Slabtown Cookie Co.’s Summer Magic & Kegger

Tastemaker

By Lynda Wheatley | Sept. 12, 2020

While the rest of us spent the early days of the pandemic climbing the walls, watching Netflix, and baking cookies, Katie Otterman was doing the same. Only she — a single mom of a 6-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter — turned that latter boredom buster into a booming business, one that started as a Michigan Cottage Food Law-approved cooler of cookies for sale in her Traverse City front yard … and is now also a commercial enterprise serving nearly a half-dozen local retailers (plus the original multitude of cooler-sniffing locals).

She told Northern Express that she credits the local folks’ support for her astonishing two-month trajectory, but we’re here to tell you, she’s wrong; their word-of-mouth marketing is due entirely to her out-of-this-world crispy-chewy-tender-and-totally-inspired cookie creations.

We stopped by to sample some last week, and let’s just say that “Oh my Gawd!” accompanied by giant saucer eyes and racoon-like pawing was the universal reaction to both treats we tried: the Summer Magic (a truly magically delicious cookie made with Lucky Charms cereal and white chocolate chips, $4 each) and a Kegger (an incredibly moist dark chocolate beer brownie topped with more chocolate and crushed peanut butter cups, $5).

Otterman begins baking every day at 5am and each morning reveals the day’s menu on Slabtown Cookie Co.’s Instagram feed. Keep up and order there, or stroll to her no-contact self-service stand at 228 Monroe St. (open 10am–8pm daily) and behold thy cooler bounty. Cash and Venmo accepted.