Hey Besties! As we close out the final days of 2022, I wanted to share a roundup post of our Featured Bakers of this year! If you’ve been here before, you know these home bakers are amazingly talented and have created thriving businesses from scratch. If you’d like to know more about the passion behind our Featured Bakers section, I recently reflected on it HERE. These bakers and the work they do are heart of why I started this blog and I LOVE recognizing them for their talent. Their talent never ceases to amaze me, and I’ll continue to shout it from the rooftops! They also have incredible advice for aspiring and other home bakers. You’ll also get a sneak peek into some of the exciting changes and products they have coming for 2023!
Jessica McPherson
Owner of Baked with Love Cookie Shop in Conroe, Texas. For aspiring bakers, Jessica shared the nugget, “Don’t compare yourself to others,” which is SUCH good advice for someone in the early stages. This busy wife and mom continues to grow her bakery with the addition of cakes to her offerings! She’s excited to continue to grow her business in 2023! Read Jessica’s full Featured Baker story HERE.
Kaitlyn Axtell
Owner of Double Batch Confections out of the Detroit, Michigan area. Also, an ICU Nurse and Grad student with dreams of opening a bakery! Her ambition and endless energy had us all ready to chase our dreams! When asked what tools she couldn’t live without, she said, “My Bosch mixer, my projector and my dehydrator.” To read Kaitlyn’s story, or connect with her, click HERE.
Ashley Voorhees
Owner of Bearcat Bakery in Allen, Texas. We fell in love with Ashley’s giving spirit and everything she does for her community. Including an annual event to raise funds for Childhood Cancer, which had my heart. She was also our first Featured Baker to talk about “community over competition.” Her stunning cakes, cookies and other treats round out the special human that she is! You can read Ashley’s full story HERE.
Stacey Leick
Owner of Buttered Marshmallow of Omaha, Nebraska. Stacey inspired us with the bold decisions she made to design a life she loved! She left corporate American behind and is living her dream. This year alone, she’s had 2 of her cakes be named best in Omaha! Her Signature Buttered Marshmallow Cake as well as Sarah’s Chocolate Dream Cake took these honors. Every day she attempts to “make every person’s life better with more cake.” You can read Stacey’s full story, see her creations and connect with her HERE.
Jenny Geier
Owner of Some Like It Hot and Gluten Free, just outside Rochester, Minnesota. She is passionate about bringing life’s indulgences to those with, and without, dietary restrictions. And her community can count on her for cakes, decorated cookies, gourmet cookies, cupcakes, meringues and more. For 2023, Jenny is hoping to add gluten free breads to the menu as well! Dairy free options are in the works too! To read Jenny’s full story, see her work or connect with her, click HERE.
Liza Langford
Owner of SugarGal Cookies out of Bradford, Ontario, was our first Featured Baker from Canada! Liza’s decorated cookies are perfection, and she is my idol when it comes to lettering. Liza and I bonded over our love of 80’s music, which she listens to while decorating. You can see the passion, energy and love in her colorful cookies! For 2023, Liza hopes to continue making custom creations while jamming to her favorite tunes. To read Liza’s full story, see her work or connect with her, click HERE.
Justina Rucinski
Owner of Sweetems Co. By Justina, out of San Antonio, Texas. Justina is a true artist in every sense of the word, who brilliantly tells a story through her decorated cookies. She has a loyal and loving following who appreciate her artistry and skill. Justina’s advocacy for the safety of other home bakers also resulted in the state of Iowa updating their laws in 2022. Home bakers are no longer required to have customers pick up from their homes. This seemingly small change gives MUCH more safety and options for those running bakeries from home. Thank you, Justina, for all you do in advocating and speaking up. To read Justina’s full story, see her stunning work or connect with her, go HERE.
Grace Fredericks
Owner of Gracie Mae Cookie Co., out of Fowler, California. Grace uses her teaching background and skills for making beautifully decorated cookies to teach others as well as selling her own custom cookies! She has amassed 855k TikTok followers with er informative and fun videos! She teaches in-person classes locally and will hopefully make more digital courses so we can all learn from her regardless of proximity! Grace’s full story is HERE where you can see her beautiful work and connect with her.
Aimee Birdwell
Owner of Birdwell Bakery, of Lafayette, Tennessee. Aimee delivers warm customer service that her clients love and keeps them coming back for her delicious goodies. She makes all kinds of goodies but is famous for her fried pies! For 2023, Aimee is working on cookie classes, culinary classes and cake decorating classes! She’s also going to be branching out to do more corporate custom orders as well. You can’t keep her down, she got GOALS! See Aimee’s full story along with her work and ways to connect HERE.
Jason Mercado
Owner of Sweet Mission, out of California. We were all amazed at Jason’s story of what he has built and everything he does for his community. He recently completed another successful Thanksgiving event and continues to give back to the community in immeasurable ways. He has accomplished SO much when the odds were stacked against him. I can’t wait to cheer him on in everything he does in 2023! Jason’s full story, along with photos and ways to connect are HERE.
Cherie Robinson
Owner of Iced Out Cakes, near Atlanta, Georgia. Cherie amazed us with her over-the-top cakes and celebrity events! The scale of her cakes and presentations are simply stunning. Cherie had a big year, competing on Food Network’s The Big Bake Halloween special, which was so fun to watch! I know Cherie will continue to delight with big things in 2023 and I am here for it! Read Cherie’s full story HERE along with photos of her work and ways to connect.
