Now THAT'S a Cookie!
A friend of mine is somewhat of a foodie and asked if I wanted to take a little trip to pick up a special cookie. A special cookie? What’s so special about it?
I couldn’t understand how a cookie was special enough to take a trip for, until I read about this place. Gideon’s Bakehouse in Orlando, Florida has quite the reputation for their sweet delicacies. Located at the East End Market in Orlando, Gideon’s is what I would consider a “hole in the wall” establishment, because unless someone told you to go there, you probably would pass it by. The place itself is small, but the lines aren’t!
How small is small? 286 square feet, to be exact. But don’t let their size mislead you; Their cookies have been called the best cookies in Orlando, Florida, the United States, and the Planet Earth from publications ranging from New York Times to The Boston Globe, Sports Illustrated, Delish.com and countless more. Don’t just take my word for it. Go take a look at their menu, and pay special attention to their “limited edition” cookies that they offer several times a year.
Each one of their cookies weighs in at a half pound each and takes up to 24-hours to make. To top it off, these cookies are in high demand! They have a strict limit of 6 cookies for walk-in traffic, but you can order larger amounts for pickup with 72 hours notice. In addition, if you follow their Instagram page, you may just catch a “special announcement” where they will offer one-off creations for a limited time. See below for the special BIG announcement that was made the day that I arrived.
This journey in particular, was to go pick up their “Frankenstein” cookie, which is only offered during the month of October. Let me quote from their web site:
Our most popular and irresponsible Cookie of the Year! The Frankenstein is a Halloween month celebration, made from pieces parts of all the candies you want in your bag, and topped with M&M’s that we lovingly place on the top OCD style to be sure you get all the colors. Break it open and you’ll find crushed Oreo Double Stuff and Chocolate Pieces.
Before leaving Atlanta, I placed an order on Wednesday for pickup on Sunday morning. Some might call it a large order. All I knew was that if I was making an almost 1000 mile roundtrip for some cookies, I was going to have to make it worth my while.
The day that I arrived, I got an Instagram notification that a special edition was going to be offered the next day. There was just no way that I could pass up an opportunity to get my hands on this spectacle!
What’s this? Color bursting from the shadows of Gideon’s? That’s because our Pride can’t be contained! October is labeled LGBT History Month, and our one day a year Pride Yo-Yo Cookie has returned!! Chocolate Chip Cookies half dipped in Dark Chocolate, covered in Rainbow Crunch, and floating on a bed of Vanilla Buttercream!! This almost 1 and a 1/2 pound beast is a serious experience and comes with a WARNING! Do NOT try to eat more than an 1/8th of this at a time. We love you and have no wish to bring you harm.
This Saturday ONLY! Limit 2 Per Person (please don’t eat two). We have made 150 (225 pounds) of these gluttonous treasures, so get to @eastendmkt early and get crazy this weekend! First Come First Serve While Supplies Last. Sorry, No Holds.
After picking up the special on Saturday, we spent the rest of the day roaming around Disney Springs and taking in some of the “Orlando” experience. It’s not like you can go to Orlando without experiencing something Disney related, right? Although it’s nothing more than an outdoor shopping mall, it’s full of interesting places to shop and eat. In fact, they are about to open a new Gideon’s location here in the near future.
Come Sunday morning, it was time to wrap up the weekend and head home. Of course, the first stop was again at Gideon’s to pick up my main order that I had placed earlier in the week. We arrived just before they opened their doors and the line was already around the building. Luckily for us, we came to the realization that the line was for walk-in traffic, and that if you had placed a pre-order for pickup and paid online, you could bypass the line and go straight to the pickup counter. And just like that, the weekend was over and it was time to get back to reality.
At least I could ride a sugar high into the next work week! Now, about that diet…
