Sharmila Melwani
Proprietor, Cookies by Shar

When it comes to running a baking business, Sharmila (Shar) Melwani has all the right ingredients:  a substantial sprinkling of business savvy, a dollop of creativity, and a heaping helping of love that she pours into each and every one of her creations.

It was the latter that led this MBA and former financial advisor down a genuinely unexpected career path.

On the occasion of her daughter Liana’s first birthday in 2004, Shar had ordered specialty shaped iced cookies for party favors from a professional bakery, which didn’t meet her expectations.  Intent on ensuring future iced cookies would be perfect, Shar rolled up her sleeves and began creating her own special treats for celebrations using a basic sugar-cookie recipe provided by a professional baker friend. 

She tinkered with the recipe and toyed with the decorations, ultimately utilizing a combination of fondant, pigmented sugar powder and royal icing to adorn the birthday treats.  In the process, she discovered her passion for baking.  And, from that seemingly innocuous incident, a business was born.

Sharmila began creating personalized cookies, which taste as great as they look, for family and friends’ special occasions – bridal and baby showers, birthday parties, weddings and more.  With each delivery, demand increased. 

As the business has grown, so has Shar’s reputation and reach.  Cookies by Shar creations were hand-selected as the only sweet treat to be included in the gift baskets provided to Food Network celebrities and VIPS attending the 2008 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival.  The delectable delights have been shipped as far away as Kuwait and London.  High-profile corporations from Ferragamo to BMW to Neiman Marcus have called on Cookies by Shar for custom-made delicacies.

If the devil is in the details, then those who purchase Shar’s masterful baked goods are in for a wickedly delicious experience. Cookies by Shar’s iced cookies incorporate real butter rather than shortening – as well as an extraordinarily diverse collection of shapes and designs to choose from, all painstakingly and personally decorated by Shar. 

Due to popular demand, the product line has evolved to also include fresh baked chocolate chip cookies drizzled with chocolate, oatmeal raisin, coconut macaroons dipped in chocolate, cupcakes, brownies and more.

The proverbial icing on the cookie when items are purchased from Cookies by Shar:  Sharmila donates five percent of all sales to Share Our Strength, a national non-profit organization whose mission is to end childhood hunger, ands its offspring campaign The Great American Bake Sale, which mobilizes Americans to end hunger by conducting bake sales in their communities.

One smart cookie, indeed.