In fourth grade, after a long day of long division, and learning about ancient Greek goddesses, I marched into Molly’s Cupcakes, a ten minute walk from Parker, with my mom and my friend craving one thing: a cookie dough cupcake. With a gooey cookie dough center and an extra mini-sized cookie on top, this cupcake was my choice over the other cupcakes because I felt I was getting extra.

And I wasn’t the only one: this cupcake went on to win the Cupcake Wars season one finale episode. I then trotted to the swings, that accompany the marble counter and checked the adjacent mirror to see if I had any frosting surrounding my mouth.

As it was for my friend and I, this was and still is a favorite after-school Parker snack spot. “We get a ton of Parker students here,” employee Marijo Palacio said recently. “They typically come in groups of friends, or come with their homework.”

At the condiment stand there is a variety of sprinkles ranging from patriotic red, white and blue stars, to the fan-favorite rainbow. Just above the whole fat and 2% milk jugs is a picture of owner John Nicolaides’s third grade class. The company’s namesake is Nicolaides’s third grade teacher Miss Molly. Whenever someone in Nicolaides’s class had a birthday, she baked cupcakes for the entire class.

“I still remember how good they were,” Nicolaides said. “She had her own recipe for chocolate and vanilla. Just about everyone who tries them thinks they are the best cupcakes ever.”
In honor of Miss Molly, a portion of the store’s profits goes to schools in the community to “help our children,” according to the website. So when you buy your peach cobbler cupcake, some of that profit is going to a good cause. Donating to charities like Ronald McDonald Foundation, and  schools such as the Alcott School.

Each Molly’s cupcake has a name card along with a unique personality trait. The peanut butter nutella: the most cultured. The cookies and cream: the most emo. Favorite cupcakes include the peach cobbler and the Ron Bennington, a chocolate cupcake filled with milk or dark chocolate, peanut butter, and butterscotch, and topped with chocolate ganache, a whipped filling of cream and chocolate and crushed butterscotch. This cupcake Nicolaides named after the American radio personality and current host of “Unmasked.”

“One of my favorite cupcakes at Molly’s is the Cookie Monster because of the cookie dough inside,” sophomore Caroline Viravec said. “There aren’t many places that sell edible cookie dough, but Molly’s is for sure a favorite, and it’s so easy to walk there after school for a treat!”

But Molly’s does not only sell cupcakes. On a recent workday, as the employees were working taking orders, and organizing the counter area, one went to take a bite out of a ginger molasses cookie. Molly’s also sells  pies, different types of bars (like brownies, seven layer bars, krispie treats), and even eclairs.

Molly’s Cupcakes began in 2007 in Lincoln Park, but then added another location at River East in 2016, a store in New York, and two in Iowa City. Molly’s has won a spot in “10 Best Cupcakes Bakeries In the Country” from USA Today, “Best Cupcakes from the City’s Village Voice”, and perhaps most notably, the “Cupcake Wars” Season 1 finale.

The Lincoln Park location has a modern decor with little retro details scattered around the interior. Throwback lunchboxes line the mirror facing the swings, including The Charlie’s Angels and Schoolhouse Rock, all collected by Nicolaides. Bubble like windows hold an old pair of figure skates, two letter boxes, and an old dirt-darkened stuffed bunny from the Miss Molly era.

In a bookshelf near the North windows of the store there are a variety of board games like Scrabble and Connect Four. A group of six patrons, around the age of twenty sat at the table eating their cupcakes, and two were in a game of Connect Four. As one person slid a red chip down the frame, the other person slammed his fist in defeat. The loser handed over the last half of his butterscotch caramel cupcake.

Along with the antique pieces, the mirror and the swings are quite an allure at the bakery. The swings, wooden boards hung from the ceiling by metal chains, are connected to the floor by another pair of metal chains but still allow customers to wiggle around. The mirrors behind the counter reflect the entire store, and customers sitting at the counter glance at it to check for smears of cream cheese frosting, another favorite at Molly’s.

On the same day, a group of friends took mirror selfies on the swings, posing and laughing at each other, and pretending to be swinging on the swings by kicking their legs in the air to create the illusion that they were in fact trying to create the momentum to swing into the air, all while saying, “These are great” and “We should get some of these in our house.”

Attracting customers with a big sticker of the Cupcake Wars finale and notable mentions in newspapers like “Time Out Chicago” and the “Chicago Tribune”,  the store has a line connects from the counter all the way to the door.

The renovation that started a year and a half ago, and was finished a month ago allows the kitchen staff working on the morning shifts to make more pastries for the day ahead. The new space will also allow for more room for orders. According to general manager Gina Strumolo, the expansion was made in an effort to take their “tiny little kitchen in the back” over to a new space next door so that the bakery can “make way more cupcakes than before, and take infinitely more orders than before, in a new space with enough room for everyone!”