Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Bauman.
Hi Sarah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
It really started when I was about five months postpartum with my son. It was December, and I was sitting on the couch binge-watching a sugar cookie competition on Food Network to get myself into the Christmas spirit. I remember watching these people decorate these incredible cookies and thinking, “That looks like a fun challenge. I wonder if I could do that?”
I have always been a creative person, but I’ve also never been someone who sticks with a hobby for very long. I’ve tried painting, drawing, and different creative things over the years, but nothing ever really stuck. I had baked here and there, but I definitely had no experience actually decorating sugar cookies beyond pouring some icing on them, throwing on sprinkles, and calling it a day.
So naturally, I decided I could do what the people on Food Network were doing.
I was humbled very quickly.
My kitchen was a disaster. Piping bags were exploding, icing was everywhere, and nothing was going the way I pictured it in my head. Normally, being that bad at something right away would have been enough for me to get frustrated and move on to something else. But for whatever reason, this time I didn’t. I tried again. And then I tried again. And I just kept going.
My first real set was a Christmas cookie platter that I brought to our family Christmas that year. Looking back at those cookies now, I can obviously see how much of a beginner I was, but for my first attempt, they really weren’t bad—and, most importantly, they tasted good! My family was so complimentary of them, and I think that gave me that first little spark of, “Okay…maybe I actually can do this.”
From there, I basically taught myself. I watched YouTube videos, studied other cookie decorators on Instagram, experimented with recipes and techniques, and practiced constantly. There was a LOT of trial and error—and plenty of frustration, failed cookies, and tears along the way—but I just kept wanting to get better.
What I didn’t realize when I started was how much I needed something like this at that particular point in my life. I had struggled with severe postpartum depression and felt like I was completely living and breathing newborn motherhood. Decorating cookies gave me something that was mine. It gave me a creative outlet, something to look forward to, and this sense of pride and accomplishment that I desperately needed at the time. I started to feel that little spark in myself again.
For about two years, I was a hobby baker. I made cookies for every holiday, family event, friend, and basically anyone who would let me make cookies for them. People kept telling me, “You need to turn this into a business,” but I hesitated for a long time because I knew running an actual business was very different from baking for fun.
Eventually, though, my son was getting older and more independent, I had all of this creative energy, and there are only so many cookies you can force upon your immediate friends and family! So in January 2026, I finally took the leap and started Dough My Gosh Cookie Company.
I haven’t really looked back since. One of my favorite parts now is seeing what people ask me to create. Every order is a completely different theme and a new challenge, and I love figuring out how to turn someone’s idea into cookies. There’s also something really special about knowing that something I made gets to be a small part of people’s birthdays, weddings, showers, milestones, and celebrations.
I still balance the business with being a stay-at-home mom during the day and working as a therapist in the evenings, so life is definitely busy. But I genuinely love it. What started as me sitting on my couch wondering if I could decorate a sugar cookie somehow turned into this creative part of my life that I never knew I was missing.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not! My husband can absolutely vouch for this one. There were many times, especially in the beginning, when he would sarcastically say something along the lines of, “I just love when you’re making cookies—you’re always in such a good mood,” because despite the fact that I genuinely loved doing it, you probably wouldn’t have known that by watching me!
Decorated sugar cookies are such a finicky process, and there are so many steps and little things that can go wrong that I don’t think I fully appreciated until I started doing it myself. In the beginning, I didn’t have a good way to speed up the drying process between layers of icing, so I would have trays of wet cookies sitting all over my kitchen. I cannot tell you how many times I spent forever decorating something just to pick it up, accidentally stick my thumb directly into wet icing, and completely ruin my own cookie. The amount of cursing that has occurred because I stuck an appendage into a cookie I had just spent an hour working on is probably embarrassing.
And that was just one of about a thousand ways to ruin one! Your icing can be too thin and run right off the cookie, too thick and crack, colors can bleed into each other, cookies can break while you’re moving or packaging them—and sometimes you can do everything right and still have something not turn out the way you pictured it in your head. Add in working out of a relatively small home kitchen that my family occasionally has the audacity to want to use for actual food, and there has definitely been a learning curve.
I also wouldn’t describe myself as someone who was just naturally gifted at this. People sometimes see what I make now and assume I must have always been really artistic, and honestly, no! I had to work really hard at it. There are techniques that feel like second nature to me now that I struggled with over and over again when I first started. A lot of what I can do today came from making mistakes, figuring out why something went wrong, and then trying it differently the next time.
Even now, I’m still learning. Almost every order teaches me something new or pushes me to try a technique I haven’t done before, and I actually think that’s part of why I’ve stuck with it. There’s always another level to reach.
