Chicago Entrepreneur Recreates Classic CPS Lunchroom Cookies

Joanna Hernandez | January 7, 2025, 6:50 pm

Do you remember those buttery lunchroom cookies? The simple shortbread snack was a staple in hundreds of Chicago public schools; they sold for just a couple of cents for years.

Now, a local entrepreneur is recreating the classic treat.

WTTW News headed to Cheryl Crockett’s cookie headquarters in the Medical District to see how the cookies are made.

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“It was very familiar to me, and a recipe kind of came my way, and I thought I’d try it out,” Crockett said. “Unsuccessful the first time, but the second time they came out great, and I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart, and I thought maybe I’ll sell these.”

Crockett Cookies was born.

A South Side native, Crockett remembers the joy of biting into a lunchroom cookie.

“We would anticipate the days where they would be selling the lunchroom cookies,” Crockett said. “We call the lunchroom ladies the cafeteria ladies. Mom and Dad gave us a little extra money to buy those, so we would be excited for cookie day because we could smell them from our classroom.”

Crockett took her fond childhood memories and turned them into a business after spending 20 years in corporate America. She said her big career change started in her kitchen before she branched out to open her own space in the Medical District.

Every day, 5,000 cookies are freshly baked there.

Crockett said one of the things she wanted to do was cut back on the sugar so that people could really taste the butter and freshness. And, she added, each cookie has a staple fingerprint indentation.

“I package them this way … so when people go the store, they see the three fingerprints, and it brings back memories, it’s nostalgic,” Crockett said.

It has been 11 years since Crockett Cookies launched, but for Crockett, the memory of securing her first account to sell her cookies still brings joy.

“I decided to try to get them into one Walgreens, and I went back to the same location, kinda threw on the old corporate suit, and I left samples for the manager,” Crockett said. “It took about two weeks, and I was ready! We set up a meeting that week and I walked out of there with an order for 200 packages of cookies.”

Crockett Cookies are now sold in more than 300 stores across the Chicago area.

“It feels really good when the public likes them or if I go somewhere and someone mentions, ‘Oh, I buy those all the time,’” Crockett said.