The Rise of Cottage Bakeries

Stephanie Courville spent years working long hours as a bartender. Her priorities changed after the birth of her son two years ago.

“I went back to work for four months after having my baby, but I just couldn’t do it. There was a bigger pull to stay home with him,” says the Loveland resident.

She decided to open a farm stand with soaps and a few baked items. It took off, but not in the way she expected. People kept coming back for her baked goods, and before long, she didn’t have time to make anything else.

“My intention was not to start a bakery,” she says. “That part was kind of on a whim. But the need for the bakery just sort of took over.”

And that’s how she came up with the name for her business: Gone Astray Goods.

Courville’s bake stand is just one of many cottage bakeries that have sprouted up in Northern Colorado post-pandemic. The term “cottage bakery” refers to in-home food businesses that produce and sell “non-potentially hazardous food products” directly to consumers without licensing or inspections. Still, cottage bakers must take a food safety course.

These businesses usually start as an extension of a baker’s passion, a way to supplement the family income or a test run to prepare them for the eventual leap to a brick-and-mortar business. Here, three cottage bakers share how they found their way to making sweet treats for their neighbors—and, as word spread, the greater Northern Colorado community.

 

The bread winner

Courville’s decision to start a cottage bakery had everything to do with creating a revenue stream in addition to her husband’s. Though she baked with her mom growing up, and some again in college, she mainly taught herself during her time at home with a newborn.

“There was a lot of trial and error,” she says. “I got most of my information online and then I baked daily for six months before I started selling.”

Her offerings were such a hit in her neighborhood that she began getting requests for more.

“A lot of people have a really hard time getting their customer base,” Courville says, “but my neighbors were so supportive. They would come by all the time, and then I had word of mouth.”

Courville only operates through her bake stand, which sits outside her home. She loads it up with sourdough bread, cookies, cinnamon rolls and more at 9 a.m. every Friday, then continues to bake and restock throughout the weekend. She doesn’t need to do markets or events: Her stuff sells well, and it keeps her busy.

She also doesn’t advertise, aside from an occasional ad on Instagram along with posting weekly photos of the stand on her social media channels. Her business has grown enough for her to install a second kitchen, and she’s been able to supplement her household income and create a nest egg.

Customers can order ahead on her website, but the stand is also open from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday through Sunday for people who want to peruse what’s available. Baked items are marked with their price, and customers either Venmo Courville or leave cash in the lockbox. It’s the honor system, but it works.

She’s had very little theft, which she chalks up to the occasional kid who swipes a cookie. She installed a camera in her stand though, just to be safe.

Courville does caution other would-be cottage bakers that keeping the business going requires a lot of hard work. She estimates she spends about 60 hours a week on the bakery. Her dough day (prepping and getting ready for the following day’s bake) can take up to 16 hours.

Prepping, baking and packaging the items makes up 40-50 hours of her week, with another 10 hours spent on web development, menu creation, customer service, ingredient shopping and other tasks.

“Thankfully, my husband helps with the dishes,” she says. “I wasn’t prepared for how much work it is. You really get as much as you put into it—and don’t expect to make money right off the bat.”

Even though she’s found success, Courville has no aspirations of a full retail bakery.

“The dream is to make a bigger farmstand on land,” she says, “and go back to the other stuff I don’t have time to make. And maybe involve other makers and farm producers. But right now, I’m maxed on my time.”

 

The passion project

Deonna Wilson started baking because of her daughter, who has a gluten sensitivity. Wilson, of Fort Collins, didn’t think she would like baking her own bread, but the pandemic limited her options when it came to grocery shopping. She ended up loving it and opened her own cottage bakery this year as a result.

She estimates she made her first real loaf of bread about six months after getting her initial starter, and she leaned heavily on other cottage bakers she met online for guidance. The mother of seven children, ranging from 4 to 22 years old, got great feedback from her husband and kids, along with friends and family she gifted baked items to.

Now that Wilson’s kids are getting older, she’s come to the realization that she needs something for herself. Baking has fulfilled that need.

“It’s therapeutic, and now my kids see me go out and do something creative just for me,” she says.

Her bakery’s name reflects life after a period of intensive motherhood: Just Loaffin’.

Wilson started with a wagon in her neighborhood last March. It wasn’t an immediate success: She’s taken some time to build her clientele.

