Two Sophomore Nursing Majors Spread “Delight” Through Cookies

Courtesy of Moses Vidal

By Anthony Curioso

This is an independently submitted op-ed and does not reflect the views of The Tower.

On any given day, it is commonplace for the third-floor kitchen of Gibbons Hall to be filled with the perfume of freshly baked cookies. When not burying their noses in their mountains of homework, sophomore nursing majors Moses Vidal and Deirdre Kelly are usually busy preparing orders for their thriving on-campus cookie business, Dede’s Delights.

Dede’s Delights offers four distinct flavors (and more to come!) of cookies: chocolate chip, peanut butter, snickerdoodle, and oatmeal-butterscotch. According to Vidal, more flavors are forthcoming at a later time. Customers can order just one flavor or opt for a combined package consisting of all available cookie types. Kelly shared  the rationale for choosing which types of cookies to offer:

“My personal favorite type of cookie is the peanut butter, but I was told that the most classic cookie is the chocolate chip,” Kelly said. “We started with just those two, but I quickly realized that two cookie types weren’t enough, so we added the snickerdoodle; then we added the oatmeal-butterscotch this past summer.”

When a customer decides to place an order, they fill out a Google Form that requests the following information: 

1. The dormitory where the cookie drop-off shall occur.
2. Their cell phone number, which Vidal and/or Kelly will use to coordinate a drop-off time.
3. The number and flavor(s) of cookies they wish to order.
4. Their choice of whether to pay for their order using cash, CashApp, or Venmo.
5. Whether they have an allergy to flour, wheat, gluten, peanuts, or eggs.

The price points for an order of cookies from Dede’s Delights are as follows:

• A single, larger cookie costs $2.
• A “bunch,” which consists of 6 cookies, costs $5.
• A “baker’s dozen,” which contains 13 cookies, costs $10.
• A “full batch,” consisting of 35 cookies, costs $25.

Since my mother is an avid baker, the period between Thanksgiving and the Feast of the Epiphany (in the first week of January) has come to be known as “Cookie Factory Season” in my family. Because of this, I have always been cautious about my comments regarding most desserts, whether homemade or otherwise. However, I can confidently say that Dede’s Delights offers delicious cookies that provide a unique twist, challenging traditional ideas about cookie types. The selections made by Kelly and Vidal for the types of cookies they offer are quite distinctive; until I tried them from Dede’s Delights, I had never tasted an oatmeal-butterscotch cookie or a peanut butter cookie that did not also contain some form of chocolate.

The Dede’s Delights cookie business began in the fall of 2024, when Kelly and Vidal were freshmen. During the first year of operation, Kelly and Vidal prepared orders in Flather Hall, where Kelly’s dorm room was located. On the origins of the Dede’s Delights idea, Kelly says:

“Baking is my favorite hobby, and last year, I would bake a lot and not know what to do with it. In November, I had the idea of starting a business, and came up with ‘Dede’s Delights’ because it was such a cute name.”

The Instagram page for Dede’s Delights features several raving reviews from other satisfied customers, some of whom injected a healthy dose of humor into their descriptions of just how much they enjoyed their cookies. 

Kelly commented on the most popular type of cookie offered by Dede’s Delights so far.

“The most popular type of cookies I have is the chocolate chip,” Kelly said. “I’m always getting a ton of orders for that.”

Sixty percent of the profits from Dede’s Delights cookie sales go to Center Union Mission, a shelter that works with the unhoused population in DC, and Kelly shared that she will often bring some cookies with her on the Campus Ministry-sponsored Homeless Food Runs that happen on Sunday afternoons. 

Many CUA upperclassmen will likely have fond memories of Cremadillas, a student-run business famous for its chicken-and-vegetable quesadillas. Operating out of Centennial Village and later Opus Hall, it gained enormous popularity during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. Sadly, John Cremers, the founder, has transferred to Holy Cross College at Notre Dame, which means Cremadillas will no longer be available at CUA. It seems that  Dede’s Delights will achieve similar success in the future, given the positive buzz it has received on Instagram. Kelly commented on how the enormous popularity of Cremadillas inspired her.

“I was heavily influenced by how popular John was with ‘Cremadillas,’ and it inspired me to want to make money off my baking,” Kelly said. “I talked to John to get ideas from him about a business model, and ultimately decided to sell my cookies to make money back.”

With midterms on the horizon, an order of cookies from Dede’s Delights will almost certainly offer students a reprieve from the constant stress that comes with the midterm period through the opportunity to enjoy a sweet treat.