Thankfully, I’ve also learned how to make the process much more efficient over the years. I’ve invested in equipment, figured out systems that work for me, and learned how to troubleshoot problems that would have sent beginner-me into a complete spiral. It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but looking back at where I started compared to what I can create now makes all of those ruined cookies—and accidental thumbprints—worth it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Dough My Gosh specializes in custom, hand-decorated sugar cookies for pretty much any occasion worth celebrating—birthdays, baby and bridal showers, weddings, anniversaries, company events, graduations, you name it. If there’s a theme, I can probably turn it into a cookie!
Everything is made to order, so customers can really personalize their sets. Through my website, they can choose their cookie flavor, tell me about their theme and color palette, include any names, phrases, dates, or other details they want incorporated, and upload inspiration photos. From there, I get to take all of those pieces and figure out how to bring their vision to life in cookie form. I also recently added a 3D printer to my ever-growing collection of cookie equipment, which means I can design and print my own cookie cutters now. At this point, almost no shape or theme is off limits, which is both exciting and probably dangerous for someone like me!
I also really care about the cookies tasting as good as they look. My classic butter vanilla sugar cookie is always popular, but I offer a growing list of flavors like double chocolate, espresso, strawberries and cream with white chocolate, funfetti, and snickerdoodle, along with seasonal flavors like pumpkin and apple cider. I love experimenting with new flavors and giving people options beyond a traditional sugar cookie.
One thing I’m probably known for—and something that is simultaneously a blessing and a curse—is being a perfectionist. I photograph every set I make, both because I’m proud of my work and because those photos become part of my portfolio for future customers. Knowing that people are going to pick these cookies up, look closely at all of the little details, serve them at an important celebration, and potentially see them online means I take the quality really seriously. I almost always bake extras because if I finish a set and one cookie just isn’t up to the same standard as the others, it isn’t going in the box. I want someone to open their order and genuinely be excited about what they received.
But honestly, what I’m most proud of goes beyond the cookies themselves. Dough My Gosh is truly a one-woman operation. I built my website myself, created my ordering system, designed my marketing materials, take all of my product photography, manage my social media, answer every email and message, communicate with customers, design every set, bake, decorate, package—and somewhere in there I apparently decided I should also learn how to operate a 3D printer!
Nobody really taught me how to run a business. I’ve learned each piece as I’ve gone along, and I’ve probably tweaked my website and ordering process more times than I could count because I want the experience to feel easy and personal from the moment someone reaches out to me until they pick up their cookies.
That customer experience is something I’m especially proud of. I try to answer inquiries quickly, I remember my customers, and I genuinely get excited when I see a familiar name come through with another order. Having repeat customers is still one of the biggest compliments to me because it means they trusted me to be part of one celebration and liked the experience enough to invite me into another one.
I’ve also started doing more local events and farmers markets around Thurmont and Frederick, and one of the coolest parts has been meeting people who already recognize Dough My Gosh or tell me they’ve seen my cookies online or had someone recommend me. I really love that sense of community. I’ve met so many other talented small-business owners and makers along the way, too, and I genuinely enjoy supporting and rooting for them. There’s room for all of us to bring something different and special to our community.
When I think about what I’m most proud of, it’s really that I built all of this from the ground up. What started as me teaching myself how to decorate a sugar cookie has turned into a business, a creative outlet, a connection to my community, and something that is completely my own. I’m really proud of the cookies I make, but I think I’m even more proud of everything I’ve learned and built around them.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Because cookie decorating is such a visual art, most of the resources that have helped me have been visual ones. YouTube has probably been one of my biggest teachers! I’ve spent countless hours watching other cookie artists decorate, learning different techniques, and then trying to figure out how to recreate them myself.
I’ve also learned so much from other bakers and decorators who generously share their knowledge online, whether that’s through tutorials, blogs, recipes, Instagram videos, or just showing their process. There are so many incredibly talented people in the cookie community, and simply watching how someone else approaches a design can teach me something I never would have thought to try. I’m constantly saving inspiration and picking up little techniques that eventually find their way into my own work.
I think that’s one of the things I love about creative work in general—you can be inspired by what other people are doing while still developing a style and process that becomes your own. I’m still learning all the time, and I don’t think that will ever stop.
And then there’s the less educational side of what gets me through the actual decorating! A lot of my cookie work happens late at night after my son is asleep, and decorating a detailed set can mean sitting at my table for hours. So I usually have a podcast, YouTube video, or something else entertaining playing in the background while I work. At this point, having something fun to listen to while I decorate is basically part of my creative process.
Pricing:
- Customized cookie sets start at $55 per dozen depending on complexity and design. A personal quote is provided after an official order request via my website.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.doughmygoshcookies.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doughmygoshcookieco?igsi=a2lramNrdWl6enox
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1CWg2nZoWo/?mibextid=wwXIfr