“There were times I wanted to quit, but I couldn’t,” she says. “My kids were watching me.”

She initially advertised on the Nextdoor app, but she didn’t get as much traffic as she hoped. Switching to Facebook Marketplace helped. She doesn’t yet have a website, so she takes preorders through Marketplace, and she gets some weekly traffic at her new bake stand, which was built by her husband and one of her sons.

Wilson offers traditional sourdough and some flavored sourdough loaves, plus a sandwich loaf, cookies and pancake mix. She alternates banana bread on Saturday and zucchini bread on Sunday. Her bakery stand is open from 9 a.m. to dusk (or when she sells out) on Saturdays and Sundays, and as of last month, she’s also open on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings from 5-8 p.m. She bakes three to five days a week to keep up with the demand.

Much like Courville, Wilson wants to keep things simple, even as she grows. She uses ingredients from her home garden in many of her recipes and eggs from her backyard chicken coop. She plans to start selling her chickens’ eggs at the stand as well.

“When the stand sells out, I feel fulfilled,” she says, “but I don’t want it to get to the point where I can’t do it myself.”

 

The aspiring brick and mortar

Yesi Damian, of Wellington, has baking in her blood. Her aunt and mom were bakers, so much so that she calls baking “a family thing.” However, she found that it wasn’t just the baking that drew her to open a cottage business; it was the artistry of decorating desserts that really piqued her interest.

During the lockdown, she began exclusively decorating chocolate-covered strawberries, which she’d assemble in gift boxes for her friends.

“I thought they were sweet and made a cute little gift,” Damian says.

She decorated strawberries for about two years, until she started getting requests for other desserts and received invites to set up at events. She got enough positive feedback that she decided to quit her banking job and open her cottage bakery, Dulce Berries.

Now Damian decorates chocolate-covered strawberries, cake pops, pretzels, Oreos, Rice Krispie treats and caramel apples. During the colder months, she also offers hot cocoa bombs. She’s adding churro cheesecakes and Dubai chocolate bars to her dessert selection in the coming months as well.

Damian frequently takes orders for events, where customers request certain colors or decorations. She recalls searching other creators’ social media platforms for inspiration before settling into her comfort zone. But the artistry in her creations keeps things interesting and catches the eye of her clients.

“I am not an artist,” she says. “I can only draw a stick figure, but when it comes to chocolate…”

She stays busy with word of mouth and updating her Instagram account. She also sets up at events and local markets so that potential clients can see her variety of desserts.

Sanitizing her kitchen and baking and decorating items for each order is quite the process, which includes several large asks a month. She can’t cook while she’s fulfilling orders, for instance.

“My hubby is a help,” Damian says. “He knows to pick up food. I essentially give up my kitchen for a few days every time.”

She’s fully booked for major events until December, but she’s still taking smaller orders. Customers can place their orders through Damian’s Instagram page. Her goal is to continue to grow her business.

“I hope one day to have a small shop, preferably in Old Town Fort Collins, so I can have more walk-in customers,” she says.

In that shop, Damian also envisions making over-the-top milkshakes decorated with cake or cookies—visual feasts for the eyes as well as the stomach, just like the rest of her offerings.

“I just love the idea of bringing people together with a treat,” she says.

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Holiday Treats From Cottage Bakers

Gone Astray Goods

Seasonal specialties: During the holidays, Courville will have dinner rolls, pumpkin cinnamon rolls and maple pecan and cranberry walnut sourdough breads available at her bake stand.

Pickup/order details: The stand is open from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday through Sunday at Courville’s home in Loveland. Preorders can be made at goneastraygoods.com. Additional details are available on her Instagram page.

 

Just Loaffin’

Seasonal specialties: For her first holiday season, Wilson has a pumpkin bread and will roll out other seasonal items.

Pickup/order details: The bake stand is open from 9 a.m. to dusk on Saturday and Sunday and 5-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights at her home in Fort Collins. Preorders can be made through Wilson’s Facebook Marketplace page.

 

Dulce Berries

Seasonal specialties: Damian is offering hot cocoa bombs and churro cheesecakes for the holidays, with other offerings, like Dubai chocolate bars, coming soon.

Pickup/order details: Online orders only (no walk-ups). Order through Damian’s Instagram page or email her at dulceberries1@gmail.com.