Cookies for You: A Taste of Home

The modest front of Cookies for You hides a taste of your past: Grandma's cookies, Mom's kitchen, and lots of smiles. At first glance it looks like a quick stop with cookies, lots of cookies, but a better name for this little spot might be "Cookies and More!"

Cookies for You is located at 424 S. 3rd St. in Bismarck, ND, near Kirkwood Mall and the Bismarck Civic Center. Open on Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., it offers cookies, bars, caramel rolls and beverages for breakfast or snacks, and a full menu of sandwiches and soups. Prices are very low for the quality of the food. One large cookie is $1.00 ($1.25 for one with nuts), or $4 for 6, and $9 for a dozen. Sandwiches, including turkey, roast beef, ham, chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad and BLTs are each $3.79, or can be made on a fresh warm croissant for $.99 more. They have daily soups for $1.79 (cup) or $1.99 (bowl). Chips, toast, and salads are also available. Each day has a different combo special, including a sandwich, soup or salad, chips, pickle and a cookie, for a mere $5.50. A full range of non-alcoholic beverages is also available.

If you choose to eat in, there are four small tables with comfortable chairs, and a corner couch. Free delivery is available on orders or $15 or more, and they also offer nationwide shipping. In addition to individual meals, they offer catering for meetings, either lunch or snacks (cookie, of course!), and also gift baskets of cookies, balloons, mugs, and much more. They can decorate their frosted cookies with your business name or logo, or your graduate's picture, for any occasion, and they make gift tins, baskets, balloon and cookie bouquets for every occasion. If you need to host a luncheon or bring a dessert, they'll be more than happy to make up a tray for you, and believe me, your guests will be happy too.

But the biggest draw will always be the cookies. These are not the little petit fors or madeleines of a European patisserie; these are the kind of cookies your grandmother made, if you were very very lucky. All your childhood favorites are here: Chocolate chip, peanut butter, ginger cookies, snicker doodles, sugar cookies, frosted and decorated sugar cookies that vary seasonally, oatmeal cookies with raisins, macadamia nut cookies, mud pies, and more. The bars include peanut butter crispy bars (also called Scotcheroos), brownies, cheesecake brownies, turtle bars, caramel bars, and more, depending on the cook's mood. My personal favorite are the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, although the scotcheroos are a close second. Jeani Borchert, an archaeologist with the state Department of Transportation, says she comes for the frosted sugar cookies. "One is enough, and I feel better for the rest of the day."

Only a strong person can withstand the case of baked delights. A local construction worker was taking a coffee break there when I stopped in, and when I asked what his favorite was, he told me that they all were, but he was trying very hard to just stick to the coffee. With her ever present smile, the waitress filled his cup and said she'd bring him a cookie any time.

Cookies for You branched out to Minot, ND, about 80 miles north of Bismarck, so the same medley of favorites can be found there as well. It wouldn't surprise me if it became a much larger franchise in the future, and would probably be a great investment. I've sampled cookies from "mall shops" like Mrs. Fields' and Nestle Tollhouse, and for my money, Cookies for You beats them all hands-down. When I want a quick lunch or a good cookie, you know where I'll be going.