The Cookie Man from Ladder 160!
This NYFD fireman, Richie Ahmed (Uncle Richie), loves to bake! He learned most of his tricks from his mother while growing up, but now enjoys creating cookies in the kitchen at his firehouse. All of his co-workers love when Richie is baking. We’re sure they don’t mind the smell of freshly baked cookies coming out of the oven. Everyone contributes to the gourmet meals at Ladder 160, but they always leave dessert to Richard! We were lucky enough to sample his famous PB&J cookies and a classic chocolate chip. Holey smokes (no pun intended)! We could not believe how tasty both flavors were. The PB&J literally tasted like the famous sandwich we all know and love. Richard uses Joyva jelly ring candies, grape jelly rings covered in chocolate, for the jelly center of the cookie. The chocolate encases the jelly, melting away during the baking process and leaving behind jelly that is perfectly intacked in the center of the cookie. He presents them cut in half so you can see for yourself how it resembles a PB&J sandwich. Our eyes got so big when we took the first bite! We couldn’t believe the taste sensation. All we needed was a cold glass of milk and we would have been transported back to the lunch table in elementary school. Richard said he tried many different kinds of jelly and ways to make the cookie, but it wasn’t until the jelly ring that the cookie became what it is today. It was even topped with large peanut butter chips which added an extra sweet crunch to each bite.
Our other cookies we sampled were his classic chocolate chip. It’s hard to perfect a chocolate chip cookie because we all have had so many varieties of them and everyone has very strong opinions since it’s the most celebrated cookie. They can be crispy, gooey, thin, thick, small, big, chocolate chunks or chips. We both agreed that Richard somehow found a way to make the perfect chocolate chip. The bottom was brown and crispy but the inside perfectly under baked. There was a generous amount of chocolate chips, enough for chocolate in every bite. The size was also perfection, you felt satisfied after just having one. They had the essence of every element needed for a classic chocolate chip cookie. They were just heaven.
Richard is planning on expanding his cookie baking to begin a business for himself. Along with the PB&J and chocolate chip, he also bakes sugar cookies, brownies, blondies, white chocolate macadamia cookies, cheesecake…you name it! We strongly encouraged him to start selling his cookies to the public because with cookies this good, everyone should have the chance to buy and eat them! After 7 years of baking in the firehouse, he’s perfected everything he makes!
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