Lansing library’s cookie contest returns

The Lansing Community Library Cookie Contest Fundraiser is back for a third year, hoping to raise money for one of the town’s main sources of community building. 

The now-annual cookie baking affair is organized by the Friends of Lansing Library, a group of residents who help the library to continue offering vital services for Lansing residents. This year’s contest will take place at the Lansing Town Hall Baseball Fields on Aug. 24, from 2 to 4 p.m. The Lansing Community Center will be the designated location in case of poor weather conditions.

“We hope this event is successful and a good time for the whole family,” said Amalia Gonzalez Beary, a member of the group. “It will not only highlight the culinary talents in our area but also raise much-needed funds to support the library’s programs and services, especially during this time.”

This year, the event will feature three age-based categories: 

• Kids (children in pre-K through fourth grade)
• Tweens and teens (children from fifth to 12th grade)
• Adults

Each competitor is asked to bake two dozen cookies to enter the contest. Gonzalez Beary said that registration is tentatively set to end by Aug. 20. Contest winners could receive gift cards for Scoops of Lansing, Barnes and Noble and Wegmans.

The categories for age groups include “best tasting cookie,” “best looking cookie” and “best overall cookie,” which encompasses both “best looking” and “best tasting cookie”; the last category is “best gluten free or vegan cookie.” All of the entries for the categories will be judged by a panel of local experts, except for a “best looking cookie” category that the public will get to vote on.

“All the cookies that get into a contest, no matter the age of the participant, are displayed on a table, and then the public puts their anonymous vote,” Gonzalez Beary said. 

As for the other categories, judges go around in a group, listening to contestants explain the composition of their cookies.

“And also why they chose to bake that cookie,” Gonzalez Beary said. “So usually it is nice to hear that, for example, it’s a grandma’s recipe, or it is a recipe that has been in the family for generations.”

Some of the fan favorites, Gonzalez Beary said, are s’more-adjacent or include fun elements like generous doses of colorful sprinkles.

Following community feedback and in order to have options in the event of bad weather, the organizing committee moved the event from last year’s location — Myers Park — to the ball fields. 

“That way, everything is kind of together. That pavilion has a playground, which is great,” Gonzalez Beary said. “People can play with their kids and everything while the contest is also  taking place.”

The location is slightly more accessible to town residents, she added. The contest is also a nice way for families to put a bow on the summer. 

“We do it at the end of summer, when parents maybe don’t have camp options and want something to do with their kids,” Gonzalez Beary said. “We put it at the end of August, when you know summer is finishing, but also it is a good way to connect with the family, spend some time with the kids and bake some yummy cookies, or come and support the library by buying the cookies.”

Gonzalez Beary said the event has been a glowing success.

“We had great feedback from the director of the library as well as its board of trustees, saying that the cookie contest is always an event that many people look forward to,” she added. “And yeah, I don’t think you can go wrong with cookies.”