The Weekly Rise — Issue No. 007

September 13, 2026

Cottage Baking

Turn your passion into something more, with a little planning along the way.

FROM MY KITCHEN

There’s More to Cottage Baking Than the Bread

When I first started Clear Creek Sourdough, I was focused on the bread.

Was my starter healthy? Was my dough fermented enough? Why did one loaf turn out beautifully while the next one seemed to have a mind of its own? 😂

But as my little business has grown, I've realized there's another side of sourdough that I really enjoy: everything that happens around the bread.

I don't run a full-scale cottage bakery, but my business lives alongside the cottage-baking world. I sell sourdough starter and other baking products, create resources for bakers, and have learned plenty about the practical side of turning something you love to do at home into a small business.

And you know what I've discovered?

A lot of the same principles apply.

Packaging. Labels. Pricing. Keeping track of expenses. Managing orders. Figuring out what people actually want. Creating systems that make your life easier. And, perhaps most importantly, knowing when to keep things simple instead of buying every gadget or trying every idea that comes along.

I'm still learning, too. Some things I've figured out through experience, some through trial and error (lots of error 😂), and some by asking other bakers what works for them.

This week, we're stepping a little beyond the loaf and talking about the cottage baker behind the business.

Whether you're selling bread, starter, baking supplies, or something else that grew out of your love for sourdough, I think you'll find something useful here.

Because you don't have to have a bakery to think like a cottage baker. 🥖❤️

BAKER'S BENCH

Building Your Cottage Baking Toolkit

One of the easiest ways to spend money when you fall in love with sourdough is to start collecting all the things. 😂

A new baker sees another baker using a certain banneton, scale, Dutch oven, dough whisk, scoring tool, or fancy storage system and thinks, “Maybe I need that too!”

Before you know it, the kitchen is full of sourdough gadgets—and you're still making the same loaf.

The truth is you don't need a huge collection of equipment to be a successful cottage baker. You need a few things that work well, and systems that make your baking easier.

Start with the basics

For sourdough, your essential toolkit can be surprisingly simple:

- A reliable kitchen scale
- Mixing bowls
- A dough scraper
- A bench scraper
- A banneton or other proofing vessel
- A scoring tool
- A Dutch oven or suitable baking vessel
- A way to track your dough and recipes

From there, add equipment because it solves a problem you actually have, not because someone on social media has it.

And once you're selling something, your toolkit expands beyond the kitchen.

You may need:

- Packaging
- Labels
- A reliable label printer
- Storage
- Order tracking
- A simple way to track expenses
- A simple system for communicating with customers

These aren't necessarily exciting purchases—but they're the things that can make a small business feel manageable instead of chaotic.

My biggest cottage-baker lesson?

Don't build the business you think you should have. Build the one that fits the business you actually have.

Start with what you need today. Let your business tell you what you need next.

That approach has saved me from more than a few unnecessary purchases—and probably will save me from a few more. 😂

Consider what's one piece of equipment or one system you couldn't live without? And what's something you bought that turned out to be completely unnecessary?

YOU ASKED . . .

Community Question

“I’m just starting out. What do I actually need to do to get my sourdough cottage bakery organized and ready to sell?”
- Member, COTTAGE FOOD BUSINESS FB Group

Answer:

If you’re thinking about selling sourdough from home, don’t start with a fancy logo or a dozen products. Start with a system.

Before your first sale, make sure you have:

- Know your local rules. Check your state and local cottage-food requirements before selling anything.
- Choose a small menu. Start with 1–3 products you can make consistently rather than trying to offer everything.
- Write down your recipes. Record ingredient weights, yields, bake times, and any changes so you can reproduce your results.
- Calculate your actual cost. Include flour, ingredients, packaging, labels, payment fees, and other supplies—not just the cost of the main ingredients. Avoid the most common mistake: forgetting to account for your time!
- Create compliant labels. Know what information your state requires before printing a large batch.
- Set up a simple order system. Decide how customers will order, pay, and receive their products.
- Track every sale and expense. A simple spreadsheet is enough to start. You want to know whether you’re actually making money.
- Create a repeatable production routine. Write down when you feed your starter, mix, bulk ferment, shape, refrigerate, bake, package, and fulfill orders.

And most importantly: start small enough that you can do it consistently.

THE BAKER'S CHALLENGE

This week, build your cottage-baker checklist.

Whether you’re already selling from home or simply thinking about it, take 15 minutes to look at your current sourdough routine and identify the pieces that aren’t yet repeatable.

Write down:

1. What are you selling? Choose your 1–3 core products.
2. What does each one actually cost you? Include ingredients and packaging and your hard work.
3. What does your production schedule look like? Write down the steps from starter feeding through customer pickup or delivery.
4. What needs to happen before you can legally sell? Check your state and local cottage-food requirements.
5. What is one thing you could simplify? A flavor, packaging step, ordering process, or part of your bake schedule.

