Exciting spring baking with Ann Clark

I’m saying yes to the above plate of delicious spring-shaped cookies – because spring baking is the best  (and fall baking, and winter baking, and… 🙂 )

Now that my kitchen has been remodeled with new appliances and has a different flow and vibe, I feel happier than ever spending time in there during the week, and especially the weekend, when I have additional opportunities to bake and to experiment. This spring, I am super excited to collaborate on my baking adventure with Ann Clark, America’s largest cookie cutter manufacturer, a family business with an amazing story.

Cross-section of the lilac sugar cookies

I loved how quick and easy it was to use these sturdy bags. Such a wonderful baking ally!

Ann Clark’s son & CEO of the company, Ben Clark, provided an exclusive interview to Chicago Loves Panini, which I am delighted to include below:

1. Ann Clark Ltd. has an amazing history. Could you please tell us more about your company? And why cookie cutters, in the first place?

Ann Clark was started by my mom, Ann, and my father, John. They had moved to Vermont and were seeking a new venture that combined their entrepreneurial spirit with Ann’s artwork. They made a number of items based on a pig that she had painted–cutting boards, cookie cutters, etc., and attended a craft show. At the craft show, the cookie cutters far outsold the rest of the items, and Ann Clark Ltd. was born. 

When I took over the company, one of my first initiatives was to bring production in-house. We acquired another cookie cutter manufacturing brand, and we built custom machines for making cookie cutters accurately and quickly. A cookie cutter made three years ago will look exactly the same as one made today. Once we brought production in-house, we were able to grow the business exponentially. We also began selling our products on Amazon, which opened the door to a worldwide market. We now sell our cookie cutters in 19 countries worldwide.

In 2021, we decided to look beyond cookie cutters, creating a line of baking ingredients. We tested the market for a number of ingredients, and food coloring took off. We expanded our Rutland, Vermont manufacturing plant to include a food-safe facility, and began making food coloring, instant royal icing, and working on a recipe for fondant. More recently, we’ve expanded into even more ingredients–like meringue powder and espresso powder – plus baking mixes, like our gourmet cake and frosting mixes and the newest addition to our line, Country Cornbread.

2. Your product catalog features close to 1,000 cookie cutters. What is your best-selling cookie cutter of all time? Is it a spring cookie cutter?

We have dies to make thousands of cookie cutters, but we currently have about 700 in active circulation. 

Our best-selling cookie cutter of all time is the Large Number One cookie cutter. It has a ton of uses – from birthdays to sporting events.

For spring shapes, the Mason Jar, Holy Cross, and Easter Bunny are all in the top 10 of all time. 

3. Are there any cookie cutters that sell well during spring season, and around Mother’s Day?

All of our flower shapes sell well during Mother’s Day and throughout the spring. Our scalloped-edge flower is a very popular shape, and there are so many ways to decorate it. The mason jar does well at this time–we see a lot of cookie “bouquets” given as gifts.

Ann Clark’s scalloped flower cookie cutter

Birds, bees, and butterflies also are popular spring and Mother’s Day shapes.

4. You have a few exciting new products in the works. Could you please tell us more about them? 

We believe that dessert should be fun. It should taste great, look great, and be fun to make. Our goal in all of the products we make is to help bakers to create confidently, and to have fun doing it.

The team at Ann Clark has been spending a lot of time in the test kitchen developing recipes for premium mixes and sourcing products for superior baking ingredients. Below is a list of what we have launched or scheduled to launch  in 2023-2024:

• Small-Batch Gourmet Buttermilk Pancake MIx
• Small-Batch Gourmet Belgian Waffle Mix
• Instant Royal Icing in Blue, Green, Red, and Black
• Gourmet Cake & Frosting Mixes in 4 varieties:
  • Gourmet Yellow Cake with Chocolate Mousse Frosting
  • Gourmet Yellow Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
  • Gourmet Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mousse Frosting
  • Gourmet Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
• Premium Meringue Powder
• All-Natural Egg White Powder
• Premium Fondant
• Espresso Powder
• Country Cornbread

We have many new baking mixes and ingredients on the horizon, all made with the same uncompromising quality that the Ann Clark brand is known for. 

In addition, we continue to make cookie cutter shapes to respond to trends and to help people create amazing sugar cookies. Below are a few new shapes we are launching in 2024:

• Cow Head
• Backpack
• Taco
• Shark Head
• Cute Gnome

Lastly, we want to ensure that people have the best baking experience. We launched a new website in 2023, and it is dedicated to providing quality content to bakers seeking to learn a new skill or to get inspired. There are hundreds of tutorials, recipes, and videos available to those seeking to learn. 

5. Are you working on specific baking products for the external market?

Our products are currently available in 19 countries through Amazon, and we have a number of wholesale partners in Canada. We were awarded the STEP Grant by the Vermont Department of Economic Development, which has allowed us to continue expansion into key markets overseas. Our export business also means more jobs here in Vermont, at our cookie cutter plant and food production facility.

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Do you have a favorite seasonal cookie shape? Let me know in the comments, and stay tuned for more blissful spring bakes. Thank you, Ann Clark 🙂

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