• Los Angeles Times/AP, Friday, July 13, 2007 10:45 AM

Wally Amos, who created the Famous Amos cookie empire three decades ago but eventually lost the rights to use the catchy name, is now a muffin mogul and the proprietor of Chip & Cookie in Kailua, Hawaii. The store sells five varieties of bite-sized cookies similar to the ones he first sold at the Famous Amos store in Hollywood 30 years ago.

Uncle Wally's Muffin Co. was originally founded as Uncle Noname Cookie Co. in 1992, a few years after Amos lost Famous Amos. Uncle Noname, however, foundered because of debt and problems with its contracted manufacturers. Some cookies were too small. Others were too big. Some bags contained no cookies at all.

The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1996, abandoned cookies and went into muffins at the suggestion of business partner Lou Avignone. Today, the products are found in 5,000 stores nationwide, including Costco and Wal-Mart. It expects to produce 250 million muffins this year and 1 billion muffins annually by 2010.

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