You may have noticed the cookie craze taking over the region, and amongst this craze is a Huntsville grown business that we are particularly smitten over, Maddie's Cookie Company.
Maddie Cimino, owner of Maddie's Cookie Company, never meant to start a business, she just started baking for family and friends her senior year of high school. That following January she started to sell the cookies on Instagram. Her first cookie she started selling was the Peanut Butter Monster Cookie. From there she started testing more and more recipes, many of the ones she started out with in 2020 are the ones she still uses today. As Maddie says, "They just worked." When Covid hit, her sales grew. She began doing porch pick ups and when those took off, she started looking at spaces downtown for the business. She opened a storefront in their family storage unit downtown in May 2020.
"I love that baking is so precise," Maddie remarks. "It's that precision that allows you to go in and create it over and over again."
The texture, the flavors, the size - Maddie has her recipe down pat and whether it's specialty ingredients or that local touch, you can taste the difference. "I think the cookies are unique because of the ingredients we use and because they are truly handmade." Her most popular flavor is Lemon. "My mom and I joke that it is a blessing and curse that Lemon is the favorite because it is the most intricately made. A huge amount of lemons, zest, and juice goes into each batch." The most inventive cookie she feels is the S'mores cookie. There was a lot of testing and thinking through the best way to arrange the ingredients that went into creating the S'mores cookie.
The biggest challenge has been learning how to market the cookies and get into more and more retailers. "You can always order from us or visit us at Greene Street Market, but they are consistently available at our local retailers like Walker's Market." Maddie continues, "We just launched the website so we are hoping to focus on that and begin shipping outside of Huntsville as well."
Maddie knows how instrumental the Huntsville community has been in her business. "The Huntsville community has helped my business in the biggest way." She beams, "We would not be here if not for this community and the people who supported me when I was only 18 years old. The Huntsville community puts a lot of emphasis on shopping local and that has been part of this success."
You can order at Maddiescookiecompany.com and pick up is downtown. Catering orders and corporate gifting can also be found on the website.