One day in 2010, she decided to make the dream a reality and started baking for family, friends, co-workers — anyone with a rumble in their tummy.
“It’s fun, easy…Everybody likes a cookie,” said the Bridgeport resident.
Soon the demand for her scrumptious baked goods was so high, she started selling them online under the banner Connecticut Cookie Company. And on the day before Thanksgiving 2016, she opened her first storefront, a cheerful shop on bustling Black Rock Turnpike.
“The fashion industry is so rocky right now,” said Greene, who worked for Brooks Brothers, Abercrombie, Ralph Lauren before launching the cookie business. “So this is a new challenge. You know, you don’t want to be on your death bed thinking, ‘what if…’”
Greene believes the secret to her success is in the details. For instance, she makes and bottles her own homemade Madagascar vanilla extract, which is loosely based on the 75-year-old recipe the Cincinnati native’s grandmother bought at an old-school pharmacy.
It’s that secret recipe that flavors her signature Quick Fix almond toffee brittle, a delicious riff on her mom’s recipe that incorporates thoroughly modern sea salt and dark chocolate.
Other sugary stars include old-fashioned chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies, chocolate crinkles and macaroons draped in decadent Belgian chocolate. Simple cut-out hearts are available in time for Valentine’s Day, which she said is likely to spell brisk business next month.
“December was crazy,” she said of the holiday month. “We went through 100 pounds of sugar cookie dough.”
Connecticut Cookie Company goods, including a line of gift baskets and boxes, are available through Goldbely and Greene said she’s open to corporate accounts and in-store cookie-decorating birthday parties. She also hopes to get her brittle into area Starbucks soon.
From there, the sky’s the limit.
“I like it because there are so many variations of what you can do,” she said.
Connecticut Cookie Company is located at 2385 Black Rock Turnpike. The shop will ship anywhere in the United States. For more information, visit www.ctcoco.com.
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