Outstanding Cookie 2009: Desserts on Us Laceys® Almond & Dark Chocolate Cookies

Chocolate is an indulgence for many, but for Emran Essa, owner of Desserts on Us, Inc. and creator of Laceys feather-light cookies, it is a necessity. “We originally made these cookies for Hickory Farms,” explains Essa, a former accountant who started his business making baklava because he couldn’t find it in Arcata, Calif. “We were selling the baklava to them and they wanted a cookie,” he continues. So in 1995, Essa’s company set out to make a great cookie using ingredients they already had for its baklava—almonds, butter, flour and sugar. The first cookie was a wafer-thin almond concoction held together with toffee, but no chocolate. “It was delicious, but it would break easily,” recalls Essa. “We needed something to hold it together so we added dark chocolate. It worked out well—the almonds complemented the chocolate.”

Desserts on Us first sold the cookies to Hickory Farms, but in 1996 started making them under its own Laceys label. In 1997 the company added a Macadamia & Milk Chocolate variety. Laceys are made with Californian almonds, butter, cream and San Francisco’s Ghirardelli chocolates. Desserts on Us also makes private-label baklava, cookies and baklabar (baklava dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with pistachios).

The cookies are available in 2-, 8-, 10-, 18- and 25-ounce packages as well as a 20-ounce gift box that contains one container of each type of Laceys cookie. Suggested retail price: $7.99/2 10-ounce. dessertsonus.com.—D. Moss