About Lola’s
Lola Cookies & Treats was born in 2002, when owner Lorraine Hooper — a.k.a. “Lola” — began selling her scratch-baked goodies at the Leesburg Farmers’ Market.
Lorraine had wanted to be a baker ever since working in a cookie store during high school; she apprenticed at bakeries across her home state of Massachusetts. But then she got distracted by the glitz of magazine software, ending up in New York City with Sports Illustrated, where she managed the magazine’s operations for the 1996 Olympics, among other feats.
When Lorraine moved south again to Virginia a few years later, the call of the cookies resumed. Fueled by blue-ribbon wins at the Virginia State Fair, her rep grew beyond the farmers’ market. In 2006 she opened a storefront bakery in Leesburg’s historic downtown.
Lola’s growing fan base loved the tiny store and its fierce devotion to scratch baking. The accolades started piling up: An on-air visit from FOX-5 News; the cover of Loudoun magazine; high praise from the Washingtonian magazine (“Cookies don’t get any better”); and selection as “Snack of the Day” by celeb foodie Rachael Ray.
Lola’s quickly expanded first into cupcakes and then into custom cakes; now it’s Loudoun County’s top boutique bakery.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q:
Where do you get your recipes?
A:
Like most bakers, Lorraine spends a lot of her time tinkering with recipes. The recipes at Lola’s started a bunch of ways: Recipes she made up herself, recipes handed down by family and friends, recipes adapted from bakeries where she’s worked, recipes adapted from favorite cookbooks. Lorraine experiments with variation after variation, finally settling on her “perfect” version of each treat.
Q:
Can I get the recipe for [product name]?
A:
Sorry, we don’t share our recipes.
Q:
What do you offer that’s gluten-free?
Q:
What do you mean by “gluten-free”? Is your bakery a true gluten-free environment?
A:
When we say a product is “gluten-free,” we mean that it contains no ingredients with gluten. We are not a dedicated gluten-free bakery, however: We make plenty of products with flour, and our gluten-free goods may occasionally touch those products — or even absorb a tiny bit of airborne flour as we’re baking. This doesn’t matter to most of our GF customers, but we want to be upfront about it.
Q:
What’s your best cookie?
Q:
What’s your best cupcake?
A:
Hard to say: We rotate flavors often, so there’s always a new taste to fall in love with — though we do get a lot of people who crave
S’Mores Cupcakes when they’re not on the menu. Our top sellers are
Red Velvet,
Coconut, and
Madagascar Vanilla, usually in that order. Yum.
Q:
Will you donate free or discounted goodies for my fundraiser or good cause?
A:
Each month we may donate up to $75 in gift cards to a non-profit organization in our local community. Recipients can offer our cards as a prize at a fundraiser, or use them to buy baked goods directly. We get a lot of requests, so we ask groups to fill out
a simple request form.
Q:
What is Cupcakes for the Cure?
A:
It’s our annual fundraising campaign. Each October we sell special pink cupcakes and donate a portion of the price to an organization that funds breast-cancer research.
Q:
I have a severe peanut allergy. Can I eat your cookies?
A:
Here is a summary of our peanut practices so you can make the call yourself.
When we opened our new store, we realized we had an opportunity to stop using peanut products. We discontinued all peanut-based cookie flavors. (We apologize to fans of our Peanut Butter Supercrunch cookies, which we admit were pretty tasty.)
Then we purchased a new mixer, new fridges, new pans, and a new oven. None of this equipment has ever been in contact with peanut products, and we don’t stock any peanut-based ingredients in the store.
Q:
So you’re entirely peanut-free, then?
A:
We do our absolute best, and we believe that flavors such as
Oatmeal Raisin are peanut-free by any reasonable standard. However, we still use some ingredients from suppliers who may also process peanuts in their plants. We’re talking about trace amounts, if any, but we don’t want to mislead anyone.
To address any concerns, we wash our equipment thoroughly between flavors, and we use disposable parchment paper on the pans. If you need further reassurance, drop into the store: We bake in full view, and we’re always happy to answer questions.
Q:
What about other nuts?
A:
We still use several other kinds of nuts in our products, including walnuts, almonds and pecans. Remember, we wash our equipment thoroughly between flavors, and we use disposable parchment paper on the pans. Here’s a list of our
nut-free goodies.
Q:
Do you offer any low-carb (or sugar-free, or fat-free) cookies?
Q:
How long do Lola’s treats last?
A:
Obviously you haven’t tasted our stuff: This question is usually moot.
Still, if you have extraordinary restraint — or were unexpectedly put on a liquid diet — please be aware that our scratch-baked goods contain no preservatives. Keep them in an air-tight container and they can last up to a week at room temperature.
Some sticklers say you shouldn’t refrigerate baked goods, but we don’t think it does any harm: Just let them warm up before serving. With cookies in particular, 12 seconds in a microwave does wonders.
All our cookies freeze well, as does our zucchini bread; they’ll keep up to three months if frozen when fresh.
Q:
How do you stay so slim?
A:
Hey, thanks! Actually, baking is very physical work. The odd cookie or cupcake (or two) keeps us going.
Q:
And how do you stay so young and beautiful?
A:
Here, have a free cookie. (Note: This question works best in person, especially if asked in an awestruck tone.)
Q:
Do you bake everything yourself?
A:
In the early days Lorraine used to do everything, but now Team Lola comprises a cast of thousands. Well, OK, maybe a half-dozen.
Q:
Do you ever get sick of baking?
A:
Are you kidding? This is our dream job.
Still got questions? E-mail Lola!
