Lark Fine Foods

The company: Lark Fine Foods, a mother-daughter run operation making small-batch "cookies for grown-ups" out of Essex, Massachusetts since 2008. 

The people: Mary Ann McCormick and Nicole Nordensved, a mother and daughter team focused on great taste and natural ingredients. 

Why we picked them:  It's hard to find packaged cookies that taste as good as homemade treats, and it's even harder to track down ones that use ingredients we could find in a home kitchen. Lark Fine Foods products are always made by hand in small batches with no artificial or GMO ingredients, so they're the next best thing to making them ourselves. Best of all, Lark cookies are never too sweet, so they're perfect any time of day. In fact, several items in the Lark line--like the chewy Polenta Pennies, Salted Rosemary Shortbreads, and addictive olive Scourtins--cross the line into savory treats that would be at home on a cheese plate. That equals more occasions to eat cookies, and that's just fine by us.