikoff is his unofficial research and development manager (Awww).
