Sunderland's signature pink slice snack has now been turned into a cookie

Washington-based Cookie Freaks has built up a loyal following during lockdown with its cookie deliveries across the North East, selling more than 10,000 cookies and cookie pies in recent weeks.

The family business has proved so successful with its cookies, which feature versions with Chocolate Orange, Crunchie bars, Smarties and more, that their weekend delivery slots book up soon after going live on their social media channels.

Now, in a nod to their Sunderland roots, they’ve used pink slices from city bakers Müllers to create a pink slice cookie.

Cookie Freaks is the brainchild of Kieron Donoghue and his daughter Macy, 20, who’s a baker.

After months of perfecting recipes, they launched their cookie stall at Tynemouth Market last September. It proved popular, but once the country went into lockdown, like many businesses they were unable to trade and had to adapt their business model.

Kieron explained: “We used to trade at Tynemouth Market every weekend and, rather than close down, we decided to do local deliveries instead. It’s not something we’d done before, but it’s been tremendously successful and we even have to turn people away because once the delivery slots are gone, they’re gone.

“It’s been a steep learning curve for us, but people seem to really like the service we provide. One of the nicest things has been people’s reactions when we do the deliveries. We leave them on the doorstep and step back and people have been so pleased to see us. They say it’s been the highlight of their weekends.”

Pink slices have also been bringing people joy in lockdown, with people making their own versions at home as part of the Mackem Bake Off.

Kieron, who also runs his own music label called Humble Angel Records, said: “We’re a Sunderland company so we wanted to do something that celebrated where we’re from and the pink slice is something that’s so associated with the area.”

The pink slice cookies will be available for delivery on the weekend of June 27 / 28. Ahead of their launch, Kieron and Macy shared an image of the cookie on Instagram, @wearecookiefreaks.

“It generated so much interest and was probably one of our best performing posts,” he explained.

It comes as Sunderland Echo has launched a #ShopLocal campaign to encourage people to use local businesses and boost trade as lockdown restrictions are lifted.

Speaking about how their business came about, Kieron said: “We noticed an increase in street food, and in particular sweet treats, in recent years but a lot of it was focused on tray bakes and doughnuts.

“We wanted to specialise in one thing, as I’m a firm believer in doing one thing and doing it well, and we saw a gap in the market for cookies.”

If you know of any local businesses who are doing great work during this difficult time you can contact the newsdesk on [email protected]

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