UW-La Crosse student from Hales Corners turns love of baking into at-home business

The COVID-19 pandemic affected everyone, but for a college student from Hales Corners, it turned out to be the first step in opening her own at-home business.

Kaitlyn Kreutzer is a junior at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. The psychology major is hoping to go to grad school to major in nursing and eventually go into care coordination.

She’s also the owner of her own at-home bakery called Kaitlyn's Kitchen.

Kreutzer described COVID as a dark time in her life as she dealt with depression and her mental health. She called baking her way of escaping from everything that was going on in the world and in her mind.

"It was just a really good coping mechanism that I had, and then it just kind of formed from there, like a passion,” she said. “I don't necessarily use it as an escape route anymore. I get to make other people's day doing something I love to do."

Growing up in Hales Corners

Growing up as an only child, Kreutzer was very close to her family. She was an athlete and was always surrounded by dogs.

She is close to her parents and her grandparents, who had a very large impact on her baking skills.

"When I was little, I would always bake with my grandma and my mom," Kreutzer said, making brownies from a box mix and chocolate chip cookies. "Those (cookies) were always from scratch, so I've always liked baking. And I have a very big sweet tooth in general."

Due to her extracurricular activities, Kreutzer didn't take baking as seriously in high school, but once the COVID-19 pandemic started, she felt more inspired to bake again.

"My dad had always been asking me to make him oatmeal raisin or oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and he loved the ones I made," she said.

"He then told one of the girls on my softball team about it, and she was like, ‘Can you make me oatmeal butterscotch?’ And I said, 'Sure.' And she's like, 'You should sell these.'"

So she did. Afterwards, Kreutzer began baking more regularly. She would bake goods for her grandparents to try and they would encourage her or tell her what they didn't like about them.

How Kaitlyn runs her at home bakery business

Kreutzer knew she wanted to take her business more seriously, despite not having a physical building for it.

She said she looked up Wisconsin cottage food baking laws to see how she could run a legal business. The laws state what you can and can't sell out of your home.

She then began to bake goods for local family and friends and would give them free samples. Through word of mouth, people started to ask her to bake goods for events, which she says has expanded a lot over the last few years.

"I started posting on the Hales Corners Facebook page this past year, just like out of the blue, and that has given me a lot of other local customers who aren't just from family and friends, which is pretty cool."

How Kreutzer obtains the products she needs for baking

To save money, Kreutzer began buying the products she needed in bulk, many of them from Costco.

"It saves me a lot price-wise, but otherwise there's a lot of times where I do have to go to like Festival or Pick 'n Save because I did not prepare and did not know I was going to run out of something."

She said it can sometimes get tough as she may need to make multiple trips to grocery stores just for one item. Kreutzer says buying in bulk helps save money.

Running one's own business presents challenges, Kreutzer says

Being a new business owner is a tough job, Kreutzer said.

"It's tough when you're a new business and then you're doing this all from your home, too," she said. "So it's not like you have an actual storefront yet where you can do these type of things."

She said being able to customize her baked goods is a goal on her list as a bakery owner, as the demands of customers can often be pricey.

"I've had a few people ask me about gluten-free and vegan and vegetarian or vegan stuff, but I haven't really escalated to that just because those ingredients are a lot more expensive than regular ones, and (if it's) just one customer, I do not know if they're going to come back or not."

To make up for this, Kreutzer will often do things such as bringing loyal customers free samples or giving them discounts on baked goods. She also prides herself on being flexible to what the customers want by making different kinds of baked goods and by not having a specific menu, and by simply responding back to customers in a timely matter.

How Kreutzer spreads the word about Kaitlyn's Kitchen

Kreutzer credits family and friends for helping to spread the word about her baked goods.

She said her high school softball coach was a big help in getting the word out.

"He knew the manager of the gym I would go to, and he was like, 'You should talk to him about selling your baked goods there.' So I put a flyer (at the gym) and my business cards and that really was able to attract customers."

In addition to family and friends, Kreutzer uses social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to promote her business. She cites the Hales Corners Facebook page in helping her bring attention to her baked goods. She also uses social media to help gather customer feedback by looking at the posts they make.

Kreutzer is adamant on baking with fresh ingredients and from scratch

Kreutzer believes baked goods should always be made fresh. She opts out of box mixes and tries to always buy her ingredients from local farmers markets opposed to regular grocery stores.

"We get our eggs from a local egg man, he has a farm somewhere out north," she said. "So we get our eggs from there and usually we get our butter from there, too."

If items have to be purchased from a grocery store, Kreutzer said she prefers Costco as her number one store due to the costs.

Kreutzer also said she does not use canned goods for any of her products.

"It's always from scratch," she said. "I make the dry ingredients from scratch, I make my frosting, my fillings, everything's from scratch."

Is a brick-and-mortar store in the future for Kaitlyn's Kitchen?

When asked if she would ever plan on opening a brick-and-mortar location for her business, Kreutzer said she's not sure, but it's always in the back of her mind.

"I actually worked at a bakery up in La Crosse for about a year and a half, and after really seeing it at a bigger level and seeing the stress of having to produce in mass quantities, I think it brings the quality down a little bit," she said. "For instance, this place decided they weren't going to make their chocolate and vanilla from scratch anymore. They were going to do a bag mix because it was easier, and I just don't believe in that.

"So I think I want to keep it at a smaller level, but also still have a good clientele."

When Kreutzer is not baking

When she's not baking, Kreutzer is usually studying for class, likes to travel, and has begun running again.

She also likes to go out often for ice cream and prefers custards to cakes and cookies.

"I'd rather go get custard than eat my baked goods," she said. "I'm really more of an ice cream girl than I am a cake and cookie kind of girl."

Kreutzer also likes to support local businesses and believes the quality of products from local businesses is often better than mainstream ones.

She pointed to her cousin, who owns a candy store, as an example.

"It's not like a big name brand, but to support local and support the ones who are actually trying, because that could be someone's dream that you're supporting and you might have to pay a little extra, but you're going to get a lot better quality for what ... you're paying."

For more information on Kaitlyn's Kitchen or how to place an order, visit the official Facebook page here.

Contact Adrienne Davis at amdavis@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @AdriReportss.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hales Corners college student runs at-home bakery, Kaitlyn's Kitchen