Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga are setting the record straight on their infamous “sprinkle cookie” feud 15 years later.
“It was not coming from a bad place at all,” Giudice, 54, exclusively tells Us in this week’s cover story alongside Gorga, 47. “Like, the whole sprinkle cookie thing. Like, I did not do that, let’s get the record straight. It wasn’t me that threw out the sprinkle cookies.”
Teresa reveals that it was actually her ex-mother-in-law, Filomena Giudice, who tossed the cookies. (Teresa was married to Joe Giudice from 1999 to 2020.)
“She was making fun of [Melissa]. So me, as her nice sister-in-law, I tell her quietly, ‘You know, next time you go to an Italian person’s house, don’t buy cookies from Corrado’s in a plastic container. Go to the bakery and buy pignoli cookies,’” Teresa recalls.
Gorga chimes in, “Her dad taught me to shop at Corrado’s! He took me to Corrado’s all the time.”
“It was good advice. I have the best heart ever,” Teresa continues. “I loved her. I wanted a sister. And then she took it [as an insult] and put it on Facebook, and that’s how she got herself on [The Real Housewives of New Jersey]. … And then I guess by me repeating it, it came off that I threw them out because that’s how they put it out there. But I didn’t throw them out. It was my ex-mother-in-law, and I was trying to give her sisterly advice, but she took it the wrong way.”
For those unfamiliar with the iconic pop culture moment that was the sprinkle cookie feud, it all started on Christmas Day 2011 (during RHONJ season 3) when Melissa — who is married to Teresa’s younger brother, Joe Gorga — brought store-bought sprinkle cookies to the family gathering. Teresa later told her castmates, “I threw them in the garbage. You know what my favorite cookies are? Pignoli cookies.”
Melissa, who was pregnant at the time, initially expressed hurt and confusion over the incident, writing online that she didn’t know whether Teresa was implying she was cheap or simply acting like “Queen Elizabeth” over the store-bought cookies. However, the sisters-in-law have since turned the moment into a running joke, with Melissa often bringing Teresa sprinkle cookies.
In 2024, Melissa capitalized on the feud by launching Let’s Sprinkle, a direct-to-consumer bakery and merchandise line. The brand features classic Italian bakery style butter cookies and more.
“We just celebrated one year with sprinkle cookies,” Melissa tells Us. “We added chocolate chip sprinkle cookies, we have a coffee cake and coffee. The way the company took off was wild, especially more than a decade after the infamous incident. Smart people build empires with the bricks other people throw at them.”
The Real Housewives of New Jersey returns for season 15 in December.
