Meet the Holiday's New ‘Duke of Cookies’
Working@Duke crowns a winner of the 2015 employee cookie contest
Working@Duke’s newest holiday “Duke of Cookies” has gone from earning “Best Decorated” creation in last year’s baking contest to royalty in 2015.
The winner of “Best Overall” cookie in the Working@Duke employee holiday cookie contest is Debbie Suggs, a senior analyst in the Office of Information Technology. She secured 65 out of a potential 100 points as determined by four judges representing cookie aficionados from Duke.
Suggs’ “Browned Butter Maple Cookies” came shaped as houses and trees covered in snow and won over judges with a sweetened taste of the butter, which is purposefully overcooked to caramelize the ingredient.
“If you wait until the butter starts to turn brown, it smells really good and the taste matches,” Suggs said. “I love this time of year to make cookies.”
Her winning recipe was adapted from Tutti-Dolci.com, which she found by searching for ideas based around browned butter, then decorated the cookies with royal icing. Suggs was well prepared for the contest – she enjoys decorating cakes outside of work. Last year, she submitted sugar cookies in the contest.
As this year’s crowned Duke of Cookies, Suggs will receive a grand prize of a $100 gift card to Duke Stores. In addition to Suggs, judges also selected two other winners from 19 total entries:
Best Tasting
Hilary Campbell, legal fellow with University Counsel, won with “Winter Mint Crinkles,” adapted from a recipe by Betty Crocker and featuring a mint topping inspired by a Better Homes and Gardens recipe.
Best Decorated
Heather Mabry, application analyst with Duke Health Technology Solutions, impressed judges with her visual creation of “Peanut Butter Caramel ‘Reindeer’ Cookies,” complete with pretzel antlers and a red M&M nose.
All three winners will receive a Working@Duke coffee mug and printed recipe books featuring the recipes of this year’s cookie contest entries. You can download a digital copy of recipes here.
The four volunteer judges were:
- Amy Unell, arts engagement, Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts, Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative and Career Center
- Sonja Foust, senior program coordinator, Office of News and Communications
- Jody McLeod, executive chef, Duke Dining
- Kathy Peterson, administrative coordinator with Information Initiative at Duke and “Working@Duke superfan”
“We saw a lot of original entries and well-balanced cookies with wonderful tastes,” McLeod said. “You could tell a lot of love and passion went into them, so it’s good to see the Christmas spirit taking hold through baking.”
See some behind-the-scenes images from the contest in this video: