Dragons Test, Bake and Create for a Sweet Philly Cookie Swap

A photo of some of the Drexel volunteers, courtesy of Carrie Madden (holding the chocolate chip and peanut butter cookie sandwiches she baked for the story).

It was a batch made in heaven: Drexel University’s Department of Food and Hospitality Management, The Philadelphia Inquirer and a dozen celebrated Philadelphians from the city’s food, arts and culture scenes.

The newspaper recently published a story — “Make these 12 recipes for the ultimate Philadelphia holiday cookie swap” — featuring cookie recipes from those local chefs, bakers and artists, which were tested and baked by Drexel Culinary Arts & Food Science faculty and students. The College of Nursing & Health Professions Dragons volunteered to whip up everything from cuccidati (Italian fig cookies) to ghraybehs (Arabic shortbread cookies) to two different types of sandwich cookies for Inquirer readers to learn about and, hopefully, try making themselves. In doing so, students gained educational experience about the recipe-testing process, working with food media and preparing food to be photographed and publicly shared. Pretty sweet!

Those Dragons were: Rosemary Trout, DHSc, program director and assistant clinical professor, Culinary Arts & Food Science; Rich Pepino, executive chef and instructor; and culinary arts & science and hospitality management students Anne Fraser-Jones, Madison Hostetter, Rashi Gala, Lauren Paynter, Danielle Sikaffy Kattan, Olivia Stewart, Vritika Narra, Rebekah Pelkington, Carrie Madden and Madison Hostetter.

To get a better taste of what happened behind the scenes (and in the kitchen), DrexelNow asked those Dragons to share what they baked and learned. Read on to see what they had to say — and maybe try making those Drexel-approved recipes for your own holiday celebrations!

Carrie Madden, culinary arts & science ’26

Q: What was it like being involved in this project? What were some of the things you did and/or recipes you tested? 

A: Being involved in this project was so exciting! It gave me a behind-the-scenes look at food media and an appreciation for everyone involved to create the final piece. I made chocolate chip and peanut butter sandwich cookies and pizzelle. 

Q: What did you like about this project? 

A: I enjoyed using Chef Pep’s grandmother’s traditional Italian pizzelle maker with the Italian boot on one side and two dancers on the other! It was so cool to see the difference in quality and detail between a fifty-year old pizzelle maker and a current-modern pizzelle maker! I also loved testing out the recipes and decorating the cookies to make sure they were “picture perfect.”

Q: What were your takeaways? What did you learn? 

A: My takeaway from this project is to always take an opportunity given to you. I am so happy I volunteered because I was able to see what components go into a food article, such as working with the chefs, journalists and photographers. I think it was so fascinating how incredibly kind everyone was, and I truly appreciated every minute of this experience.

Vritika Narra, culinary arts & science ’25/’26 

Q: What was it like being involved in this project? What were some of the things you did and/or recipes you tested?

A: It was so much fun volunteering to bake cookies for the Inquirer. I worked with my peers, some upperclassmen and some of my favorite professors on campus! I helped make the sugar cookies and snickerdoodles. Although we were assigned specific tasks and recipes, it was a combined effort. We helped each other and teamed up to make it easier and faster. 
Q: What did you like about this project? 

A: Since I am a freshman and it’s still my first term here, I was still getting used to everything. It was great to meet upperclassmen through this project; I connected with them, and I got helpful advice and great tips from them. I am really glad I volunteered, because I got to meet some very exciting people!

Rosemary Trout

Q: What was it like being involved in this project? What were some of the things you did and/or recipes you tested?

A: It was a great experience, working with [Assistant Managing Editor] Jamila Robinson, [Deputy Food Editor] Joey Hernandez and Photographer Monica Herndon at The Inquirer, and coordinating lots of cookie baking with our student volunteers. It was a wonderful group of hard-working, ambitious and competent students. We also had lots of cookies to eat and share! Students also got to see some food photography, and talk about the project with the authors (listed above).

Q: What did you like about this project? 

A: Tasting cookies might seem like an obvious favorite! I loved seeing our talented and dedicated students in action. Most of them volunteered several hours of their day, and got right into it. They followed the project straight through, even leaving the kitchens nice and clean too! It was a great way to kick off the holiday season, and work with the Inquirer!

Q: What were your takeaways? What did you learn? 

A: We focused on the importance of organization, preparation (as in reading and understanding recipes prior to baking) and taking notes — some of the recipes needed work!