KAHULUI — Ana Magarin and Leanne Ohta are dental hygienists by day and creative cookie bakers by night.

They have heard the question many times. ” ‘What is wrong with you guys?’ ” said Ohta regarding the contrasting jobs.

“Job security,” replied Magarin, laughing.

The duo, who have a love of baking and an entrepreneurial spirit, make up the Maui Sugar Mamas, who have been baking varieties of crispy bite-sized, domed-shaped cookies since 2016. These include their Signature Chocolate Chip, Passion 8 Bliss (with passion fruit puree and white chocolate) and the popular PMS cookies, which stands for Positive Mood Sensation.

The PMS cookie is a mix of sweet and salty and includes sea salt caramel chips, said Ohta.

It is ideal for those needing a positive mood boost. And men are welcome to partake too, the women said.

The Baldwin High School graduates and friends for 25 years will bring their humor and cookies for the first time to the fifth annual Made In Maui County Festival on Friday and Saturday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

The Maui Sugar Mamas is one of 38 new vendors at the festival, said Teena Rasmussen, director of the county Office of Economic Development. There will be more than 140 vendors from throughout the county displaying and selling clothing, jewelry, food, plants, skin care products, surfboards and crafts, all which are made in Maui County. The show offers a springboard to larger markets and a chance to meet face-to-face with new customers.

The county Office of Economic Development and the Maui Chamber of Commerce are the event presenters.

Magarin and Ohta didn’t make the cut last year; they were told there were too many similar products. The rejection just made them work harder, and they feel they are ready now.

“We want to sell out,” Magarin said, as she and Ohta were baking 30,000 cookies last week at the Maui Food Innovation Center at the University of Hawaii Maui College.

All the cookies are for the festival.

Chris Speere, an assistant professor at the college and the center’s site coordinator, said about a third of the local food product vendors at the festival went though the center’s food X-celerator Program.

“We are really thrilled to see what’s happening,” he said.

In addition to taking advantage of UH-Maui College resources, Maui Sugar Mamas also tapped the Maui Economic Development Board for business help.

Getting into the festival offers a boost for their fledgling business, the women said. The 48-year-old Magarin wants to meet face to face with customers.

“We want people to know who we are as a business. Who the owners are, who we really are as people,” she said. “We are fun. We want them to know us.”

Ohta, 46, is excited and nervous.

“This is the big event,” she said. “We never know what’s going to happen after.”

Currently, the women work in different dental offices and are busy mothers. Magarin’s daughter is 19, and Ohta has two children, 13 and 11 years old.

The mamas bake at night and on weekends.

“We love it so much that’s the reason why we do it,” Magarin said. “We don’t pay ourselves. It’s not about the money. Whatever we make goes back into the business. That’s how we built it. That way now, it’s finally able to run itself.”

Ohta chimed in: “When you have the passion for something, it doesn’t feel like work.”

Their day jobs helped them keep the cookie business afloat. They get physical help from both of their mothers, who can be seen wearing plastic hairnets on social media posts while packing cookies.

Magarin’s mom is Victoria Racoma. Ohta’s mother is Alice Ohta, the baking inspiration. The elder Ohta makes chiffon pies and manju, her daughter said.

The women’s other family members also help from time to time.

The business idea initially came about when a friend suggested Ohta and Magarin collaborate with a coffee shop to sell their banana bread. That didn’t pan out, but they established Maui Sugar Mamas instead.

They made their first sales in 2016, setting up at craft fairs and the at Kula Country Farm’s pumpkin patch.

The base cookie recipe is an offshoot of one in the Higa family cookbook, said Ohta, whose mom is a member of the Higa clan.

Their cookie varieties are the Signature Chocolate Chip, Coffee Lava, Passion 8 Bliss, Peanut Butter Crunchies, Merry Mint (chocolate chip and mint), Midnight Madness (double chocolate chip), All Nighter (coffee and chocolate which makes a mocha flavor), Positive Mood Sensation and their newest, Da Big One, which makes its debut at the festival.

Da Big One is a “two bite” cookie compared to their standard “one bite” cookie, Ohta said.

Magarin said Da Big One is a coffee cookie with caramel chips and Rice Krispies. They will be individually wrapped and sold.

The regularly-sized cookies are hand scooped, which creates the dome shape. Most of their cookies come in 4-ounce bags and sell from $6.50 to $7.

The cookies only are sold at special events, such as craft fairs and school fairs. Their cookies also are made to order. Maui Sugar Mamas supply their goodies as party favors and as gift baskets. They have even done dessert bars for parties.

In the future, the women say they would like to open their own shop.

Their logo, which features a cupcake rather than a cookie, is full of personal symbolism. The frosting on the cupcake contains Leanne Ohta’s nickname, “Lee.” The cupcake cup features “Ana” for Magarin.

The cake top has a molar, a nod to their day jobs.

Ohta, a 1990 Baldwin graduate, and Magarin, a 1987 Baldwin graduate, began their friendship as roommates at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1993.

And that bond as lasted.

“We never knew we were going to be in business together,” Magarin said.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.