Retired police officer still lays down law as Cookie Cop

Retired police officer still lays down law as Cookie Cop

July 25, 2010

Four years after Craig Lee turned in the service revolver and badge he carried for 24 1/2 years with Columbus Division of Police, he’s still enforcing every rule in the book -- his cookbook, that is.

His new beat is the kitchen, where he has perfected recipes for a line of baked goods for the health conscious, His wife, Lisa Tyus-Lee, a marketing professional, dubbed him the “Cookie Cop” and together they have begun making rounds to establish a market for his gourmet cookies and snack bars.

“Lisa runs things; I just know how to make cookies,” Lee said.

The Cookie Cop no longer wages a battle against the baddies, but rather against a perception that there are no healthy baked goodies.

He thinks his tasty treat help solve that many school cafeterias face in providing nutritious foods for their students.

“They’re not sugar-free, but I’ve taken sugars and stabilized it,” Lee said.

All of his products are vegan, except the butterscotch cookies, which contain dry milk fat. Oat flour, low sugar and low sodium provide the base.

Patrons and workers at Raisin Rack Natural Food Market in Westerville give thumbs up to the Cookie Cop for different reasons.

Noel Laderman, a manager, raves about the fresh ingredients for all of the cookies and the awesome taste of the butterscotch cookies in particular.

Paige Viers, café co-manager, whose top choice is oatmeal cinnamon, said, “I can eat one of those cookies and it’s filling. Unlike a lesser cookie, it has some actual substance to it.”

A medical testimonial on the Cookie Cop’s Web site addresses a major health concern: “Per Eric Serrano M.D. Our cookies are sugar stable and are safe for Type 1 and 2 diabetics.”

In a recent phone interview, Serrano said he has run blood-sugar tests on a small group of people and found only a slight increase in the blood sugar levels an hour after they ate Lee’s cookies.

Serrano, a family practitioner, also has tested Lee’s gluten-free cookies and has observed no adverse reaction among patients with celiac disease, or gluten intolerance. He said that he wants to do more extensive tests, but doesn’t mind giving his initial findings in support of the Cookie Cop.

Satisfied customers include Mayor Michael B. Coleman, who is diabetic; patrons of numerous charities that have used Lee’s products; and students in Bexley Public Schools, who have enjoyed having the Cop’s items on their menu the past two years.

“Many of our parents and staff are committed to creating a healthier lifestyle and Craig’s products are a real help,” said James Anderson, the district’s food service director.

Adding the Cookie Cop’s line to the school menu recognizes that dessert is still part of typical school lunches.

“Craig’s product allows me to offer an alternative for students and staff, a new choice to satisfy a craving in a nearly guilt-free way," Anderson said. “I hope that other schools take advantage of his products and offer a healthier dessert alternative.”

The Cookie Cop provides local jobs and fits into the green movement because it allows customers to buy locally.

He wishes the business were more profitable, but considers himself fortunate to have a team that can help expand the business, including Jeff Shick, director, manufacturing and technology, Ohio Small Business Development Center.

“I have a high degree of confidence it will take off,” Shick said. “He’s not necessarily going to burn ‘em up in Peoria, Ill., but will burn ‘em up in Burbank, Calif.”

One the other hand, folks who don’t restrict themselves to natural foods will still like the cookies simply because they taste good, he said.

A key to success will be getting chains such as Smoothie King and Wendy’s to put Cookie Cop products on their menus, Shick said.

One of the challenges comes from Lee’s ingredients being almost too pure. That is, they lack preservatives that would give them longer shelf life.

The Cookie Cop has turned to the Parker Food Science and Technology Building at Ohio State University for help.

Reformulating the recipes and manipulating packaging materials and the atmosphere inside it can achieve the desired shelf life, said Melvin Pascall, associate professor of food science and technology at Ohio State. With Glory Foods as one of his success stories, it seems that the cookie project is in good hands.

Lee has time to work on the baking project, in part, because of another challenge he has been dealing with the past few years.

In 2005 when he and other officers arrested rowdies about two hours before the Red, White & Boom! fireworks, he sustained a hip injury that eventually would cause him to leave the Division of Police.

Lee had played football at St. Charles Academy and Waldorf and Lutheran colleges and had maintained a high level of fitness when he was on the police force, but now limps and can’t run because of the injury.

“I’m in pain, but the exercise does help,” he said. “I do tons of squats daily.”

Lee continues to exercise his imagination as he seeks ways to improve the products he’s developed and to grow markets for them. In addition to providing baked goods, he’s looking to sell raw dough that customers can bake at home.

“We will stay with the core flavors, chocolate chip, oatmeal cinnamon, oatmeal raisin and butterscotch,” he said.

Lee and his wife have plenty of willing tasters, including their children Kathryn and Brennan.

No matter how good some flavors might be, chocolate chip will always hold a special place in the company’s history because of Thanksgiving Day 1993.

“My mission was to make a good chocolate chip cookie for Lisa,” Lee said. “It took off from there.”

For more information, call the Cookie Cop toll-free at 1-877-430-9485 or locally at (614) 855-8843.