by Kathy Barnett

ALBUQUERQUE - When you bake them with love, they’ve got to be good. That is exactly what Suzanne and Bill Slauson do.

This husband and wife duo created their premium cookie company, Snugglecubs Cookies, in 2018. When they first started, Bill wanted to make sure their products were different in some way. “We knew from the very beginning we wanted to incorporate online ordering,” said Suzanne. Their main goal was to share their family and friends’ taste-tested and preapproved flavors with anyone who desired them. Shipping to the customer rather than the customer traveling to them was an advantage for both sides.

It all started about eight years ago when Suzanne was homeschooling their two children, Wyatt and Sabrina. Upon watching a cooking show on television during a cookie baking demonstration, she decided, “I could do that.” The first project was the ever popular chocolate cookie. She played around with the recipe, sampling different ingredients until she successfully created the flavor she wanted. They were good. The family liked them. Hubby Bill took a plate of cookies to work one day and fellow workers liked them. Friends and family loved them. Sometime they donated a batch to a worthy community fund raiser and other times they brought them to a potluck. Regardless of the destination, they were well received. Then other flavors came from suggestions of family and friends. When asked to make certain for an occasion, she started with her basic recipe. The result was always the same. “You should sell these,” they said. “You could start your own business with these. They are delicious.” As the number of people that enjoyed the cookies grew larger

The Albuquerque Box - and larger, the chants A combination of six different flavors / $14.99 of “you should start a

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is an annual business” grew louder in festival of hot air balloons that takes place in Albuquerque, their minds. New Mexico in early October for 9 days, It is the largest hot They chose their busiair balloon festival in the world! It’s known for the Albuquerque ness name after the Box, a set of very predictable wind patterns that can be used special nickname they to navigate the balloons. Just as the Albuquerque Box’s winds lovingly called their allow balloon pilots to circle the balloon fiesta property, you will children when they be circling this box of assorted Snugglecubs Cookies! Variety were little. They chose chosen by the Snugglecubs family, are based on availability. the cookie names after different locations from their home state. They feel the names exemplify what the company is all about in the first place: family, friends, love, and sharing. When asked how they choose a

name for each cookie, Bill explained, “It is sorta like musicians writing a song. Sometmes the music comes first (the cookie) and sometimes the lyrics come first (the name). “Looking back on the varieties that we currently have, most of the time the cookie came first and the appropriate name was decided later. We choose names based on our experiences at the places; for example the Mass Ascension has mini M&Ms embedded in the dough. It reminds us of all of the balloons in the sky during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Our pumpkin spice cookie, The Moriarty, is named for a small town that contains many pumpkin farms.” Next came the right location to bake their cookies. They soon found and rented a commercially-acceptable church kitchen which also helped provide a little extra income for them during recent depressing COVID times. Suzanne played around with different variations to get a perfect end result for her customers. She didn’t want overly surgary, a good consistancy that could be created 5000 ft. above sea level, use the best ingredients available and have no preservatives incorporated into the batter. “Many cookies dry out and don’t stay fresh. We wanted the result to have a longer shelf life so we could ship them,” said Suzanne. They simply wanted Snugglecubs Cookies to be a premium cookie company that preserves the homemade taste in a larger package. While the cookies are best when consumed within a day or two after received, they do have a shelf life of about six days when in an air-tight container. (From my experience, they probably won’t last that long - they are so good) However, you can store in the freezer in their original wrapper for later. Another difference is the size of these cookies. Each cookie is approximately three inches in diameter and a whole inch thick. They are nice and crunchy at the surface while thick and chewy on the inside. One cookie is the size of three normal cookies and weigh just at three ounces. Having already shipped to customers in 40 states, many are used for gifts with personally-printed notes included. Each label provides a narrative about the place or event in New Mexico and how it relates to the cookie variety. “Snugglecubs Cookies have been a major part of our lives now for over eight years and we are happy to share our cookies with you and your family,” explains Bill. “What started as a simple cookie recipe has grown up into a business just as our snugglecubs have grown up as well. “We hope that you share the love and joy that we put in our cookies.” From now until December 31, 2021 customers may receive an etra 10% on their orders with the special code: WKDR2021. You can order Snugglecubs Cookies online or via phone. To place an order by phone, call 505-347-3591. To place an order online, visit snugglecubscookies.com.

Coming: Soon Pumpkin Pecan

For more on New Mexico > Click Here