THE FINICKY COOKIE
Hoppen Hierarchy:
★★★⭑
District: Home baker
Elaborately decorated cookies
Perfect For: Baked Goods
Standout Dishes: Sugar Cookie; Strawberry Cream Cookie
It’s ironic that Larissa Codr once turned down an opportunity to attend the Chicago Institute of Art. While she chose a different path, she’s still creating awe-inspiring artwork—just now it’s in edible form.
Larissa now owns The Finicky Cookie, where she makes sugar cookies that are so detailed, you’ll be tempted to hang them on the wall rather than eat them. These cookies have such precise lines, such perfectly-filled floods, and such straight edges it’s hard to believe one person is making them all by hand.
“To me, the perfect cookie is not only visually as perfect as possible—royal icing is my primary mode of media on the cookie—and it’s very finicky,” Larissa said on the Restaurant Hoppen podcast. “I don’t know how else to describe it.
“One spray of water can make a difference in how it sets and how it looks and how it turns out.”
That pain-staking attention to detail is unique, and it’s what makes The Finicky Cookie’s product stand out from the competition.
But it’s one thing to make a good-looking cookie—it takes a whole next level of talent to make it taste great. Thankfully, Larissa’s cookies pack as much punch with their flavor as they do their looks.
Each cookie starts with the same soft, buttery base. The dough is firm on the exterior, but tender and slightly crumbly on the inside. The flavor of the cookie is very vanilla-forward—sweet and slightly floral, which pairs brilliantly with the strong sweetness and a touch fruity taste of the vanilla royal icing. The hard icing also adds a nice textural contrast.
For now, The Finicky Cookie offers only that flavor. But Larissa’s use of top-end ingredients, including organic whenever she can, along with a few creative tweaks to her original recipe, make the “simple” flavors of her cookies pop like few other do.
Larissa is also looking to expand her flavor roster, and she’s tinkering with dutch cocoa and chocolate peppermint cookies. I had the privilege of tasting another experiment: a cookie with a strawberry cream dough and a lemon-scented royal icing. The balance of sweet and tart was spectacular.
The cookies can be ordered off The Finicky Cookie’s website or directly at The Baking Flamingos.
Now let’s get back to the design. Larissa has worked tirelessly to achieve a dough recipe that produces razor-sharp edges and experience little expansion during baking. This helps the cookies maintain their intended shape and achieve the desired thickness to pair with the thin layer of royal icing.
The Finicky Cookie can be both artistic and playful with its designs. Some, like the Shadow Rabbit above, literally look like works of art. But her designs also include glasses of whisky, sweaty and worn baseball caps, charcuterie boards, and “Ninjabread” cookies for Christmas. If you request a design, chances are The Finicky Cookie can deliver it.
But the Finicky Cookie isn’t afraid to stay from the normal, cute sugar cookie designs. In 2022, Larissa competed on the Food Network show Christmas Cookie Challenge. In the first round, the contestants were challenged to make cookies with naughty and nice designs; for the former, Larissa created a cell phone with a dating app depicting a shirtless, ripped man in a Santa hat.
Larissa’s appearance on that show perfectly encapsulated what makes The Finicky Cookie such a delight. Not only did her creative, off-the-wall, beautiful design wow the judges, but her flavors propelled her to victory over other more-experienced competitors. Larissa may be a self-taught baker, but her cookies have the taste and beauty of a seasoned professional.