Crave Cookies is a young but growing national cookie bakery and flavored soda shop originally based out of Utah… and their first New Jersey location opens in Deptford on Wednesday October 25th.
I stopped in today (a day before the opening) and caught up with “very local” owner Steve, his daughter, and a representative from the Crave national team to learn more about the delicious cookie bakery. I got to see, hear, and taste what makes their cookie and flavored soda business a stand-out!
Before we get too far into this let me say that yes, Crave Deptford is officially open on Wednesday, at 10:30 am! But mark in your calendar that the Grand Opening celebration is set for this Saturday, where they are giving away a free chocolate chip cookie to those stop in… well as long as your one of the first 1,500 folks stopping in that is!
The new Crave Cookies Deptford is located in the Deptford Landing shopping center on Clements Bridge Road (Sam’s Club and Walmart)
Very specifically, Crave is directly next to the Five Guys location.. which should prove to be a nice one-two burger and dessert visit for many!
Crave Cookies – Filled With Deliciousness
Crave Cookies offers a weekly rotating menu of 6 cookies… with their signature chocolate chip always available. This week’s versions include The Twix which is based on the candy bar, the Snickety Split which is a chocolate lovers delight and even features a Ghirardelli caramel drizzle!
One distinctive twist to the Crave Cookie’s lineup is they feature many varieties that are stuffed with a flavored cream filling… or even a delicious spread.
As an example, today I ate the “Better Than Pumpkin Pie” cookie, which is a pastry sugar dough cookie with a pumpkin pie spread on top. a beautiful prepared mound of whipped cream, ginger snaps and candied praline pecans.
I get the name. It may actually have been better than pumpkin pie.
For the New Jersey locations of Crave Cookies, brothers Steve and Fred Vicario have teamed up to open several Crave locations in the Philadelphia market.
Deptford is the first to open of course. Within a month another location is set to open on Berlin-Cross Keys Road in Gloucester Township, and the brothers have a third planned for Northeast Philadelphia on Roosevelt Blvd. (PhillyGrub)
42Freeway first brought news of the two New Jersey stores back in may of this year, and since then I’ve been keeping up with Steve on the status of the stores build out and openings (Cross Keys, Deptford)
Crave is a young and fast growing national franchise and in our area we are fortunate to have very local ownership.
Steve currently lives in Washington Township and for many years his family lived right in Deptford… where his first location is opening!
Steve and his family also love the Jersey Shore and he has been spending summers at Cape May County beaches for all of his life.
And when I visited the Deptford location today… there was Steve in the back kitchen area moving trays of cookies in and out of the on-site ovens. Yes it’s a national franchise but with very local ownership.
All of the cookies at Crave Cookies are fresh… mixed in the store, formed into cookies, baked in onsite ovens, and then topped and decorated all by the local employees
That being said the two brothers have found success in the past with other franchises in the area, and they are looking to grow the locations in the Philadelphia area… hopefully to make Crave Cookies a household name in the area.
Crave says they have over 100 recipes for their cookies. Thankfully for their employees, each week they have 6 different varieties available and then the choices are rotated each week.
I was fortunate enough to be able to come home today with a box of 6 Crave Cookies… one for each of this week’s signature flavors.
As mentioned I tried the Better Than Pumpkin which was amazing, and I also dove into the Snickety Split!
Both cookies where overflowing with flavors.. you can taste the high-quality ingredients. And they are BIG cookies. They look big in circumference, but then can also be very thick with icings and other toppings.
A single cookie is $4.50 and their are a variety of pack sizes. The Six-Pack is $21.50 and I am not exaggerating when I say it was surprising to me how heavy the box was!
Crave Loaded Sodas
Another unique twist to the brand’s offerings are their loaded sodas.
Crave Loaded sodas are flavored sodas where you initially pay for a name brand soda first, and then an additional small up charge for the flavor options.
We’re not talking “take a Coke and put some cherry syrup in it to make a cherry coke”. The Crave Loaded Soda flavor options are just as creative as the cookie options.
I did not get a chance to try the Loaded Sodas today, but as an example some of the flavors that are available at times are
- Fruity Dew (Mountain Dew, Mango Purée, Strawberry Purée)
- Summer Sweet (Dr. Pepper, Coconut, Watermelon)
- Southern Sunrise (Sprite, Strawberry, Watermelon, Peach)
Honestly the Loaded Sodas are an innovative idea and I don’t know of anyone that’s doing it at the level of Crave Cookies.. and I can see customers stopping in at times just to get their favorite Loaded Soda!
Crave Cookies Deptford is open:
- Mon-Thurs: 10:30am – 10pm
- Fri-Sat: 10:30am – 11:00pm
- Sun: 11:00am – 7:00pm
Links and Locations
Crave Cookies – Deptford
2000 Clements Bridge Rd #107
Deptford, NJ 08096
