Soft, chewy and full of flavor, Acorn cookies — Elon University’s favorite guilty pleasure — tempt students from behind their glass display case while students wait to order a coffee or sandwich. The cookies beg to be bought.

There’s a flavor for everyone: chocolate chip, peanut butter, peanut butter chocolate chip, pumpkin spice, oatmeal raisin walnut, double chocolate, coconut pecan and carnival.

“I can’t resist,” said freshman Zach Monick. “It’s impossible to walk by the case and not get one. I tried to give them up so that I could save money, but that only lasted a week.”

Unfortunately, this cookie cutter vision doesn’t add up.

When students bite into the “fresh-baked goodness,” they assume the batter is whipped up in Acorn’s kitchen early in the morning and baked to golden-brown perfection before its doors open.

Acorn’s famed cookies are baked in-house, but the batter comes premade in a box.

“The cookies are from Otis Spunkmeyer and baked in house daily, with the exception of the oatmeal raisin cranberry which are made by David’s,” said Mike Bellefeuil, director of operations for Aramark at Elon. “They are baked in house, as well.”

This cookie dough isn’t as fresh as it seems, either. Otis Spunkmeyer is known for its frozen, individually-wrapped “thaw and serve” Sweet Discovery cookies. Sweet Discovery claims to produce the top frozen cookie dough in the United States. It comes in 20 flavors — and a few of them are displayed at Acorn.

Even though the sweet treats aren’t made in house, student opinion stands strong.

“I love Acorn cookies,” said freshman Tommy Mackey. “I love Acorn in general. Cookies are definitely a big part of why I love it. It’s not gonna change my opinion. It doesn’t really bother me.”

It even intrigues some of them.

“Sometimes you can see them in the back squishing them together to make a bigger one,” said sophomore Ashley Hill. “I didn’t really care. I’ll still eat them.”

Some are even shocked they are made in the cafe at all.

“I did not even know that they were baked here,” said sophomore Sophie Natan. “I just assumed that they were shipped in, but they’re still super delicious so it does not change my opinion on them.”

It may be a tough pill to swallow, but that’s how the cookie crumbles. Acorn’s famous cookies are baked with love, even if the dough travels to Elon in a cold box.

Want an Elon myth debunked? Email us at pendulum@elon.edu.