Bake from Scratch Magazine

Baker Spotlight

SUSANSNAPS: LOVE BAKED INTO EVERY BITE

How baking cookies for family members going through cancer treatment created a thriving business for mom Laura Stachler and her daughter, Susan

What inspired you to start baking these cookies?

Susan Stachler: A week before my college graduation, at age 22, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the same cancer my aunt Susan, whom I’m named for, died from at age 28.1 moved back home to begin treatment, and extraordinarily, my dad and I went through chemo within the same year and, at times, alongside each other.

Laura Stachler: I learned that ginger is a stomach soother-and, of course, homemade cookies always make things a bit better-so I started baking gingersnaps for them, which I coined Susansnaps after my sister and my daughter. Susan and her dad shared the cookies with their fellow cancer buddies. Word of the cookies spread among family, friends, and neighbors, and a beautiful business was born.

What makes your gingersnaps different from other recipes?

L&S: Our cookies are crisp and light in texture yet rich and warm in flavor from ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and molasses. We top them with sparkling sugar, which gives them just the right snap!

How did your business grow from baking for your support group to where it is today?

SS: Mom and I started Susansnaps out of our family house. My parents had a detached garage that my mom converted into a commercial kitchen to start a small dessert catering company. She baked heavenly cakes and pies, but we sold more about how the simple Susansnaps than anything else during our comfort and smiles of this first holiday season. Once we figured out turned into something how to package and ship the cookies, we imagined. The books we were able to sell coast to coast-Alaska and Hawaii included!

LS: We eventually found a hole-in-the-wall space that we turned the front of into a retail shop for our cookie company, and our bakery is in the back. We bake about 5,000 gingersnaps a day, all hand-shaped! During the holidays, it can be as many as 10,000 cookies a day, and our Susansnaps record is 16,000 in a day. Our original Susansnaps are our bestseller, but over the years, we’ve added chocolate, lemon, Key lime, toasted coconut, peanut butter, and seasonal flavors. It’s a lot of today? fun being together in the kitchen creating our new recipes!

Can you tell us about your book, The Small Cookie Cure?

SS: This book isn’t just about cookies; it’s about how the simple idea of providing comfort and smiles during a hard time turned into something bigger than we ever imagined. The book shares our journey in a bit of inspiration, and maybe even a craving for cookies to those who read it. Can you tell us about your book, The Cookie Cure?

SS: This book isn’t just about cookies; it’s about how the simple idea of providing comfort and smiles during a hard time turned into something bigger than we ever le cookies, we imagined. The book shares our journey, ast-Alaska and my mom, in letters to her late sister weaves our story together from chapter to chapter. We hope it brings a smile, a bit of inspiration, and maybe even a craving for cookies to those who read it.

Visit susansnaps.com for more information.