Rachel Smith
Owner of Cookie Crafters, of Simi Valley, California. Rachel and I first connected and bonded over both being moms of boys with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. I felt honored to learn about her son, Kai, their family and share her story. Rachel is not only incredibly talented but also resilient. Read her full story HERE.
Pari’ Crowe
Owner of GuiltFree Goodies, of the Washington D.C. metro area. Pari’ specializes in indulgences people can enjoy while eating healthy! All mom approved, her recipes are free of sugar, grains, gluten, GMOs, preservatives, artificial flavors and colors. How she creates this sorcery, I have no idea, but her customers LOVE her treats while they stay on track with their goals and healthy lifestyles! You can read Pari’s full story HERE along with photos of her work and ways to connect and order.
Carla Sundvall
Owner of Carla’s Confections, of Apopka, Florida. A very talented cookie decorator with a great sense of humor and truly values her mentors. Carla has a way of making anyone smile, especially the “giant toddlers with mustaches” that make up their local firehouse where her husband works and that she commonly bakes for. She loves making custom cookies for those in her community while continuing to develop her skills. She has not even been decorating sugar cookies for 2 years but you would never know it looking at her work! She’s a great inspiration for aspiring decorators and bakers! You can read her full story HERE along with photos of her work and ways to connect.
Serlly Camacho
Owner of Mr. Brownie, out of Tijuana, Mexico, was our first Featured Baker from Mexico! Serlly’s work will seriously blow your mind and she is regarded as one of the best in the industry. It was such an honor and privilege to feature her. Another baker with a background in teaching, Serlly regularly hosts online decorating classes. She also felt strongly about how art can rescue people. Her vulnerability was palpable, and she wants others to know that this can serve as a therapy for people, as it did for her. I could stare at her work for days and I hope you visit her full story HERE, which includes photos of her work and ways to connect.
Katie Lubeck
Owner of Cookie Art KC, out of Olathe, Kansas. Known for her absolutely stunning florals, Katie’s work is incredibly lifelike. You may think they are too pretty to eat but they are equally as delicious. Her attention to detail is GOALS for other cookiers and I can’t wait to see more of her work in 2023! Please visit her gallery of work, along with full story and ways to connect HERE.
Nicole Larsen
Owner of CookieMomster, in Wichita Falls, Texas, was a baker after my heart. Nicole’s business focuses almost entirely on making and delivering treats to Airmen living at Sheppard Air Force Base. For these young adults and their families, she provides a priceless service. This holiday season, after hearing about Airmen who were feeling down and lonely, Nicole started matching orders so she could spread more joy. I happily contributed to help bring joy to Airmen who couldn’t be with their families this holiday season. Nicole is still hoping to connect with other bakers who have access to military bases in other cities and states so they can reach more members of the military. For 2023, she’s adding sweet & savory baskets too! Keep up the amazing work, Nicole! To read Nicole’s full story, see photos of her work or place an order for the Airmen, go HERE.
Jodie Lavoie
Owner of Sugar Rush Cakery, out of Calhan, Colorado, but also serving Castle Rock and other surrounding communities. Jodie is an amazingly talented cake decorator whose work I could look at for hours. No request too big or small, she LOVES to create custom and over-the-top cakes. She’s a busy wife and mom who also works in real estate and helps run their ranch in addition to this thriving home bakery! You would be remiss not to check out her gallery of work and read her full story HERE.
Taishi Ligon
Owner of Cookie Joy, out of San Angelo, Texas. A Food Network Christmas Cookie Challenge Champion and return special guest, regaled us with the behind-the-scenes details! Such a joy to get to know, she is affectionately called “the cookie lady” in the community. Taishi has such a love for making people happy with her treats and is also so grateful for her “cookie friends” she has made along the way. She’s happy to be in his 6th year of business and is keeping an eye out for commercial space in 2023! I’m so excited to watch everything she does! Read her full story HERE along with an incredible gallery of her work and ways to connect.
Marguerite Redman
Owner of The Cookie Artist, of both Ohio and Florida. Along with her bustling custom cookie business, Marguerite also owns Cookie Artist Studio which offers awesome products for cookiers! Her shop may become your new fave for cutters and also embossed parchment paper for unique designs! For 2023, she’s excited to be adding many new cutter designs to her shop! Click HERE to read her full story, see her gallery of work and ways to shop her store!
Jess Abrons
Owner of Whisky Crumbs, of Leander, Texas. Jess blew us away upon learning that she just baked her first sugar cookie one year ago, on Dec 14, 2021! Looking at her work, this seems unbelievable but it’s true! If you or someone you know is an aspiring bakery owner, let Jess serve as your inspiration to take the leap! Her florals are breathtaking, and I secretly hope she offers virtual classes someday! What she loves most about her business is seeing the reactions from her customers and the joy it brings them. She’s excited to continue in 2023! You can see her stunning work, her full story and ways to connect HERE.
A Remarkable Group Of Featured Bakers
Reviewing and reflecting on all of these special pieces reminded me of why I started this. The passion, the talent, it’s all so unreal and deserves to be shared with the world. These bakers followed their dreams, one day at a time and bring joy to SO many people. They deserve all the recognition, credit and success that comes their way; it’s not an easy journey. A heartfelt thank you to all of them for allowing me to write these special pieces celebrating them.
The tidbits of advice they have shared for new or aspiring bakers is priceless and their desire to pay it forward is so appreciated. The home baking industry is a loving one where you never stop learning.
I can’t wait to watch these bakers flourish in 2023 and cheer them on all the way! I’m also excited to connect with a new group of Featured Bakers in 2023!
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