WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Couple's "Cookie Love"

Ferrisburgh, Vermont - April 10, 2009

Suzanna Miller and Paul Seyler are more than bakers, more than business owners, they're husband and wife. Seyler says, "You do have to compromise," to which Miller adds, "If it were up to me alone, I don't think I could have done this."

They moved to Vermont from New York City looking for a better place to raise their kids. She could telecommute for her job with a law firm, but his gig as a gourmet wine sommelier didn't transfer as easily. That's when they started working on their marital compromises.

Seyler remembers the conversation started with, "Why don't we start thinking of perfect jobs?"

Miller recalls, "I've always, from the time I was a teenager, wanted a cookie shop."

"And mine was a burrito truck, believe it or not," Seyler chuckles.

They thought it would be funny to combine the two ideas, cookie shop and burrito truck, into a "doughrito." After the laughter wore off, they realized frozen cookie dough shaped like a burrito was a pretty good idea, and Vermont Cookie Love was born.

Seyler says, "I've never worked this hard in my life doing anything, but I've never been more satisfied."

They pushed their dough, both raw and baked, first at farmers markets then in stores. They now have their own shop and are selling to restaurants and institutions. "We're growing. We haven't noticed the economic downturn ourselves," Miller explains.

She suspects a cookie like hers, with high-quality ingredients but nothing too fancy-schmantzy, is essentially recession-proof. Miller adds, "We really aim for comfort."

At $7 for a pound of dough, Vermont Cookie Love is selling the experience and convenience of baking at home. The company also teaches people the trick to what it calls the perfect cookie: crispy around the edges, soft and tall in the middle.

It starts with a disc of dough sliced from that doughrito. Miller explains, "You want to break it so it has rough edges, bring it all together, then push it up so it's a high rosette."

It'll bake down and the company hopes, help it cook up more growth. At less than two years old, the doughritos and cookies are in more than 25 stores, often keeping the husband and wife team going in different directions. That makes it easy to work with a spouse.

Paul Seyler laughs, "We wish we'd see more of each other!"

"And when we're in the shop together, it's like, 'Hey, this is fun!'" Miller beams.

It is a fun way to turn their love into Cookie Love, with their "Made in Vermont" treats.

The company guesses at least half its customers never bake their frozen dough, they just eat globs of it raw. So Vermont Cookie Love's doughritos are made with pasteurized eggs.

Jack Thurston - WCAX News - Made in Vermont