Zoe and her horrible hair day are the gifts that keep on giving:  It inspired the Outstandingly Awesome Peanut Butter & Banana Cookies.  Now, it has inspired a little business for Alyson.  After the dog treats were such a hit for Zoe, Alyson has decided to make and sell them to pet shops.

I learned early that offering food is a real icebreaker and it opens some closed business doors.  Every time that I’ve had to market a product, I always included a treat with my presentation.  Even companies that posted “no solicitation” on their doors, welcomed me because I came armed with cookies!  My verbiage was always, “I know that you’ll call me if you decide to use our company…However, I will follow up with you about the cookie”.  Worked?  Like a charm!

Over the years, I’ve also learned to put ideas into action.  If it works, fine…If not, fine.  Either way, you learn and gain something valuable from each experience.  If you don’t try, you won’t learn or gain.  I want to instill this in Alyson while she’s young.

So, my baby goes out today after school, with her adorable sales kits and cookies.  Will it work?  Like a charm!

Lemon/Lime Butter Cookies
Makes 3 dozen 2 inch cookies

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1 egg white, beaten with 2 tablespoons of water
1/2 cup sanding sugar

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg, vanilla, lemon, and lime juice and mix well.  Stir in flour and salt until fully incorporated.  Remove cookie dough from bowl. Divide into thirds and wrap each in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.  When ready to use, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Remove one piece of dough from plastic wrap and dust with flour.  Roll dough out between two pieces of parchment to ¼ inch thickness.  Return to freezer for 10-15 minutes.  Remove top sheet of parchment and cut dough with a 2-inch cookie cutter.  Transfer cookies to parchment lined baking sheet.  Lightly brush each cookie with egg white mixture and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake for 14-15 minutes, rotating cookie sheet after 8 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly, before transferring to a wire rack.  Repeat with remaining cookie dough.

***For sales kits, I made the cookies larger(3”x4”).  After baking, I decorated with holes to match the dog treats.   Each cookie was placed in a cello bag and attached to the sales kit with curling ribbon.