After what may feel like the longest first week of a New Year in modern history, you may have abandoned your Chicago-style beef bowl diet and sought sweet comfort with cookies, cakes or pies.
Twisted Cookie is way ahead of you. The bakery, with locations in suburban Forest Park west of the city and in the Thompson Center food court in the Loop, does indeed make cookies. The bakery’s twist though means inspiration is taken from all desserts. So there are cupcakes as cookies, pies as cookies and more, including milkshakes blended with cookie-pie hybrids.
“I’d like to say my signature item is the cupcake cookie, but the cookie pies are really up there as far as most popular,” said owner and head baker Joana Fischer. “We do a cookie crust, but when we do the apple pie, we fill it with fresh apple, and put streusel on top. So when you bite into it, it tastes exactly like apple pie, but in the shape of a cookie. You can hold it and walk with it, because it’s a cookie.”
The cookies are big, with most measuring 4 inches across. The bakery offers the cookie pies in four flavors. Three staples include apple, pecan and triple berry. The fourth flavor rotates. Currently it’s churro. So it’s a cookie, inspired by a pie, inspired by the fried, cinnamon-sugar pastry from Mexico.
Fischer has also just launched an inaugural cookie contest — inspired by the baiduhai Holiday Cookie Contest, she said. Home bakers can win a $75 gift basket, and also hopefully keep Fischer’s bakers busy too.
“I have a staff of bakers under me,” said Fischer. She employs eight people, including four bakers. “Because of the holidays, we were swamped, thank goodness. Now I figured we have the time to challenge people to be creative.”
Cookie contest participants have until Feb. 1 to submit one recipe, inspired by the Twisted Cookie menu. Fischer and her bakers will make and taste the recipes. She hasn’t decided how many.
“People don’t realize how labor-intensive it can be,” said Fischer.
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“After the fact, I might say ‘oh my God, whose bright idea was this?'” she added laughing.
It’s a fun way to interact with customers, she said. “It helps us too, because it challenges us as bakers again to get creative after the New Year.”
The cookie contest winner will be announced March 1 through the bakery’s Facebook and Instagram pages, where you can find full details.
Meanwhile Twisted Cookie is open seven days a week at its original location in Forest Park, which opened in 2017, and weekdays at the Thompson Center. That location opened just three months ago.
“We’re the only ones open in the food court,” said Fischer. “The building is closed and only open to employees.”
The building houses the state of Illinois government offices and was one of the busiest hubs of the Pedway, before the coronavirus pandemic closures. The food court restaurants included big fast-food chains, from Arby’s to Taco Bell, but independents too. City Rock Korean Kitchen, Ruby’s Soul Food Kitchen and Lito’s Empanadas have closed there, among others; but those businesses have main restaurants open elsewhere.
“It was really nerve-wracking with the investment at Thompson and it still is,” said Fischer. “The building management there has been wonderful and is trying to support us. They said let’s try with traffic from some of the employees that are here. It’s not a significant amount, because everyone’s gone basically, but there are a few. It’s just a way to start, and when things start to get back to normal some people will have an idea that we’re there at least. It’s a very slow climb, but we took a chance.”
Originally, she planned to have a baker on premises, but for now they transport items from the Forest Park store, where they offer curbside pickup. You can call either location to order. At the food court, the sole employee will bring your cookies up to the LaSalle Street entrance.
“Our business took a substantial hit because of COVID,” said Fischer. Last holiday season she was doing events every weekend outside of the store, she said. “That was all shut down, so we lost that revenue stream. I also lost all of our catering, because we did a lot of offices.”
Yet people still came for cookies.
“The amazing thing is that people were still coming to support us,” said Fischer. “That was the only bright spot of 2020.”
She estimates business dropped about 30%, but Fischer remains optimistic.
“I’m not a restaurant, so I’m not a high ticket item,” she said. “It’s a comfort food. People treat themselves with a cookie or a shake or ice cream or coffee. It’s doable. People seem to like their sweets.”
7401 Madison St., Forest Park; 708-689-8029. Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph St.; 312-929-4960. twistedcookie.com
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