A cookie shop whose cookies are full of big chocolate chunks is opening in Dallas’ Snider Plaza: Called
Ben’s cookiesit’s an international chain founded in Oxford, England, which is opening a location at 3406 Rosedale Ave., cat corner of Bubba’s Cooks Country and across from SMU.

According to owner Truett Horne, the store will open this weekend.

Horne brought the concept from England to the United States in 2022 when he opened the first outlet at the Grapevine Mills Mall in Grapevine. This will be his second placement.

Ben’s cakes follow classic chocolate chips, but instead of chocolate chips, they use large chocolate chips.

Staple flavors include milk chocolate chip, dark chocolate chip, white chocolate chip and double chocolate chip with chocolate chips in a chocolate chip cookie base.

Other flavors include:

• white chocolate and cranberry
• white chocolate and macadamia
• dark chocolate and ginger
• dark chocolate and nuts

There are also non-chocolate cookies, including oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, lemon, ginger, coconut, and a snickerdoodle cookie that Horne introduced in late 2022, which has been a huge hit.

One surprise at the Grapevine store has been the brisk sales of frozen treats including shakes and ice cream, including their “cookie monster,” a decadent combination of cookies and ice cream. They also send cookies both locally and nationally to Ben’s fans across the United States

The first Ben’s opened in Oxford in 1984; there are now 60 locations across England, Scotland, Singapore, Dubai, Kuwait, Thailand, Korea, the Philippines and Japan.

Horne discovered the cookies while in college.

“I got to know Ben’s when I was studying abroad in Oxford, home of their first location, and fell in love with their cookies,” he says. “They are very focused on ingredients and the process.”

Their cakes are large, and in the range of soft to crispy, they fall on the cake side. “They say if a cookie and a cake had a baby, it would be Ben’s,” says Horne, a former marketing executive who worked for companies such as JCPenney and McKinsey & Co.

Finding a family-friendly location was a priority, and that’s what led to Snider Plaza, where the store goes into a former daycare that has been completely remodeled.

“I like that Snider Plaza has a sense of heritage, with longtime retailers who have been tenants for a while,” he says. “Being across from SMU means we can serve the college community, I think it will be fun.”

“And this felt like the right place, like it was made for us,” he says. “It’s a brick building and aesthetically it feels perfect. It just feels like a bakery.”