Ah, finally an opportunity to give the Big Pink Cookie her flowers. The palm-sized pink frosting-covered treat is a Northwest delicacy that has sat in local grocery stores and on coffee cart counters for as long as I can remember. It’s one of those snacks that is so ubiquitous in Seattle that I suspect the public has stopped noticing. When Stranger Managing Editor Megan Seling asked about BPC’s at her local Thriftway, the employee said something like, “I don’t know when they get restocked, we always just… have them.”Â
My memory of the Big Pink Cookie consists of a large crumbly Danish shortbread slathered in pale pink cream cheese frosting that’s perfumed with almond extract and the tiniest bit of cardamom. Uncle Seth’s Cookies claims to be the founding father of the cookie, which has an origin story that’s just as weird as I expected. PNW wholesaler Marsee Baking, who has carried on the Uncle Seth brand since 2012, writes:
It began high in the mountains of Bali…..There it was that Danny Brown, Cookie Wizard Extraordinaire encountered a kindred spirit on his travels. The man’s name was Seth, and he had left his life in the Rat Race behind him to live out his vision of Peace & Harmony far away from the crazed urban landscape he had known.
Despite popular misconceptions, Wizards (or at least Cookie Wizards!) are quite the amiable sort, and the two became fast friends. Inspired by Seth’s passion for fun and his commitment to simplicity and happiness, Danny crafted a new cookie and hand-baked that outlook into every batch of his traditional Danish shortbread and fabulous cream cheese frosting. When he had finished, he named his new creation after his friend, and thus Uncle Seth’s Cookie was born!
This is a cookie that says, “Eat me because you can!” This cookie is the taste of joy, pure and simple. Often imitated but never improved upon, Uncle Seth’s Cookie is the Original Pink Cookie. Don’t settle for imposters. After all, there are no shortcuts to happiness!
While the legend of Uncle Seth is widely accepted as the truth, I have also found evidence of the BPC as near as Spokane and as far as Utah (please don’t yell at me if you are from those places).Â
To me, the BPC represents old Seattle. When colorful cookies and lollipops surrounded the coffee cart cash registers instead of protein bars. Before the eyesore that is the Great Wheel was added to our skyline, and the Space Needle was enough. When the Kingdome stood strong, and the MoPop was still called the EMP. I used to get my BPC at the now-closed West Seattle Diva Espresso, where the cookies sat in a little basket next to a Magic 8 Ball and a row of rubber ducks, all lit by antique chandeliers. The BPC is the Curlz font in cookie form. It’s a wall of Groovy Girls at Curious Kidstuff. It’s daydreaming about owning one of those chairs shaped like a high heel. Are you with me?
You can still find Uncle Seth’s Big Pink Cookies at any local grocery store or coffee shop that feels stuck in 1999 (Thriftways seem to keep them well stocked). There are also some great copycat recipes online—my personal favorite is from Baking the Goods, which are perfectly tinted pink with ground freeze-dried strawberries. Spokane’s Rocket Bakery also appears to have a beloved version that I’m itching to try.
Are the plastic-wrapped sweets the most delicious cookie in town? No. They are dry, overly sugary, and taste a little bit like food coloring—but I wouldn’t want it any other way! This is my plea to you, Seattle, to keep Uncle Seth’s in business and honor our regional treat.
We're counting down to 2025 by sharing some of our favorite cookies on Slog every day in December! Because life is hard, and sugar helps. Will things get weird? Maybe! There may have been a small fire during the first photo shoot! But hopefully, you'll also discover some new favorite treats to enjoy this season. Track our daily recommendations here! 🍪
