Houston Bakery Bares All
Kelly Cornelison of Bare Bakery is filling a void. OK, it sounds extreme, but it’s not to those who haven’t had a dessert in three years. Cornelison makes desserts free of gluten, grains and refined sugars. These are the kinds of treats you can’t find easily, if at all, in Houston.
Meeting Cornelison for the first time, it’s clear that she’s a people person. Her smile and enthusiasm fill any room. But how much she cares about people sinks in when she’s describing how meaningful it is to give a cookie to someone who hasn’t eaten one in years. And this is why Bare Bakery exists: “I love the human connection. I want to watch people eat my products. I’m excited because I know that they’ll enjoy it and they’ll be so surprised it’s gluten-free,” said Cornelison.
Cornelison loves bringing samples to new potential vendors, just to see their response to her products. “This week I dropped off a sample box to someone who’s gluten-free who said he drove to Katy the other day just to eat gluten-free chicken. [My clients] come from so many different places and they all have different stories. But they’re all excited and happy to have found Bare Bakery—and it makes my whole day!”
It took some time for Bare Bakery to be born. A paralegal with a theater degree from A&M, Cornelison didn’t have a life-long dream of starting her own bakery. It wasn’t until she started changing her own diet four or five years ago, to feel better. After removing grains and refined sugars from her diet, she realized “there wasn’t anything that I could eat for dessert!”
Starting a bakery wasn’t totally out of the blue for her either, given her family’s business. “My parents own a traveling strudel business. They go to all the fall festivals and sell strudel!” she said. Which, aside from all the gluten and refined sugar, totally makes sense. “My parents have always been self-employed. So, for me, starting my own business wasn’t crazy. I probably always thought that’s where I wanted to go because that’s how I grew up. I just didn’t know what it was going to be yet.”
Cornelison is sensitive to the many allergies and food restrictions people live with and she works with each customer to get them a dessert they can enjoy. “I want Bare Bakery to be a brand that people with food intolerances can rely on,” she said.
If people need something Paleo, for someone with diabetes, or dairy-free, she’s happy to work with them. “The only time I ever use dairy is when I use grass-fed butter and organic cream cheese. But it’s easy for me to make things without dairy,” she said.
However, when it comes to severe allergies, she’s always clear with customers about any risks. “Whenever I’m making cookie dough I make the peanut butter dough last so it’s not contaminating anything during the day [for peanut allergies]. But we can’t be certified gluten-free yet, because we currently share our kitchen with another business.”
Beyond dedication to baking allergen-free desserts, Cornelison cares about sourcing ingredients locally. “We’re trying to use local ingredients wherever we can. We use a local vegan dark chocolate from Cosmic Creature Chocolate, honey from Big Creek Farms and fruit from Gundermann Acres whenever it’s in season.”
Cornelison dreams of having a dedicated shop eventually. “I want to have a storefront one day. ‘Bare Bakery and Café’ or a coffee shop!” Her business is getting busier and she’s recently hired both a baking assistant and a social media manager to help out. For now, she’s excited to be exactly where she is. “To see the passion [in a customer], when they pick up their cake or they stumble across our booth at the farmers market, is so rewarding. The conversations that I have with people are really encouraging. It’s amazing to see their realization that there’s a brand out there that can give them what they’ve been looking for,” said Cornelison.
This fall, Bare Bakery introduced monthly cake tastings that provide a box of new flavors for people to try before ordering cakes. They sell to-go boxes with four slices of different flavor combinations that change each month. “The cake tastings have been selling out quickly,” she said. “Customers can pre-order and pick up at the bakery or the farmers market.”
And with the coming holidays, they’re revving up for Thanksgiving orders. “We plan to have our special Thanksgiving offerings posted on our website and social media the first week of November. It’s our busiest time of year, so we’re requesting a week’s notice on all orders,” she said. She added that their December holiday offerings would be posted soon after Thanksgiving.
Whether you’re gluten-free or not, you’re sure to know someone who is. Share the gluten-free love this holiday season by visiting barebakeryhouston.com and learning how you can buy their treats for gifts or events.
