Cookies for breakfast?

That's what's on the menu Wednesday morning on the "Today" show -- and a local baker is part of the fun.

Whitney Hermes, a designer at the Minneapolis-based marketing agency Preston Kelly, is one of three finalists in a "Today" show contest geared towards finding the tastiest, healthiest cookies.

Hermes' gingerbread cookies are based on a recipe handed down from a kindergarten friend, Esther Hanson, who is from St. Paul.

The winner gets a cooking class at Sur La Table.