FOF Susan Butler is giving away "The Cookie Thing" -- a pure maple wood rolling pin with four different sized wooden planks that allow you to roll cookie dough to the perfect width without any added flour or mess (see video below). She is also giving away the "Little Cookie Thing," a smaller version for kids.  Enter to win by answering this question in the comment section below: What's your favorite kind of cookie?

Susan Butler, a bond broker for over 30 years, devotes her spare time to the non-profit organization, Caring Friends Incorporated.  Known for her expert baking skills, Susan was asked by Caring Friends to teach a group of underserved women how to bake for profit in 2008. "The first few weeks they had difficulty cracking eggs and cutting butter, let alone rolling the cookie dough evenly,” says Susan. "I needed something to help them bake large amounts of cookies that looked and tasted good."

Worried that she had bitten off more than she could chew, Susan went home to her husband John that night, and explained the problem she was having. "I told my husband that we had to come up with some kind of 'cookie thing,' because the cookies had to be perfectly sized to fit into the packaging we had."  Susan and John searched to see if there was a tool that already existed that would solve their issue. When they came up empty-handed, John used his woodworking skills to create the prototype "Cookie Thing," the world’s first baking tool to help bakers roll dough to the exact thickness they need.

“The measuring boards give you the depth of dough you need--1/8th inch thickness is perfect for pie crust as well as thin, crispy cookies,  1/4" (the size most commonly used for roll-out cookies), 3/8" for thicker cookies, and 1/2" for biscuits." Susan says you can stack the boards for even more size variation. Using the Cookie Thing also eliminates mess. Watch the video below to see it in action.



When the women she was instructing through Caring Friends used the Cookie Thing, Susan saw a tremendous increase in productivity. She knew she was onto something. In 2012, Susan was shopping in her local Williams-Sonoma store when she inquired about getting her product carried there. When the salesperson saw the Cookie Thing in action, he was impressed and submitted it to the Culinary President of the company for review. Since submitting her product (which is still under review), Susan has participated in 13 of Williams-Sonoma's artisans markets, where she showcases her product for Williams-Sonoma customers.  She's been featured twice on her local Texas news channel Fox26, and in Woman's World magazine.  She's sold over 600 Cookie Things since launching in June of 2012, which are all still handcrafted by her husband, John.

“Women over fifty, who have done a lot of baking with their children growing up, buy them to use when their grandchildren, nieces and nephews come over,” says Susan. “Our baking experiences are memories that we've made in the kitchen. That's what I love the most--it helps create memories."

See Susan's cookie recipes here.

Enter to win The Cookie Thing and The Little Cookie Thing by answering this question in the comments below: What's your favorite kind of cookie?


One FOF will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes February 28th, 2013 at midnight E.S.T. Contest limited to residents of the continental U.S.