Warm butter and toasted sugar drift down 8th Street long before you spot the counter they come from. Inside The Downtown Exchange, a marketplace of local makers in historic downtown Clermont, one small bakery has spent four years quietly turning chocolate chips into a citywide obsession. Founder Jacqueline Reyes opened Cookie Queen Factory in April 2022, building the recipes around her Venezuelan grandmother’s love of baking, and the shop has since crossed the 100,000-cookie mark.
These are not the flat, palm-sized cookies you grab at a checkout counter. They arrive thick, stuffed, and cracked across the top, built for the kind of first bite that makes you stop mid-sentence. Roughly two dozen flavors rotate through the case, and picking just one is the hardest part of the visit.
What to Order
The Classic Queen is the benchmark and the smartest first order. It’s a buttery, generously proportioned chocolate chip cookie with a crisp golden edge giving way to a soft, molten-feeling middle, the balance that keeps regulars loyal. A walnut version adds toasty crunch for anyone who thinks a chocolate chip cookie needs texture.
The Habibi Dubai Cookie is the current showstopper, riffing on the viral pistachio-and-kataifi chocolate bar. Double chocolate dough gets loaded with creamy pistachio spread and shatter-crisp kataifi threads, then finished with a pistachio drizzle. It looks like a dessert-case trophy and tastes richer than you expect.
Latin flavors run deep through the menu and are worth seeking out. The Cinnamon Churro is rolled in cinnamon sugar and filled with silky dulce de leche, while the Guava pairs tangy guava with cream cheese for a pastelito-inspired bite that feels distinctly Florida.
If you’re shopping by candy aisle nostalgia, the lineup delivers. Kinder Bueno brings crispy wafer and layered chocolate, the S’more arrives with toasted marshmallow and milk chocolate, Biscoff leans into caramelized spice with white chocolate, and Domino stacks dark chocolate with roasted almonds and Ferrero Rocher.
Fruit-forward and cheesecake-style options round things out. Key Lime Pie folds tart lime cream and white chocolate into a cookie built for the Florida heat, and the strawberry cheesecake Cookie Queen layers ruby and white chocolate over a creamy center. Queen Velvet, the red velvet with Oreo and cream cheese, is a repeat favorite for good reason.
The competitive record backs up the hype. The bakery has taken the top spot in the cookie category at Clermont’s People’s Choice Dessert Challenge repeatedly since 2022, a hometown streak that locals bring up often.
Atmosphere & Setting
The shop lives inside The Downtown Exchange, a bright indoor marketplace shared with arepa makers, empanada slingers, Brazilian bakers, candle artisans, and vinyl sellers. That means your cookie run doubles as a browsing trip, and the whole space hums with weekend energy.
The Cookie Queen counter itself is compact and cheerfully styled, with the cookies displayed like jewelry under glass. Warm lighting, pink accents, and stacks of boxed cookies make it one of the more photogenic corners of the building.
Seating is shared and casual, with tables scattered through the marketplace’s common area. During busy weekend stretches, those tables fill fast, so plan on grabbing your box and wandering downtown Clermont instead of lingering.
Other Considerations
How much do the cookies cost? Expect around $10.99 for a single cookie, which is a genuine splurge and the most common sticking point among customers. They’re oversized, heavily stuffed, and easily split between two people, but go in knowing this is a premium dessert rather than a casual snack.
When should I go? The shop is closed Mondays and generally opens in the early afternoon, running later on Friday and Saturday nights with a shorter Sunday window. Popular flavors sell out as the day goes on, so an earlier arrival gives you the fullest case.
Are they served warm? Cookies are baked fresh throughout the day, and asking for yours warmed makes a noticeable difference in the gooey center. If you’re taking a box home, a few seconds in the microwave restores that just-baked pull.
Is it family-friendly? Very. Kids gravitate toward the Funfetty, M&M, and Reese’s varieties, and the surrounding marketplace gives everyone something to look at while you decide.
Where do I park? Street parking sits right outside on 8th Street, with a parking garage across the way for busier evenings. Downtown Clermont’s lakefront and shops are all within an easy walk.
Can I order ahead? Yes. Pickup and delivery are available through the usual apps, and the bakery takes phone and email inquiries for larger orders and celebrations.
Cookie Queen Factory
📍 639 8th St, Clermont, FL 34711
Website: https://cookiequeenfactory.com
