Hawai‘i’s own The Maui Cookie Lady, known for its massive, flavor-packed cookies, has been nominated for USA Today’s 10Best Readers' Choice Awards for the first time.
The Maui Cookie Lady made the 20 semifinalists on Monday and is up for a national vote to be the best of the best.
The public can vote for the best cookie shop until June 9, and the winner will be announced on June 18.
Mitzi Toro, the cookie lady herself, said she was speechless when she found out the news.
“I almost fell off my chair when I saw the email come through,” she said.
Located in Makawao, Toro and her husband, Joey, founded the local gourmet bakery in 2012 as a fundraiser to thank the local nurses for taking care of her late father.
Since then, it’s grown from a farmers market gem into a nationally adorned shop, shipping sweet treats across the country and earning recognition from celebrities like actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and rapper Ludacris.
But Toro’s love for baking stems back to her high school days. She recalled her English teacher passing out cookies on the first day of school. She was a freshman at that time.
“I just remember that moment of calmness and how happy it made me when I was so nervous that day,” she said. "I asked for the recipe, and I have been baking ever since.”
Her shop is small — about 500 square feet — but the cookies speak for themselves. The baker’s best sellers include the “White Chunk Mac Nut,” featuring Maui-grown macadamia nuts and Hawaiian sea salt, and “Da Half Baked,” an 8-ounce cookie stuffed with Reese’s, Snickers and Oreos.
Toro said she doesn’t expect to win the top recognition, but is happy to be nominated.
“We're so small, and so it's exciting to see that we're on somebody's radar,” she said.
