Christmas Cookie Winner Honors Her Country, Gets Celebrity Orders

Andrea Goossens designed a cookie honoring Belize, her home country, and won the Food Network’s 2020 Christmas Cookie Challenge. Celebrities and cookie lovers have since come knocking at her oven.

“I designed a merman nutcracker made from chocolate gingerbread,” says Goossens, who competed against four bakers in New Orleans and is CEO of a Colorado business, Sugar Bloom Cookie. “I wanted to pay tribute to my home country, as well as incorporate the traditional aspects of Christmas, by using primarily red and green. I love that it had texture, character and a special meaning to me.”

Goossens operates a cookie “studio” in Westminster, a Denver suburb, and her artistry has attracted orders from, among others, Blake Lively, Patrick Mahomes and Kourtney Kardashian. All cookies must be pre-ordered and are shipped nationwide. She estimates that more than 10,000 cookies are baked annually.

“I call it Sugar Bloom Studios,” Goossens says. “It’s where all the magic happens and where I teach my in-person cookie decorating classes. Our studio doubles as a venue, allowing us to experience so many sweet life moments like marriage proposals, company celebrations, baby showers, bridal showers and so many more.”

Goossens lived in Belize until age 7 and then moved to Rifle, a small city on Colorado’s Western Slope.

“My dad had sadly passed away, and my mom thought we needed a fresh start to grow,” says Goossens. “When a relative moved to Colorado, we joined shortly after.”

Westminster is a great location for a cookie business, says the 34-year-old entrepreneur.

“Being so close to Denver has really allowed us to have customers from all around the state to come and take our classes or order their own custom cookies,” Goossens explains. “Even though I am lucky enough to bake for people like Blake Lively and Kourtney Kardashian, I love coming back to my home base and a supportive community.”

Goossens is a self-taught cookie designer who pursued her love for cookie decorating during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has a bachelor’s degree in architecture and design from the University of Colorado.

“I learned everything from typography for my blueprints to color theory, as well as designing spaces and bringing them to life through digital renderings and three-dimensional models,” she says. “After graduating, I moved to Chicago and contemplated pursing my master’s degree but found a job at an interior design firm and quickly fell in love with that. Years went by, and I was very career driven but also wanted to start a family. I decided to put everything on hold and took the time to become a mom and raise my kids. Both kids have been a big part of my cookie decorating journey and have loved joining me in the kitchen to whip up a batch of cookies.”

Goossens enjoyed baking pastries but didn’t decorate cookies until her daughter’s second birthday.

“I decided the night before her party to try my hand at decorating horses to go with her theme,” Goossens recalls. “I quickly searched for a recipe for royal icing and sugar cookie dough and burned the midnight oil finishing them. That night taught me that sugar cookies are extremely time-consuming and truly a labor of love. I waited at least six months before attempting to make them again.”

Her early cookie-making efforts have undoubtedly paid off. Today, her cookies sell for $6-$22 each.

“If the client decides to upgrade to a larger cookie size or a more elaborate design, we have some clients paying as much as $150 per cookie,” Goossens says. “Yes, people are often turned away from our prices, but these cookies are works of art and take a lot of time and effort. We consider ourselves to be the Chanel of cookies — taste and quality.”

It takes time for a business “to grow within a specific niche of people that see the value of our cookie art, and we just let the work speak for itself,” she adds. “We are delicious and beautiful and love creating custom cookies for our clients that truly elevate their celebrations.”

Goossens also loves teaching her baking classes for ages 5 and above. Her average student is in the mid-20s.

“I love to inspire and see people’s faces light up when they have completed a class with me,” she says. “It brings me so much joy, and I see how proud they are of themselves.”