Three years ago, Megan Mottley was on a mission to raise money for her teenage daughter to attend a mission trip to Japan. Her made-from-scratch cookies quickly went viral on social media and shortly after the success of three fundraisers, Goodness Gracious Luxe Cookies, was created.

What started as a fundraiser has grown into a thriving company that delivers and ships fresh-baked, rich, sweet and luxe cookies across the world.

This “cookiepreneur” is the first Memphis-based baker to launch a line of ready-to-bake frozen cookie dough.

“Kaitlin, (Megan’s daughter) needed to raise $3,500 for her mission trip. We sat down and came up with several different fundraisers, to attempt to raise the money…,” Mottley said. “The first fundraiser, which was a movie night, was a complete flop. My daughter was extremely disappointed, and I knew this was something that was very important to her.

“She had been fascinated with Japanese culture since she was in the sixth grade,” said Mottley. “I had to make it happen for her. So, I told her I’d make cookies and we’d sell them to make up for what we would’ve made at the movie night, and then we’d get back on track to our other fundraisers.”

In less than 2 months, the mother-daughter duo raised over $5,000 from Megan’s homemade soft and chewy cookies.

“The cookie fundraiser was supposed to be a back-up plan, however, it ended up being the master plan,” said Mottley. “It’s also what got me back into baking again.

“In the beginning it was just about the fundraising, but people still were inquiring about the cookies,” Mottley said. “And eventually, after getting a huge corporate order, I decided to really consider the business.”

On February 15, 2017, Goodness Gracious Luxe Cookies was created.

For the past two years, Mottley has delivered cookies all over Memphis and the Mid-South, set up at local farmers’ markets and served fresh baked cookies at various pop-up events.

It was at a farmers’ market that she met the owners of The Curb Market. They approached her about carrying her cookies in their store.

The Curb Market carries Memphis-made food products from close to 60 different vendors from around the city.

Because Mottley’s homemade, freshly baked cookies contain no preservatives, they only have a two-day shelf life, which is shy she came up with the idea of a line of frozen cookie dough.

Mottley debuted her line of Goodness Gracious Luxe Cookies frozen cookie dough at The Curb Market on April 8, 2019.

She launched her line with the most popular flavor: chocolate chip.

Goodness Gracious Luxe Cookies can also be purchased at Phillip Ashley Chocolates, located at 1200 Madison Ave.

A bag of 15 ready-to-bake cookies retails for $12.99. Once baked, the cookies are chewy and dense, and loaded with large chocolate chips.

Although Mottley has turned her passion into a successful business, she and her daughter Kaitlin are still extremely vigorous about fundraising and encouraging other people to study and travel abroad.

“We still do the fundraiser because mission trips are expensive and I want parents to allow more children to travel and study abroad,” said Mottley. “Thirty-five percent of every sale goes to the fundraiser, to make it easier on families.”

(For more information, visit www.ggluxecookies.com.)

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