Baking up a business

Cottage Bakery building growing fan base

What began as an outlet for creativity and therapy has grown into a thriving cottage business for Pell City’s Sydney Warren. Each Saturday morning, customers can stop by the Little Bear Bakery porch stand for fresh sourdough breads, cookies, muffins, cinnamon rolls and other baked goods, or place orders in advance for pickup. Warren also brings her sourdough treats to occasional popup markets.

Warren named the micro bakery Little Bear Bakery in honor of her firstborn, Thomas, now 3, whom she often called her “little bear.”  She says he’s the inspiration for her leap of faith in starting her business.  Her pregnancy with him was defined by a rare medical condition called hyperemesis gravidarum or HG, which causes severe and debilitating nausea for the entire duration of the pregnancy. 

Her condition was so severe that, even as much as she loved her work, she had to leave her job.  Essentially bedridden, she required intravenous fluids multiple times a week.  “I couldn’t do anything (during the pregnancy) without being sick.

“I used to be super consumed with my job as a baker in Birmingham,” says Warren.  “I worked for a small bakery.  I started out doing their marketing, but with a small business, you kind of wear all the hats and help where needed.  That’s where I really dove into the baking part.  It was a cinnamon roll-based bakery that began as a micro bakery.” 

The plan had always been for her to go back to work after Thomas was born, but the health challenges she had just endured caused her to rethink that plan.  “When I got pulled out of my work situation so unexpectedly because of being so sick, it kind of made me reevaluate what I wanted in life,” Warren remembers.  “It was kind of God’s way of pulling me out of something when I probably wouldn’t have done it on my own.  I just didn’t want to miss any of the firsts with my baby – the first words, first steps, all the first moments.”

Sydney and her husband, Austin, decided they would try to make it work without her income.  To help her deal with postpartum anxiety and the loss of her career identity, she began baking again, this time at home. 

“My sister helped me figure out how to do sourdough starter,” said Warren.  “I could tend to the baby, and then whenever I put him down for a nap, I could go and do my stretching folds or feed my starter.  It really worked with the needs of his schedule.”

This new sourdough breadmaking began to grow until she had way too many loaves than her family could use.  Warren decided to try posting on social media to see if anyone would be interested in some bread.  “I was like, hey, I have extra loaves,” Warren recounts.  “The next day I took four orders.”  Those customers turned into repeat customers, and the business grew from there. 

From her experience helping to build the micro bakery she worked for in Birmingham, Warren knew how to get licensed. “I helped her to grow that business large enough to get a storefront,” explains Warren. “So, I had that knowledge about needing a cottage license and how you have to follow these specific rules and everything like that.”

The new family of three were living in Moody at the time, but wanted to return to Pell City, where both she and Austin grew up.  By the time Jack, their second “little bear” arrived, they had moved back to be near family.  “I didn’t really have to start over, but Pell City was a new market for me,” Warren admits.  “It was a little overwhelming.  It got so wild with people wanting stuff every day.

“If you’ve ever worked with sourdough, you know it’s a process that takes time,” explains Warren.  “The process takes about three days by the time you feed the starter, allow it to rise, mix the dough, stretch it, fold it intermittently, allow it to rise again, shape it, ferment in the fridge, then finally score and bake it.”

To meet the growing demand for her baked goods, Warren started making extras over and above the pre-orders.  Those extras consistently sold out too.  “I started thinking about ways people wouldn’t have to contact me to see if I had something available.  I said maybe I could do a bakery stand that could be self-serve.  Then they could just come to the stand and buy what was available.”

Thus, the Little Bear Bakery stand was born.  Each Saturday morning beginning at 10, the self-serve bakery stand opens its doors on Warren’s porch in the Oak Village neighborhood not far off Interstate 20 in Pell City.  The shelves are overflowing with beautifully packaged baked goods to satisfy the sweet tooth or savory appetite.

Warren says 99 percent of what she makes uses her sourdough starter.  Her specialty sourdough loaves include cheddar jalapeno, butter croissant, garlic butter and herbs, and other flavors when she has time.  She dresses those up for the holidays, making them in the shapes of pumpkins, turkeys and bunnies. 

Sweets include the cinnamon rolls, muffins, scones, candied pecans, cookies and the extremely popular oatmeal cream pies.  “I really, really love the oatmeal cream pies,” Warren gushes.  “It’s two sourdough oatmeal cookies sandwiched with the yummy, fluffy, icing.  Store-bought doesn’t even hold a candle to these.”

Unique handmade craft items are also available at the stand.  Warren’s sister, Taylor Funderburg, sells her “Taylor Made” vintage and upcycled products like fabric bags, potholders, bowl cozies, oven mitts and even some vintage clothing at the stand.  Payment for both the baked goods and craft items can be made through an honor box or by digital payment platforms using a scan code.

Denise Pollard of Pell City is one of Little Bear Bakery’s repeat customers.  “This is the third or fourth week I’ve pre-ordered the sourdough bread,” she says.  “I’ve tried two other places, and hers is superior.  It’s a  little denser and cuts really nice.  The flavor of her sourdough is much stronger and it’s really good.”  She’s also a fan of the brookie and the oatmeal cream pies.

As her family schedule allows, Warren brings her products to Seed and Sun Bloom’s market days on May’s Bend Road and to other popup markets. 

Her husband, who works as an intensive care nurse at Children’s Hospital, is her biggest cheerleader.  When he’s not working, he steps up to support her by helping set up the markets, loading her car or helping with the boys.  Her “little bears” are always ready to help out as taste testers.

Warren emphasizes that she is a mom first and a business owner second.  She admits that sometimes it feels like it’s a fulltime job, with 12 hours of work on bake day alone.  “I work 30 to 40 hours a week, but I work around nap times,” she explains.  “Each day I have a set of things I can do to prep, which makes bake day easier.”

There are three critical components to Warren’s sourdough success.  Accurate timing at various stages of the process is paramount, a fact that she learned the hard way.  She says it is also important to add ingredients by weight, rather than by volume.  That, she says, guarantees a more accurate and consistent product.  The last essential element in the process is steam.  As soon as she puts her loaves in the oven to bake, she adds a cast iron skillet below them and adds water several times during the baking time.

There have been failures, Warren admits.  But often failures bring adjustments and improvements.  Sometimes they even bring new products, like one of her very first porch sales when she made 18 sourdough loaves and didn’t proof them long enough.  “They tasted good but didn’t rise well,” recounts the baker.  “They didn’t look good, so I cut them up and turned them into sourdough croutons.”  The incident made her add to her offerings because while she didn’t have time to make more sourdough loaves for the sale, she had time to make cookies and muffins, which were a huge hit.

As a licensed cottage bakery, Warren follows an extensive set of rules and regulations established by the State of Alabama, which includes what types of foods she can sell.  That list excludes anything that requires refrigeration.  The Cottage Food Law also requires each item to be labeled with the business name, address, name of the food, allergens, and a list of ingredients.  Warren uses a thermal printer to make the labels that she specifically designs for each of her products.

One of the benefits of being a cottage business is a better work/life balance.  “The whole point is to be here for my family and to connect with community,” said Warren.  “It’s been my prayer that it will grow authentically.  I may think I know what I want, but the Lord’s plans are so much greater and more fulfilling than anything I think I need.”

Editor’s Note: For more information check, the bakery out on Facebook or Instagram.  Connect with Little Bear Bakery online at littlebearbakery.square.site and place your order to ensure you get exactly what you want or just visit them at the stand Saturday mornings.  The Little Bear Bakery stand will be dressed for fall and offering new items like pumpkin bread and apple cinnamon muffins in addition to the usual sourdough goods.