Last October, when my mind and stomach were all aflutter with the delights of National Cookie Month, Earle and I took a nice trip to the quaint town of Phoenixville, PA, not even a half hour drive from Philadelphia. We were there to meet Chad and Theresa Williams, married proprietors of The Handcrafted Cookie Company, a charming bakery, innovative food concept, and all-around wonderland of sweetness.
Both Chad and Theresa are extremely passionate about food - creating the best possible products using the freshest, most all-natural ingredients available (using Dutch Valley Foods as much as possible) with a healthy dose of flavor and panache. With formal training in both culinary arts and hospitality management, Chad spent most of his earlier career in corporate catering while Theresa works for a pharmaceutical firm in addition to managing the demands of the business. Handcrafted officially opened in January of 2009, but the two spent plenty of time thinking, planning, and prepping what would become their first foray into small business ownership. When asked about the inception of their idea, Theresa explained, "Our initial thought was to open a restaurant...but we were just a little scared to start out that way. So we started thinking about something food-related, along the lines of what we wanted to do but just a little bit smaller. And we came up with this idea. Who doesn't love cookies? And we wanted to do something a little healthier too."
What's doubly interesting about Handcrafted is not just that their cookies are yummy AND free of preservatives and additives; the amount of innovation and experimentation that goes into everything from the flavor combos, the menu offerings, and the business model is awe-inspiring. Not only a retail bakery with a bit of customer space, THCC sells ready-to-bake cookie dough available in all of their original flavors: mintnight dreams (fresh mint chocolate cookie with white and dark chocolate chips), blueberry bliss oatmeal, chocolate hotties (chocolate cookie with jalapenos and white chocolate chips), mocha coconut, lavender vanilla, and chocolate cherry cordials - plus 10 more varieties. The cookie dough is not only frozen but formed into little rounds for easy baking and, more importantly, easy consumption. Great for parties, impromptu guests, or just when you want a couple cookies without the temptation of eating a whole freshly prepared batch. Besides their cookies, Chad and Theresa offer brownies, sticky buns, cookie dough pops, cookie cakes, ice cream cookie sandwiches, molten cookie pie, and cookie dough cheesecake. Seriously? Just the mere thought of molten cookie pie sent Earle and I into sugar rush shockwaves of desire. "We approach our menu the way we approach our cooking - try to make it different and bring flavors together in interesting ways," explained Theresa.
After the jump, read about how the two handle work/life balance, the awesome power of bacon, and what they would do if Cookie Monster unexpectedly stepped foot in their shop.
oatmeal peanut butter cup - moist, chewy, nutty, chocolatey goodness
During our meeting, I was dying to know who the mad scientist was, coming up with all of their interesting menu items and flavor options. I imagined a small Keebler-like elf was chained up in the basement somewhere, or a crazed schemer, a la The Brain. "It's all this one here," said Chad, pointing to Theresa. Smiling, Theresa answered, "If I’m in a long meeting I’ll dream different flavors up…then I go back to Chad and say how can we make this and this taste good together?"
mintnight dreams - a blast of mint with undertones of chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. God bless them.
Seriously, these people are taste wizards, constantly coming up with new and tasty temptations. I just saw one of their tweets about a special german chocolate cake cookie...sigh. Chad and Theresa even let us in on a little secret cookie that's currently in development: bacon maple. Holy spumoni...why does bacon make everything so much better? Even though I can't convince Earle to make me homemade bacon chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast because "bacon doesn't belong in sweets," (pshah, of COURSE it does) the idea of a bacon maple cookie sure did perk up his ears.
The day of the interview we were lucky enough to try classic chocolate chip, blueberry bliss oatmeal, honey nutsies, chocolate hotties, and Handcrafted's own signature hot chocolate. And for our holiday party last month we offered guests a sampling of classic chocolate chip, mintnight dreams, lavender vanilla (their second most popular cookie), and oatmeal peanut butter cup. I've been wracking my brain to come up with the most descriptive, dynamic, Food Network-worthy adjectives to describe the party in your mouth, without having to say "their cookies are a party in your mouth." As you can see, I have failed epically. The lavender vanilla is sweet and chewy, with nice lavender hints that make you swoon. Classic chocolate chip is an ooey-gooey variation on the ultimate cookie; decadent and indulgent - perfect as an end of day treat or for shooting a swift middle finger to your diet.
lavender vanilla is charmingly delicate and sweet
Naturally I wanted to learn more from Chad and Theresa about the challenges, headaches, and ups and downs of starting their business. (I always focus on the negative, no?) For example, how do they spend so much time together without going batty? I guess they must like each other a little. Chad explained, "80 hours a week, it can be tough sometimes, doing everything together, managing the store, grocery shopping, feeding the cat." "But it's totally worth it," chimed in Theresa. A majority of their time and heartache was spent ensuring their recipes were scaled up for retail. "We made tons of cookie dough before we were able to take our small recipes and convert them to the amount of cookies we needed to make, but even then sometimes the amount of spices or ingredients just weren't quite right," said Theresa. "And then you have the normal challenges - dealing with the Board of Health, you never know what's going to happen with them - then plumbing, and getting all of the fixtures and furniture installed and assembled," added Chad.
classic chocolate chip, a deliciously good time
Okay so enough downers, how about some fun stuff? First up, the inevitable: if you were a cookie, what kind would you be? Chad jumped in immediately, saying Theresa would be the chocolate hottie. "She's got some of that spiciness going on." And Theresa's thoughts on Chad? "He'd be the chocolate cherry cordial - you're tart," she said, facing him. Chad slightly disagrees: "I'd really like to be the bacon one." And what would happen if Cookie Monster unexpectedly walked in, set to ransack the joint? "We'd probably just start throwing dough at him...and run for help," laughed Theresa. But Chad was a bit more excited at the prospect. "I'd be pretty proud if he walked in here."
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Order online or stop in:
The Handcrafted Cookie Company
24 S. Main Street
Phoenixville, PA 19460
phone 484.921.4934
Wed/Thurs: 4pm - 8pm
Fri: 4pm - 10pm
Sat: 10am - 10pm
Sun: 10am - 4pm
I'm completely in love with the lavender vanilla cookies. Sadly, I moved out of the Phoenixville area for the city and I haven't found a replacement. Now I must rely on the occasional trip there.
A friend highly recommends pairing the cookies with Brown Cow ice cream and it is as fantastic as it sounds!
Posted by: Sarah | 01/22/2010 at 05:17 PM
We're regular customers of Handcrafted Cookie Co and you really can taste the difference in the quality of the ingredients.
Posted by: Dave | 01/22/2010 at 08:07 PM