Provides Infused Cookies and Ice Cream to the Community
Photos by Ashlee Glen
Lynchburg residents looking for a unique way to satisfy their sweet tooth should consider visiting FUSE, an infused-cookie food truck located next door to Cookout on Wards Road.
The food truck, owned and operated by Alan Sexten, combines ice cream, freshly baked cookies, and cookie fillers, allowing customers to tailor the dessert to their personal preferences. With eight standard cookies and nine ice cream flavors—plus rotating flavors of the month for each—patrons have a wide variety of options. In addition, one filler can be injected straight into the middle of each cookie for no additional charge if the patron so chooses. Filler options currently include Nutella, marshmallow cream, Oreo buttercream, Hershey’s fudge, Hershey’s caramel, and Reese’s peanut butter.
Customers can opt to have cookies and ice cream served separately or order a specialty item that combines both cookies and ice cream. Many customers choose the ice cream sandwich, which combines two cookies, two fillers, and one large scoop of ice cream.
Sexten stated that his reasoning behind the food truck, which re-opened for the 2023 season in April, was to provide Lynchburg residents with something different from the other dessert shops in the area.
The business’s current hours are 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Sundays. Although currently holding unorthodox hours due to Sexten’s full-time job in Richmond, VA, it still provides customers with the chance to grab a late-night bite long after most other businesses close.
Sexten prototyped FUSE in 2021 and said that doing so allowed him to perfect his craft. Starting with his mother’s homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe, he carefully altered the ingredients for each cookie type sold today.
Sexten, who studied criminal justice at Liberty University, stated that he has continued to grow as a businessman through running the food truck.
“Through this, I have been able to learn so much more than I could through books or learn through YouTube, or even through classes,” he said. “When you get hands-on, it’s so much different.”
Sexten is currently constructing a second 8.5 x 24-foot trailer that not only will be insulated but also double the size of the current trailer (7 x 12 feet).
Potential customers can visit fusecookies.com for a full menu or check it out for themselves at 2623 Wards Road.