From Dream to Dough: Rediscovering My Passion for Baking

I’ve always believed that baking is a kind of magic—a few simple ingredients that transform into something beautiful and delicious. As a kid, I dreamed of becoming a baker, imagining that my love for creating sweet treats could turn into a lifelong career. I joined my high school’s culinary class and started looking for jobs that would give me experience as a baker. But as I explored the reality of the baker’s lifestyle, I quickly realized it wasn’t for me.

Waking up at 4 or 5 AM to start the day and dealing with job instability didn’t align with the life I wanted. And let’s be honest, I hate waking up early (still do to this day). So, I let that dream go. Now, years later, I’m picking up the pieces of that dream and exploring where it could lead.

Recently, I’ve been seeing stories of small businesses popping up on TikTok—like a guy I knew in high school who started his own cookie business. Funny thing is, he doesn’t even like baking; he just loves cookies! So now I’m asking myself: why can’t that be me? Why can’t I start a small side hustle selling baked goods?

The recipes you’ll find here are the beginning of that journey. I’m experimenting with baked goods to figure out what I can include in gift boxes that I plan to sell to friends and family. Whether it’s baking for fun, for friends, or maybe even for a small business, I’m excited to see where this experiment takes me.

Over the past few months, I’ve been baking once a week. These are some of my favorite recipes—the ones I plan to perfect for my variety pack. Sharing them here gives me a place to document my progress and recipes. Hopefully, it’ll keep me accountable enough to keep the dream alive.

So here we are—this series of posts is my way of sharing my favorite recipes and documenting my journey to see where it takes me. If you’ve ever had a dream you’ve put aside, maybe these recipes and this journey will inspire you to revisit it too. Let’s see what comes out of the oven!