By LOIS KINDLE
Craving a delicious treat or something mouth-wateringly cool to drink these days? Then head on over to Twisted Sugar for some of its fabulous gourmet cookies, custom sodas or incredible ice cream smoothies.
“Our vision is to provide the best cookies you’ll ever eat,” said Twisted Sugar owner Shawn Boer. “And our ice cream smoothies [called Twisters] are to die for. They’re a cross between a Dole Whip and shake. They’ll change your life.”
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Shawn Boer, owner of the Twisted Sugar franchise at 13159 U.S. 301 S, Riverview, plans “to surround the bay area with 10 locations in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota counties.
“He’s right,” said FishHawk resident Melissa Canfield, co-owner of Grease Monkey. “They’re absolutely delicious. I like that they’re very refreshing yet not overly sweet.
“The orange Twister really takes me back,” she continued. “It reminds of the Dreamsicles I used to love when I was a kid.”
Twisted Sugar features 20 cookies daily – everyday favorites like chocolate chip, oatmeal chocolate chip and peanut butter; signature cookies like lemon raspberry sugar, sugardoodle and salted caramel sugar; and indulgent cookies like banana cream, key lime pie and lemon tart. Eleven of the 20 are available in gluten-free versions. Two additional cookies are featured each month. In August, for example, they’re a birthday cake cookie and mango passion fruit cookie.
“The dough is made from scratch daily,” Boer said. “It’s made with more butter and less sugar. Our cookies are soft, light and delicate. It’s a perfect combination.”
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Twisted Sugar’s summer hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. During the fall, winter and spring, it’s open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
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Employees Sarah Humberson, Kaylee Watson and Anna Sophia Adib work in the kitchen area at Twisted Sugar preparing the day’s freshly made cookies. The dough is made from scratch daily.
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This delicious lemon tart cookie is one 20 different gourmet cookies offered daily at Twisted Sugar in Riverview. The shop also features custom sodas and incredible ice cream smoothies.
To accommodate customers looking for them, Boer also carries three sugar-free and Keto-friendly cookies daily, which he purchases from a bakery specializing in them.
Twisted Sugar has more than 100 flavors for making custom sodas, including sugar-free, drink-flavoring options and seven energy drink combinations. The shop also has five flavors of sugar-free, zero-calorie water.
“We can add vanilla-bean ice cream to any cookie or soda,” Boer said.
MELISSA CANFIELD PHOTO
Melissa Canfield, co-owner of Grease Monkey in Ruskin, enjoys an orange Twister ice cream smoothie at Twisted Sugar on her way home from work. “If you haven’t had one of these, you’re missing out,” she said.
Located in the Summerfield Square Professional Center at 13159 U.S. 301 S, Riverview, just north of Big Bend Road in the same plaza as Qdoba and Dog Gone Holistic, Twisted Sugar is open during the summer from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday. During the fall, winter and spring, it’s open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The shop is closed on Sunday.
Twisted Sugar caters all kinds of events, including company parties, family get-togethers, lunch events, birthday parties – pretty much any kind of gathering – and offers special, party-size cookies for such occasions.
All forms of payment are accepted, and delivery is offered through Grubhub, Door Dash and Uber Eats.
For more information, call (813) 672-2786, email riverviewfl@twistedsugar.com or visit www.twistedsugar.com/. You can also check out twistedsugar.fl.riverview on Instagram or Twisted Sugar Riverview Florida on Facebook.