Sarah and Acacia Daniel. Photos: Alex Just, Zandolee Media
The Woodbury family serves up gourmet baked goods.
Acacia Daniel may only be 7 years old, but she is well on her way to fulfilling her dreams. As the face of Dough-Licious Cookies, Acacia works alongside her mother, Sarah Daniel, selling jumbo, gourmet-stuffed cookies in and around Woodbury. From sandwich cookies to truffles, each baked good is filled with a variety of indulgent flavors dreamed up by Acacia herself.
Sarah and her husband, Ryan Daniel, homeschool their children, including Royce, 17, Acacia and Winston, 4, and run their media company, Zandolee Media. When Sarah began looking for a more hands-on approach to learning, baking sparked the family’s interest. “That’s really where the cookies get started. We put so much time and value into what we’re doing at home, and [I thought], ‘How can simple things that we do every day translate into a learning experience?’” Sarah says. For the children, the math and science behind baking—measuring ingredients, doubling or tripling recipes and experimenting with techniques—is more engaging than some traditional teaching methods.
Indulge your sweet tooth with the largest of desserts—the Cookie Monster Cookie. Chocolate chip cookies and chocolate sandwich cookies are folded into this vibrant blue dessert, which also includes semi-sweet and white chocolate chips.
With this in mind, the couple got Dough-Licious Cookies officially up-and-running last December, when Sarah and Acacia baked around 100 cookies for their first event at Leopold’s Mississippi Gardens in Minneapolis. “As we grow, we’re learning how to scale and make more cookies,” Sarah says. “We’re maxed at 100. It’s a lot to do, but we want to learn how to bake 500 to 1,000 cookies.” Now, Dough-Licious Cookies can be ordered for pickup and found locally at the Lake Elmo and Oakdale farmers markets as well as events in Woodbury and its surrounding areas.
Although the registered cottage food business is mostly run by Sarah and Acacia, the rest of the family jumps in to help too. Ryan is behind the branding and marketing, and Royce is an enthusiastic taste-tester and helps with event set up. Four-year-old Winston assists with measuring and pouring. Plus, Acacia and her best friend, Luna, often bounce ideas off of one another. “They come up with their own cookie ideas, and then they present them to me,” Sarah says. Acacia excitedly adds, “Like a panda cookie—it’s a chocolate cookie with frosting, where the panda is white, the panda’s ears are Oreos, sprinkles as the nose and M&M’s as the eyes.”
Seven-year-old Acacia Daniels is the face behind Dough-Licious Cookies, which offers jumbo, gourmet-style cookies in a variety of flavors.
As Sarah and Acacia approach the end of their first year in business, they’re looking ahead with ambition. For the future of Dough-Licious Cookies, Sarah envisions releasing a cookbook filled with their beloved recipes, while Acacia hopes to one day have a brick-and-mortar cookie café. “I want our cookies to be perfect [so] that everyone likes them and the company becomes a really big thing,” Acacia says. The pair is also exploring new additions, such as brownies, and hope to introduce allergy-friendly options too. For now, they’re focused on steady growth and strengthening their connections in Woodbury. “We’re going to take it year by year for now and continue to build a customer base in our community,” Sarah says.
Among its most popular flavors stands the Oreo Dream—a stuffed dessert featuring chocolate sandwich cookies, alongside chocolate and white chocolate chips.
Flavor Profile
Sarah Daniel and her daughter, Acacia Daniel, are still experimenting with new cookie flavors—but their tried-and-true flavors are available to order year-round. Specialty options also top the menu from time-to-time, such as the famous Dubai Chocolate trend, and seasonal flavors abound. Each cookie is created with the Dough-Licious Cookies signature dough and filled to the brim with unique ingredients. Discover all flavor combinations at zandoleemedia.com/dough-licious-cookies.
- Lindt Chocolate Ball Stuffed features chocolate chips and a chocolate truffle.
- Oreo Dream is filled with chocolate sandwich cookies alongside chocolate and white chocolate chips.
- Peanut Butter Cup Explosion is a peanut butter lover’s dream—stuffed and topped with a peanut butter cup.
- S’mores Stuffed Cookie is perfect for a fall bonfire, featuring chocolate, graham crackers and ooey-gooey marshmallows.
