FARMINGTON — Something heartfelt, a gift to another, makes you feel good, Ann-Marie Comeau of Farmington said.

That is the basis behind her home business, Heartfelt Cookies.

She’s always liked to cook and follows other chefs in her family.

“It’s in our blood,” she said. Her main craft is cookies, mostly all heart-shaped.

There are other cookie shapes available. There’s even a cookie pop, a cookie on a stick, she said.

It started when she took a chocolate chip cookie with added chocolate candies, called a “monster cookie,” to work. Her co-workers told her they were delicious and she ought to sell them.

She became known as the Monster Cookie Lady, she said.

Since then, a whole line of cookies has developed, even heart-shaped whoopie pies, she said. She pointed to her table covered in cookies, many with heart-themed wrappings.

She’s sold her homemade creations since 1998 but stopped working last year, with an ultimate goal of developing it into a full-time business, she said.

Comeau has experimented, adding and removing ingredients according to a customer’s requests, she said. She has developed gluten- and sugar-free versions. 

She’s creative, making a recipe her own and changing ingredients as she goes. Several cookies were decorated according to holidays or events.

The cookie gift possibilities are accompanied by festive, colorful wrappings and packages.

The biggest challenge for starting a home business is marketing or getting the word out, she said.

“It takes time to develop,” she said.

As a member of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, Comeau recently co-hosted a Chamber After-Hours event featuring other home-based businesses.

The joy of her work comes from making people happy, she said.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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