An Austin-based cookie sensation has gone national. Cookie Rich has joined the Goldbelly food platform, which means its signature treats are now available far beyond Lady Bird Lake.
Developed by chef Lorin Peters, Cookie Rich offers a twist on classic cookies. Each bite-sized portion comes with a matched filling that boosts its flavor. Options include: birthday and sprinkle cream cheese, chocolate chip and dark chocolate fudge, lemon and lemon pudding, and toasted coconut and salted caramel.
"I tell [people who haven't tried them] to imagine a big bite out of the softest cookie with a dollop of filling and that's what you will get," Peters told CulutreMap Austin. "The dome shape allows me to capture what I love most about a big fat cookie: the soft texture in the middle."
Peters brings an impressive resume to the project. Prior to launching a cookie business, the Austin native and UT alum worked for 10 years as a savory chef at a number of prominent restaurants on both coasts, including chef de partie at the French Laundry, chef Thomas Keller's legendary three-star Michelin restaurant in Yountville, California. She had been working at Juniper before losing her job due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Like many others, I found myself unemployed and the future of the restaurant industry in question,” Peters says in a statement. “Not knowing when things would pick back up, I decided to take fate into my own hands and create something of my own, something that everyone would be able to enjoy no matter what the pandemic or future might bring. I wanted to reinvent something that hadn’t changed in years, and the cookie was just that.”
Forced to pivot, Peters turned to sweets and began experimenting with different flavor combinations that ultimately became Cookie Rich. She launched the business in December and has been growing it steadily ever since. Her fine-dining background is reflected in the quality of ingredients she uses in her recipes, according to a release. The cookies' diminutive size and slick packaging make them utterly Instagrammable.
Of course, shipping across the country comes at a price. A dozen cookies cost $33 if picked up in Austin; the price jumps to $69 on Goldbelly.
Cookie Rich is now available nationwide.
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Photo by Richard Casteel, courtesy of IDG