There are people on this Island for whom no greater cookie exists than the stuffed marvels baked at Karen and Juan Morel’s Nesconset facility and sold via Instagram under the name My Cookie Dealer. But that is presumably because they’ve never eaten something even greater, namely a My Cookie Dealer cookie that is warm. Which is why MCD’s first retail shop, a pop-up which opened last weekend at Riverhead’s Tanger Outlets, elicited a predictable stampede.
“It was amazing, we had a line out the door,” said Karen Morel of her store, currently open Fridays through Sundays only. Transitioning to bricks-and-mortar dealing had never been a priority, but after a Tanger employee saw the bakery featured on TV — it could have been anywhere, “The Doctors,” “Good Morning America” — the mall approached the Morels with the opportunity. “And the more I started to think about it, I thought, why not? People are asking for it.”
While all MCD cookies are still baked in Nesconset, the pop-up functions as a handy warming station. The Morels and their team will gladly heat up any cookies on request, and as of this weekend, such requests can even be made contactless.
“We are launching a very fun, Covid-friendly ordering system,” Morel noted, explaining that patrons will be able to order cookies online with the option to have them held for pickup in the store’s special heated lockers accessible via QR code. “It’s a really great system, you don’t have to wait in line.”
MCD fanatics can also now get milk with their cookies — served in school cafeteria-style 8-ounce cartons — as well as hand-squeezed lemonade and coffee from Brooklyn Roasters, which has created a special flavor just for My Cookie Dealer. Meanwhile, the Morels remain focused on their cookie-loving clientele, producing new and tantalizing flavors just about every week. Only some are sold in Riverhead (“you can’t have 18 flavors at a pop-up”), but all are available for purchase on Instagram (@mycookiedealer), where business remains robust.
What’s been hot lately? “We’ve been doing a lot of crinkle cookies, and also colored ones,” said Morel. “We did a really fun blueberry cookie too. The batter was bright blue.”
The My Cookie Dealer pop-up is at 501 Tanger Mall Dr. in Riverhead, mycookiedealerpopup.com. Opening hours are Friday through Sunday only, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
