AUSTIN, Texas — Lakeway-based gourmet cookie shop Love & Cookies won this year's H-E-B Quest for Texas Best competition this week.
Owner Ashley Cameron headed to Dallas with her team on Monday. Cameron was one of the top 10 finalists in H-E-B's competition.
The cookie shop shared the news on Instagram on Wednesday. The prize for winning? A total of $20,000 and a spot on H-E-B's shelves nationwide.
After only being in business for close to 10 months, Love & Cookies has skyrocketed. Cameron is having to expand her business and start building more space to keep up with supply.
But the story of how the shop first came about is a sweet one. In 2019, Cameron's son, Charlie, was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease, a serious illness characterized by inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body that primarily affects young children and infants.
"After he came home after receiving life-saving treatment, the one thing he wanted to do in the world was bake with mommy. He inspired me to continue baking, so we started a home bakery," said Cameron.
The home bakery took off, now expanding to the new storefront, Love & Cookies. They are also a proud supporter of Kawasaki Kids Foundation to help raise awareness and support kids and their families after they are diagnosed with Kawasaki disease.
When walking in for the first time, customers are greeted with a light pink interior shop with fresh baked cookies and frozen cookie dough available for purchase.
"We built our store and our concept from scratch. So we are a local community staple out here in Lakeway, Texas. You can order online via our website or you come into our storefront. We also offer a deep-dish cookie cakes that are made to order as well as our gourmet frozen cookie dough, which is what we submitted for the H-E-B Quest for Texas Best," said Cameron.
The store also ships nationwide for out-of-state customers.
Out of 584 applicants, the gourmet cookie store will now compete to get its product on H-E-B store shelves. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, Aug. 24, at Fair Park in Dallas.
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