DROZEN IS PICTURED IN THE COMMERCIAL KITCHEN HE RENTS FROM JJ GILLISPIE IN BEAR VALLEY. F orget what your mothers have told you about never

eating sweets for breakfast,

feel free to indulge a little and “wake up with a cookie.” A coffee cookie that is.

Recent Mariposa County High School graduate Christian Drozen is both owner and operator of Mariposa Cookie Company. Drozen bakes and hand delivers his homemade recipe of his signature coffee cookies to several local businesses. The extraordinary factor at large being that Drozen began his company at just 16-yearsold, a sophomore in high school.

What had started as a Spanish II cooking project quickly catapulted Drozen into the baking industry. Each student was asked to prepare a South American dish to share with the class. Upon receiving the assignment Drozen chose to bake a traditional Brazilian coffee cookie. Drozen attempted the recipe but found pouring a cup of coffee straight into the recipe turned the treat bitter. He then started over and concocted his own recipe, and introduced the Carmel Coffee Cookie.

CHRISTIAN DROZEN IS PICTURED WITH HIS DISPLAY CASE AT THE YOSEMITE VILLAGE STORE. HIS COOKIES ARE A HOT SELLER AT THE VALLEY LOCATION. Teachers, students, family members, and just about anyone who tried the cookie were beyond impressed with Christian’s delightful creation. With a little help from his family Christian soon began to take all the necessary steps to create his small business.

Drozen began consulting with Jeri Caputo, owner of Mariposa Coffee Company. In each one of Drozen’s cookies you will find actual ground up coffee beans. Christian chooses to use all of Mariposa Coffee Company’s sweetest coffee beans in order to give his cookies the greatest taste. Caputo loved them and encouraged Christian to begin selling them.

After reassurance, Drozen was ready to take it to the next level by acquiring his county permit, which allowed him to sell to individuals. Last year Drozen had a booth at the Mariposa County fair and sold well over $1,000 dollars worth of his delicious treats.

After selling a surprising amount at the local fair Drozen then took his business one step further. He applied for a state license, and after passing several required food handling and food preparation certifications he soon was equipped with a state license allowing him to sell to cookies to businesses.

Due to California laws, Drozen was required to bake in a commercial kitchen. The search was on, but he quickly found the ideal place. J.J. Gillispie, who previously owned J.J.’s Breads gladly welcomed him with open arms and allowed Christian to use her kitchen located in Bear Valley. Gillispie is one of Drozen’s biggest supporters and lends a helping hand to Drozen whenever needed.

Along with the kitchen comes the imperative commercial oven which allows Drozen to bake up to 100 dozen cookies in under four hours. With his cookies flying off the shelves in stores it’s no wonder Drozen often is accompanied by his mother for a helping hand in the baking process.

Drozen’s cookies can be found at several locations in Mariposa and Madera County including: Pony Expresso, Butterfly Creek Winery, Mariposa Coffee Company, The Grind (Oakhurst), The Pines Resort Market (Bass Lake), and various businesses in Yosemite National Park, such as The Valley Store, and The Ahwahnee Hotel. His cookies are not stopping there though, he has plans quite a few more stores to carry his product, and anticipates stocking up some UC Merced shelves as well.

Christian’s mother, Gege Drozen, states, “It is really great to see young people exploring different avenues of work, small businesses are underrated, but with support and genuine citizen livelihood a small idea could really go a long way.”

Drozen can be found slaving away in the kitchen once or twice a week, cooking personal orders on top of filling his 50 bags a week order with The Ahwahnee Hotel and whopping 60 bags a week order to The Village Store. Surprisingly, Drozen reported one of his best selling places was the Triangle Market. “Everyone says they love being able to pick up a bag there,” he said.

For now Drozen has perfected five flavors off the coffee cookies, the most popular being crème brule. He also offers a decadent chocolate raspberry, French vanilla, honey and caramel. He is in the works with creating new flavors such as cinnamon twist as well as a maple doughnut flavor for the bunch.

“I enjoy being in the kitchen and baking, especially if I’m baking things that I know people really love. My mom has taught me so much about cooking and baking, but have yet to master her lasagna,” says Drozen.

With the request of many he has even began working on a decaffinated coffee cookie, and that’s not surprising considering three of the delicious cookies are equal to the caffeine amount found in just one cup of coffee.

It’s no wonder he plans to market to college students, who often make long night hauls for midterms and finals with the help of coffee. These cookies offer an alternative for a little caffeine boost packed inside the flavorful moist cookie.

What started as a project turned into both a profitable business and learning experience for Drozen. Drozen recalls telling his high school friends about his business he had started, while at first many of his companions doubted the legitimacy of Christian’s statement many of them now find themselves helping him out in his kitchen, often compensated with cookies.

Gege Drozen said, “Not only has this been a wonderful experience for Christian, but what’s best is the time we get to spend together, not many mothers can say they spend four hours baking and talking with their son.”

He now plans to pay his way through college with the business profits he makes. Enrolled for fall classes at Merced College, Drozen will be pursuing a degree in engineering. While attending school he plans on making weekly trips to his kitchen to keep his business thriving.

Drozen never expected his business to really get as big as it did, what had once started out as a step up from a bake sale has now made a name for itself. “My love for baking is what really drove me along with the help of my support team including Jeri Caputo, J.J. Gillispie and my mom, I wouldn’t have gotten this far without their pushing me to take it to the next level,” he said.

The scrumptious cookies are sold to individuals, and special orders can be placed online at the going rate of $7 dollars per bag of 12. Drozen sells the cookies to businesses for the bargain rate of just $5 dollars per bag, but retail price inside the store is up to management’s discretion.

For more information on the Mariposa Cookie Company visit www.mariposacookiecompany.com.