By Jessica Mathiasz

In 2020, while the world was locked down, one Sri Lankan IT professional discovered an unexpected passion—decorated cookies. What started as a lockdown experiment became Tutu’s Kookies, a brilliant cookie business blending art, flavour, and serious tech-like precision. We sat down with the founder to chat about his unexpected and delicious career pivot.

Q. Tell us a little about your background. How did you get into baking?
A. It’s a long story! (laughs) My background is actually in IT. I studied information systems and business management, then worked in the industry for about four years. 

Baking wasn’t even on my radar until COVID hit. Like a lot of people stuck at home, I started scrolling through Instagram and stumbled on these beautifully decorated cookies. I thought I could do this.
I’ve always loved art, I used to paint as a kid, so the idea of combining food and creativity just clicked. I spent months experimenting with recipes, trying to adapt them to Sri Lankan tastes and ingredients.

By June 2020, I had my first proper batch ready. My very first sale was a set of ice cream-themed cookies for a colleague. She paid me, and I was like, Wait, people will actually buy these? After that, I didn’t look back. Cookies became my passion and profession. 

Q. What’s the speciality of Tutu’s Kookies?
A. Every cookie is 100% custom. They are not regular cookies, they are little edible delicious paintings. Customers come to me with themes, birthdays, weddings, even bachelorette parties and I bring them to life. The most popular ones are movie and cartoon designs: Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel and Disney princesses. 

Flavour-wise, I started with classic sugar cookies, but recently added chocolate chip and kids go crazy for them. 

Q. What is the wildest custom request you have had?  
A. Bachelorette requests get quite creative (laughs). But one of the most challenging requests was a giant 12-inch Ben 10 cookie. I didn’t even have a cutter that big, I had to hand-cut it using a measuring tape. The thing was so heavy, I panicked about it breaking during delivery. Spent a whole day on it, but the customer loved it.

Q. Ever had a cookie disaster that turned into a win?
A. Oh yeah. Once, I botched the icing consistency for a Valentine’s cookie flower bouquet, the colours bled everywhere. I freaked out, but when it dried, it looked like a watercolour painting. Now I do that on purpose sometimes.

Q. What’s the favourite cookie design you’ve made so far?
A. I love them all. But if I had to pick one, it would be the Christmas collection Tutu’s Kookies does every year. ‘The Tropical Christmas Collection’. We combine Sri Lankan tropical vibes with Santa and Christmas. Coconut-tree Christmas trees, Santa chilling on a beach, Santa riding a tuk-tuk with presents. Classic Christmas elements, but incorporated with island vibes.

Q: You probably have a proper system in place to create all these beautiful cookies. Walk us through your kitchen operations.
A: You know, people see the pretty finished cookies and don't realize there's a whole science behind keeping them safe and consistent. When I moved from my home kitchen to a commercial space, I had to think like both an artist and a food scientist.

We built our kitchen specifically for cookie production with separate zones for mixing, decorating, and packaging to prevent cross-contamination. Every batch gets tested for consistency. The ingredients are where I'm most particular. While we use local flour and butter, I import food colours from FDA-certified US suppliers because safety is non-negotiable when kids are eating these. We developed a special dehydration process before packing that extends shelf life naturally, no preservatives needed. This way, we are able to ship our cookies to countries across the world. We’ve sent cookies to Australia, Canada and Malaysia. 

Q: How long do the cookies stay fresh?
A: They're best eaten within 5 days (if you can resist them that long). But technically, our testing shows 12 days at room temperature in Sri Lanka's humidity. Freeze them properly and they'll last 2 months. 

Q. What’s your most memorable moment?
A. The two very significant moments that I’ll never forget. The first was during the early days of Tutu’s Kookies at a Halloween market where I sold 500 cookies in one hour. I did not expect that much of an overwhelming love towards my work. The second was pretty recent. I was invited to a food expo in Singapore this year. Never thought my little COVID side hustle would take me there.

Q. If money and logistics weren’t an issue, what’s the most extravagant cookie project you’d attempt?
A. If money weren’t an issue, I would attempt the Guinness World Record for the largest decorative cookie in the world. 

Q. If you could time-travel back to your first sale, what would you do differently?
A. Market harder! I underestimated how much word-of-mouth matters. Now, I’d tell my past self to promote the business more online. 

Q. Ultimate dream for Tutu’s Kookies?
A. The dream is to launch a YouTube channel showing my process and eventually start an academy. Many people ask me to teach them, I’d love to share the craft.