Sweet Stuff: Katie’s Cookies

On the Lebanon pedestrian mall

The cookies are not plain, ordinary, nor small. They are bigger than palm-sized, with frostings and toppings that add verticality or ooze over the sides. A peanut butter cookie, a special of the day, is graced with a maple glaze and a sprinkling of crumbled bacon.

Katie’s Cookies is among the latest of Upper Valley businesses that has moved itself from the farmers’ market to a brick and mortar location. You’ll find it on the pedestrian mall in Lebanon NH, just next to Salt hill Pub in the space formerly occupied by the ice cream shop, Twice on Sundae.

The Upper Valley apparently loves cookies. Since its March 16, 2023 opening, customers have lined up for the sweets; the record thus far occurred last Saturday, when Katie’s sold 1,446 cookies in a single day.

Katie Boardman, who lives in Lebanon, is the owner and baker. The mother of six children, she says she spent years attending her kids’ sporting and church events, often with cookies in tow. The cookies brought compliments. Last summer she started selling cookies at the Lebanon Farmers’ Market as a way of easing into and testing her dreams of owning a cookie business. Shortly thereafter, her husband Casey Boardman happened to pass by the then-empty storefront on the Lebanon mall. He alerted his wife and the decision to launch the store was made.

A recent post on the business’s Facebook page showed a platter of croissants and pains au chocolat for sale. They were baked by one of Katie’s sons who, while an exchange student in France, lived with and learned from a professional French baker. For now, the French pastries will be just an occasional offering.

The menu changes daily, with the one constant, of course— Katie’s original-recipe chocolate chip cookie (photo, above). Even for you, dear readers, I could not (for dietary reasons) sample freely. I did, however, bring home a paper envelope filled with my classic go-to—a single chocolate chip cookie that I am at this moment enjoying for breakfast. It’s a keeper, and coincidentally, is Katie’s favorite too.

For hours, cookie menu, and more information, follow Katie’s Cookies on its Facebook page.

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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.