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Up until a few weeks ago, I’d never eaten a cookie quite like what Cabot home baker Austin Henderson of Austin’s Cookies makes. Truth be told, these cookies just don’t look like my thing. But, as I quickly found out, they are.
“They’re as big as your palm and as tall as your pinky,” says Henderson. And they come in a variety of wild and crazy flavors, filled with items like candy, cake, icing, or pie. She continues, “On a weekly basis, we aim to have anywhere from 20 to 30 cookie flavors ready to order with approximately 75 flavors under our belt. Flavors vary depending on the season.”
For Henderson, inspiration to start her own baking business came at a young age.
“I spent so many Christmases in the kitchen, making cookies with my mom, one of my absolute greatest memories. So, of course, baking in the kitchen with my own little girl at my side is something I have dreamed about from a very young age. With Austin’s Cookies, I get the enjoyment of owning a small business and the freedom to be in charge of my own destiny and give my customers insanely good cookies every week. It’s almost too good to be true,” says Austin Henderson.
For my order, which was delivered right to my front door, I opted for the Simple Snickerdoodle, Dark Chocolate Sea Salt, Buzzy Bean, Strawberry Milkshake, Goldie Locks, The OG, The Jess-Oatmeal Cream Pie, and the Banana Cream Pie. Each cookie costs $4 and comes individually wrapped and stickered up. Given the sheer enormity of a cookie, it’s a great value. You’ll be tempted to rip open each one and go to town. Don’t. The key to these cookies is the warm-up. That includes either 10-15 seconds in the microwave or 3-4 minutes in an air fryer at 350 degrees. Follow these simple directions, then be prepared to be wowed, as was the case with my Banana Cream Pie. This cookie comes filled with banana twin cakes, folded in Nila Wafers, and a vanilla icing that oozes out after a heat up and knife down the middle. It all seems a little over-the-top, but trust me, it works.
Scanning the Austin’s Cookies website for flavor options is almost as enjoyable as eating the cookies. Almost.
“Creating new cookies can be the most stressful part of this business. We try to stay relevant and ahead of the social media cookie company world by wandering the Walmart aisles looking for new flavor inspirations,” says Henderson.
Currently, the most popular cookies include The OG, a straightforward chocolate chip offering, and the Birthday Cake.
“It’s hard to say that those are for sure the top cookies because The OG and Birthday Cake are Austin’s Cookies originals from when we started in the summer of 2019. Our most recent drop from November resulted in Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie being the top cookie with 50 being sold,” says Henderson.
For Austin and her husband, Kyle, who is also instrumental in the business, the holiday season marks an especially busy time.
“October to Christmas is definitely our most busy times, except for Black Friday weekend. During this time, we try to pump out plenty of holiday-inspired cookies. Right now, we just released our pie flavors which include Chocolate Pie, Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie, Cherry Pie, and Spicy Oatmeal Apple Pie. Some of our past Christmas flavors include Buried Cherries, Peppermint Cookies and Cream, and White Chocolate Dipped Gingerdoodles,” says Henderson.
Great cookies aside, let’s just hope Arkansas can keep this family a little while longer.
“We are an Air Force family, so we will likely move and take our little cookie business with us until we can settle down and open a storefront one day.”
With cookies like these, the sky’s the limit for Austin’s Cookies.
Did You Know?
Go to www.austinscookies.com to order the cookies. They reload new flavors and quantities every Friday at 9 a.m. Also, follow them on social media (@austinscookies) to find out how you can get early access and special deals. If you have a new flavor idea or want to do a bulk order or a custom order (like for a gender reveal) you can send a message on Facebook or Instagram or be old fashioned and email: austinscookiecompany@gmail.com.
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