Downtown’s Santa Fe Cookie Co. to reopen this fall

Debbie Kuehn — better known as “The Cookie Lady” in downtown Denver — liked to say that she changed the world one cookie at a time.

After her death on June 28, we mourned the loss of both Kuehn and her Santa Fe Cookie Co. treats. But the world still needs changing, so Kuehn’s niece Alexis McLean is taking up the call.

“It was a really big decision, but it just felt right,” McLean said of deciding to re-open her aunt’s Santa Fe Cookie Co. “There’s just something about what she created there, and I feel like I know a lot about what she wanted to create.”

McLean baked up Kuehn’s final batches of dough on July 17, in what was supposed to be the last chance for loyal customers to say goodbye to Kuehn and taste her cookies one final time.

But McLean couldn’t let her aunt’s legacy go.

And so the speakeasy of cookies will re-open in the Republic Plaza’s lower courtyard once again.

McLean said she won’t change Kuehn’s recipes (“Her cookies are already perfect”) nor honor-system payment method, where cookie-lovers fold up their dollar bills, drop them into an old plastic jug and grab their bag of cookies.

Lest you fear that the cookies won’t be the same without Kuehn pulling them from the oven, rest assured that McLean has done her time as her aunt’s apprentice. She first started helping out as a kid, but she really learned the techniques while working for Kuehn during summers off from college.

“Debbie was a real perfectionist with her recipes,” McLean said. “It took years for her to let me bake or mix on my own. She was the boss, for sure.”

There will be some changes, though. McLean, who worked as an artist before deciding earlier this month to continue her aunt’s legacy in the cookie world, will do some sprucing up of the space.

“I did all the original murals and signage, so I’m going to put my artistic touch into the place. She (Kuehn) always wanted a little French café, so I’m going to get that vibe in there. It’ll have a little bit of a different feel, but the root of it will stay the same,” she said.

McLean will also add more of Kuehn’s recipes to the menu, goodies like scones, coffee cake and other cookie varieties. She’ll serve coffee, too (also on the honor system).

Another change, unfortunately, will be the price: Instead of three-for-$1 cookies, McLean will do two-for-$1. (To be fair, Kuehn told me back in May that she was considering a price hike as well.)

Your Santa Fe cookie withdrawals come to an end on Oct. 2, when McLean will set out her aunt’s jug and bake up those iconic cookies once again, with a grand opening to follow on Oct. 19.

Santa Fe Cookie Co.: 303 16^th St. #12A, Denver, 303-623-0919; Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Opening Oct. 2

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