Virginia high school student launches thriving cookie business amid pandemic

WOODBRIDGE, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - Kids all around the DMV are online a lot recently thanks to distance learning, but one Northern Virginia high school student is online for a different reason –– she started her own dessert company amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic has allowed 17-year-old Anjali Badrinarain's passion for baking to take off.

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Eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the Woodbridge High school senior has a thriving cookie business and beyond her parents, most of her support comes from her classmates, community, and even complete strangers across the country.

These are no ordinary cookies — at least if you go by numbers.

In just two months, Anjali has sold more than a hundred boxes of cookies via her website vanillansugar.com.

The teen started baking when she was just eight years old and then says she started creating her own recipes a few years later.

When school districts nationwide transitioned to distance learning, including Prince William County schools, Anjali decided to launch her baking business and went live with it in September after months of building a website and perfecting her recipes.

The idea of opening a business was always a thought for the high school senior, but it wasn’t until this year and obviously the pandemic that she really had the time to make it happen. 

She says she gets up at 6 a.m. every day and takes in orders and typically bakes throughout the week. 

Her menu currently features 13 flavors of cookies, ranging from the classic vanilla and sugar to seasonal pumpkin and spice.

She graduates from high school this year and plans to study marketing in college.