For years, Laura Pomerleau and her husband Corey watched all-terrain vehicles passing their house, as their road is a part of the local ATV trail network. They joked they should set up a cookie stand. 4

Eventually, they did.

What started two years ago as a roadside stand operating on the honor system in Harmony has turned into a full-time business.

“Some days we have had groups of 20 ATVs or more stop at once, and it is the coolest thing to see,” she said. 

The Cookie Jar of Maine started out as a small operation, just a table and a cooler at the end of the Pomerleaus’ driveway. That was enough to get both vehicle and ATV riders stopping for a cookie. Once word got out, the popularity spread like wildfire.

“Baking wasn’t something I instantly loved,” Pomerleau said. “I learned a lot of it through my work, and honestly, in the beginning, I didn’t enjoy it because I wasn’t very good at it.”

Pomerleau had beeen working as the food service director at Phillips Strickland House, an assisted living facility in Bangor.

“After a lot of trial and error, I finally came up with the perfect recipe for my huge stuffed cookies,” she said. “Once I got the base recipe just right, I started experimenting and learning as many flavors as I could.”

The actual cookie stand was built by Corey last year, and it’s now a known stop for ATV riders from all over.

Trust plays a major role in an honor system. “I always say if someone truly feels like they need to steal a cookie, then they probably needed it more than I did,” she said. “People have been incredibly trustworthy. It really just goes to show there’s still a lot of good in this world.”

As traffic at the roadside stop increased, Pomerleau realized her business had grown beyond its original purpose.

“Once ATV riders started spreading the word and people were asking if they could buy them elsewhere or place larger orders, I knew it was becoming something bigger than just the trail stand,” said Pomerleau. 

That’s when she started looking into getting the cookies into local stores. She packed up boxes of cookie samples and she and her husband dropped them off at local stores. She said what really wins over businesses is the flavor and reasonable prices. 

Eventually, Pomerleau left her job to focus on Cookie Jar of Maine. 

The oversized stuffed cookies, each weighing more than 6 ounces, are sold at restaurants and stores across central Maine like AE Robinson Convenience Stores in five towns including Dexter; Laney’s Pit Stop in Skowhegan; Damon’s Pizza and Italians in Augusta; Indian Lake Market in St. Albans; Bingham General Store; Bucksport Nutrition; and Ellsworth Nutrition; and online. The roadside stand is open from spring through fall.

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“Some of our most popular flavors are our Everything cookie, which is loaded with chocolate chips, M&Ms and stuffed with a whole Reese’s cup and Oreo,  S’mores Stuffed, Creamed in Maine, Oreo Stuffed, Reeses Stuffed and Chocolate Naughty Nut,” she said. 

The most surprising part of this journey, she said, has been watching a simple roadside stand turn into a business that distributes cookies to stores.

“I never expected it to grow that quickly or reach so many people,” she said. “It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s also been really exciting and honestly kind of surreal.”

Pomerleau attributes her success to the community, people who stopped at the stand, shared with their friends, and spread the word as well as the ATV community.

The people are what keep her motivated to grow her business, she said. She is excited to expand to more stores, but intends to keep the product the same — homemade cookies made with the same quality and care.