Bonus challenge: Take one product you make regularly and create a simple one-page “recipe + production checklist” for it. The goal isn't perfection—it’s creating something you could follow again next week without having to reinvent the process.

REFERENCE CORNER

Free Resource of the Week

Cottage Baker’s Ready to Sell Checklist

Thinking about turning your baking into a little extra income?

Before you start taking orders, there are a few important things to have in place.

This printable checklist walks you through the basics—from understanding your rules and product to pricing, packaging, and creating a simple selling process.

Use it as your starting point so you can build your cottage baking business with confidence—one step at a time.

COMMUNITY CRUMB

Community Crumb: Stop Building Your Business by Yourself

One of the best things you can do when starting a cottage food business is to get to know the other small businesses around you.

Not just potential customers. Other business owners.

While building Clear Creek Sourdough, I’ve connected with a local beeswax bag maker, a beekeeper, another sourdough cottage baker, a baker who teaches sourdough classes, a baker who mills her own flour, a gluten-free bakery owner, and others.

Those relationships have been just as valuable as many of the social media posts I’ve made.

Why local connections matter

You don’t have to compete with every business around you. In fact, some of your best opportunities may come from businesses that complement what you do.

For example:

- A beekeeper may have customers who would love your honey-sweetened bread.
- A baker who teaches classes may recommend your products to students.
- A beeswax-wrap maker may be a great partner for a market or gift basket.
- A local flour miller may become a helpful resource—or a future collaborator.
- Another cottage baker may know something about pricing, markets, or production that you haven’t figured out yet.
- A gluten-free baker may introduce you to customers looking for products you don’t offer.

The goal isn’t always to make a sale. Sometimes it’s to build familiarity, trust, and a relationship that becomes valuable later.

A few practical ways to start

1. Make a list of five complementary businesses.
Look for businesses that serve a similar audience but don’t sell the exact same thing you do. Think coffee shops, local farms, honey producers, flour mills, packaging suppliers, craft makers, and other cottage food businesses.

2. Introduce yourself without asking for anything.
Send a simple message, stop by their booth, or comment thoughtfully on their page. Let them know you appreciate what they’re doing.

3. Support their business first.
Buy something, share a post, recommend them to someone, or celebrate one of their accomplishments. Relationships grow through genuine support—not just requests.

4. Look for one simple collaboration.
You could create a small giveaway, cross-promote each other’s products, build a gift basket, share a market table, or recommend each other when a customer needs something you don’t offer.

5. Keep track of your connections.
A simple spreadsheet or note can include the business name, what they offer, how you connected, and possible ways you could support each other. Follow up occasionally without making every interaction a sales pitch.

And here’s the best part:

You don’t have to wait until you’re successful to start building these relationships.

Start now. Send the message. Introduce yourself. Stop by their booth. Buy something from their business. Tell people about them.

Build relationships before you need them.

Your local small-business community can become one of your biggest assets—and it doesn’t cost a dime to begin. ❤️

Your action step this week: Choose one local business that complements what you do and reach out with a genuine introduction.

FRESH FROM CLEAR CREEK

Cottage Baker Favorites

One of the things I’ve learned while building Clear Creek Sourdough is that the right tools and resources can make cottage baking a whole lot easier.

So I’m building a collection of the things I actually use, recommend, or think are worth knowing about—from baking equipment and packaging to helpful resources for running a small cottage food business.

This page is a work in progress! I’ll be adding to it as I discover new favorites, test products, and learn more along the way.

🛒 Check back regularly! I’ll continue updating this page with new recommendations, helpful articles, and resources for cottage bakers.

Some links on this page may be affiliate links. If you purchase through one of my links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only want to share resources I think are genuinely useful.

Coming soon:

- My favorite baking tools
- Packaging & labeling resources
- Cottage-baker business tools
- Helpful articles & guides
- Products I’ve tested or use myself

COMING OUT OF THE OVEN

A little preview of what’s coming next…

This week, we took a step away from the dough and into the business side of baking with our Community Crumb. We talked about the importance of building relationships with other small businesses—and why you don’t have to build your cottage bakery alone.

But next week, we’re going to zoom back in and look at something that affects every single loaf we bake: the ingredients.

Flour. Water. Salt. Starter. And all those delicious extras we add along the way.

What does each ingredient actually do? What happens when we change one? And how can understanding our ingredients help us troubleshoot, experiment, and become more confident bakers?

We’ll take a closer look at the building blocks of our dough and explore how even small ingredient changes can affect the way we mix, ferment, shape, and bake.

Next week in The Weekly Rise: It’s More Than Flour. 🥖

Bring your questions—and maybe take a look at your flour bag before then.

UNTIL NEXT TIME. . .

Thanks for spending a little time with me this week. I hope you learned something new and found a bit of inspiration for your next bake.

See you next week!

Happy Baking!

Alice Wilson

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