Thin Cookies opens in Hicksville
Chocolate chip cookies at Thin Cookies in Hicksville. Credit: Aisha Khwaja
Zohal Raja of Hicksville always loved baking. Strictly a hobby while she worked 9 to 5 in graphic design, she had plenty of time to play around in the kitchen when the pandemic hit. Fast-forward three years, Thin Cookies, which opened its doors in Hicksville, was born.
“I used to buy Tate’s cookies all the time,” Raja explained. “My husband made fun of me for liking them because they’re so crispy. One day, he asked if I could try to make a softer version.” Raja nailed them.
She started a small home business selling cookies, cupcakes and cheesecakes — but it was the cookies that took off. As the pandemic progressed, Raja realized she wanted “to do this cookie thing full time.” She quit her day job and set up kiosks at Broadway Mall and Smith Haven Mall for the 2021 holiday season. “My husband and I were having so much fun that we started taking on wholesale orders, and knocking on the doors of the restaurants,” she said.
When Raja outgrew her home kitchen, she graduated to shared incubator kitchen space in Long Island City. Now comes the Hicksville retail store, which is just around the corner from her home.
Raja is currently making three cookie flavors: chocolate chip, double chocolate chip, and Snickerdoodle, a cinnamon sugar cookie that “didn’t feel as obvious,” with its nostalgic, warm flavoring. Cookies are $7 for six, $13 for 12 and $25 for 24.
The cookies — paper thin and light, chewy and soft on the inside, crisp on the outside — are a refreshing departure from the market-saturated jumbo stuffed cookie trend.
“You can eat it in one sitting," Raja said. "It’s the closest thing to a simple cookie.”
Thin Cookies, 425 Jerusalem Ave., Hicksville, 516-744-6911, thincookiesny.com. Open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.
