Did you know that you could have a bakery right down the street from you and not even know it? Nestled in neighborhoods across Whatcom and Skagit Counties are some unique culinary gems known as cottage bakeries.
Cottage bakeries are run by people who follow the specific guidelines to acquire a Washington State Cottage Food Permit. Currently administered by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, the permit allows residents to sell a select range of goods to folks right out of modified home kitchens. Many of these bakers offer small batches of baked goods you can order online. Some even offer custom orders for events like weddings or birthdays.
Photo by Will Story
The permit allows cottage bakeries to produce up to 50 different products that are considered “not potentially dangerous,” including baked and fried goods, candies, jams and jellies, herbs and spices, and small batch roasted coffee.
“It wasn’t until the pandemic when I decided I don’t want to work anywhere else anymore,” says Jonalyn Hudson, owner of New Whatcom Pastries.
Hudson found the cottage food laws and opened New Whatcom Pastries in June 2020. After a bit of social media marketing, the business took off.
“It’s seven days a week. I’ll bake in the morning and then the family will wake up, and we’ll get them out of the house. Then I’ll come back and clean and do prep work for the rest of the day,” Hudson says.
A classically trained baker, she enjoys working behind the scenes. New Whatcom Pastries offers a variety of Danish pastries, scones, and cinnamon rolls.
Photo by Will Story
“I like being behind the scenes and celebrating with people and also sharing sorrow and stuff like that with them,” she says.
Photo by Will Story
All the pastries are made fresh. You can order from New Whatcom Pastries on Hudson’s website and pick up the finished pastries at a porch cupboard the next morning. Delivery options are available, as are vegan pastries.
“I specialize in decorated cookies and cakes, and I also do a lot of fondant work,” says Janine Morvee, who owns cottage bakery Bellingham Baker. “That’s kind of my specialty because not a lot of people in this area do fondant.”
Morvee started in 2016 and has grown the business over the past few years. While in high school, Morvee took a cake decorating course through Bellingham Technical College and connected with the craft. After working for a grocery store in Ferndale for 38 years, she went into baking.
“I’ve always loved to bake,” Morvee says. “The first year, I didn’t make very much, and then it just kind of picked up from there, and I’ve been busy ever since.”
The Bellingham Baker can be found on Google and Yelp, along with her own website, where you can place orders.
Morvee is known for her decorative custom cakes and cookies. She especially enjoys making kids cakes with themes like Spider-Man and Barbie.
Photo by Will Story
“I can’t get enough of the unicorn cakes. I’ve done them for years, but I still like to do them,” she says.
Working from home can also provide its own unique challenges. Cottage bakeries are often run by individual people and can be a lot of work to manage.
“Being a home baker means you are the dishwasher, the baker, the bookkeeper, and the shopper. There [are] a lot of steps to it, so it’s not just, ‘Hey, bake me a cake,'” Morvee says.
Morvee works at the Bellingham School District central kitchen while running her baking business.
“The biggest challenge is home/life balance. I work, and then I work in my home, and I also have a family. So, it’s trying to keep that balance and make sure that my customers are aware that my time is important,” Morvee says.
The process of getting a cottage food permit varies from state to state, and it’s fairly strict here in Washington. The food has to be sold to individuals and not wholesale, and cottage bakers can only make a maximum of $35,000 in yearly sales.
Photo by Will Story
“Getting set up with the cottage food permit is hard. There are so many little rules, like having thermometers in all your freezers and refrigerators, and making sure your storage is done a certain way,” Morvee says.
There are a few other local cottage bakeries throughout Whatcom and Skagit. Frankie’s Bakery, out of Anacortes, specializes in beautiful French macarons and other cookies. SawyerDough Bakery in Mount Vernon focuses on bread and bagels. Fidalgo Bay Cakery makes cakes and sweets for events including weddings, birthdays, and more.
