Dough & Co. turns Tampa Bay mood boards into custom sugar cookies

Every order at Dough & Co. begins with a client's inspiration photos. Someone describes a bridal shower, a birthday or a company launch, sends a few images of the look they want, and Natalia designs a set of hand-decorated sugar cookies to match, down to the colors and the lettering. She opened the Tampa custom cookie business in December 2024, and her Thanksgiving presale is open through November 12.

A self-taught craft

Natalia is a self-taught baker with nearly three years of sugar cookie decorating under her belt. She built the skill through hours of research, tips from other bakers and plenty of trial and error, and she still works at new techniques until she has them right.

Her friends and family, she says, would describe her as someone who loves to "make things pretty." She has tried makeup, hair, nails, embroidery, graphic design and decorating her home, and she calls custom cookies her favorite version of that instinct: reading a client's photos, putting herself in their place, and trying to make something better than they pictured.

Gift giving, she says, has always been her love language. Before Dough & Co., she baked her friends' and family's favorite desserts whether or not they were her own favorites, and the reactions are still what she works for. "There's nothing better than spending hours on a cookie set, handing it over to a customer, and seeing their excitement," she says.

Made to be eaten

Natalia calls herself a perfectionist, which she says her family would confirm, and she decided early that her cookies could not just look pretty. Decorated sugar cookies have a reputation for looking better than they taste, and she set out to change that before she sold a set. She put a great deal of time into her cookie and icing recipes, with her sister and her boyfriend as taste testers, aiming for a soft cookie, icing that does not dry rock hard and a sweetness that does not overwhelm. She bakes with pasture-raised eggs and Kerrygold and Land O'Lakes butter.

"I'm just as proud of how my cookies taste as I am of how they look," she says.

What she makes, and for whom

Custom event cookies are her most requested work: sets designed for birthdays, bridal showers, baby showers and weddings, matched to the theme and palette of the day. She also makes branded cookies displaying a company's logo for corporate events, product launches, client gifts and grand openings, and gift boxes of two or three personalized cookies for party favors. Throughout the year she runs seasonal presales, sometimes with decorating kits.

Her customers, she says, are brides, event planners, parents planning a celebration, and local businesses that want a detail their guests remember. She designs, bakes, decorates, and packages each order herself. That means she does every stage of the process herself from reviewing the order to the final details of piping the icing. Because every order is hand-made, she recommends booking at least two weeks ahead of time.

The Thanksgiving presale closes November 12. From there, she takes holiday orders and will have Christmas collection presales available. Order your custom cookies at doughandcotampa.com, and follow along for promotions, specials, and inspiration on Instagram at @doughandcotampa.