Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Quinney.
Hi Kelly, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Baking has always been my “Love Language” and how I show people that I care.. Over the years friends and family have told me I needed to open a bakery, but that was something I never really dreamed would be possible with the cost of rent, equipment, and ingredients.
I have been interested in baking since I was a young girl, and was blessed to have a Mom and two amazing Grandmas that taught me the secrets of making amazing homemade eats and treats, sharing family recipes that have been passed down for generations, many of which are available in our bakery case to be enjoyed by all.
Swoonworthy Sourdough Artisan Bakery started as a small “Cottage Bakery” in 2023 after retiring from the University of Texas and moving to small town Luling, Texas. I have always been one that stays busy, and baking became something that filled my days at home. After finding that I was baking way more than friends and family could eat, and mastering the art of making Artisan Sourdough Bread, I began selling breads and a few treats through social media and would sell out within hours of posting a weekly menu for pre-orders. My amazing friends and neighbors loved the bread, and were sharing my postings with their friends helping me to build a very successful following, so much so that I couldn’t fulfill all the requests baking at home in my little oven. It soon became apparent that if I was to continue to grow my little bakery, some changes needed to happen. (My husband was also ready to get his kitchen back as he is the primary cook for the family!)
In May of 2024, I was fortunate to be on “Main Street” downtown Luling and saw the cutest little storefront for lease. I called the number on the for rent sign, and was amazed to learn that this space was actually reasonable and I could probably afford to move my operations uptown and open a small “Mom & Pop” Old Fashioned Hometown Bakery on Main. After doing a bit more research and preparing a business plan, I signed the lease, sourced the necessary equipment and ingredients on a shoestring budget using savings from a lump sum payout of unused vacation time when I retired, and Swoonworthy Sourdough Artisan Bakery on E. Davis Street was born. Our Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting in June of 2024 was filled with excitement and lots of yummy homemade breads and treats now available in Luling.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh the lessons we have learned along the way! While we have been extremely blessed to have grown significantly over the past year and a half, it hasn’t always been easy.
Launching a small business, the expenses are great, and we couldn’t afford to purchase commercial grade equipment so we have worked twice as hard to meet the increasing demands of our new customers often times having to make our recipes 2-3 times a day in smaller batches not to overload the equipment. Those extra batches meant extra labor time and expenses, which add up quickly.
Baking quality products from scratch takes a lot of time and there are not enough hours in the day! Our work days are often 12-14 hours long which can be very taxing, even if you love what you do. We have also found that experienced bakers are true “Unicorns” these days. The world today is used to instant gratification, and people don’t bake at home, that means that the younger generations are truly missing out on the wonderful experiences we grew up with learning the craft from our elders.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We are best known for our authentic scratch made sourdough breads and sourdough treats. Everything is made by hand by our bakers the old fashioned way using only top quality ingredients. In addition to our amazing sourdough loaves, our huge 3 oz Sourdough Cookies, our beautiful fruit filled Hand Pies, and our Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls are among our best sellers.
Our starter, affectionately named “Bubbles Bardough” is the star of our breads and is responsible for the beautiful authentic loaves you see in our Bread Coop. Our Classic Sourdough Boules and Batards contain just 3 ingredients, just flour, water, and salt, and are free of all preservatives . These loaves take a minimum of three days to make from start to finish, including up to a 72 hour cold retard, before they are baked and available to our customers.
We strive to provide top notch customer service to all of our amazing patrons too. We work hard to meet the special requests of our customers and do our best to recreate special moments in their lives when they try our treats that remind them of recipes that their grandma used to bake.
We are most proud of two prestigious awards we received in 2025.
The first is the 2025 Texas Rural Woman Grant – an annual grant given to 10 woman owned businesses that are located in rural Texas counties. The grant is administered by the Center for Women Entrepreneurs at Texas Woman’s University and encourages and enables small, rural, woman owned businesses to undertake new and innovative projects. This $10,000 grant allowed us to upgrade to commercial grade equipment this year and has helped us to scale up our production allowing us to continue to meet our growing demand for baked goods.
The second is the Food Business of the Year Award from the Luling Area Chamber of Commerce.
Dubbed the “Flour & Fire: Food Industry Business of the Year, Swoonworthy Sourdough Artisan Bakery was recognized for our “creativity, generosity, mentorship, and mouthwatering magic” at the 2025 Annual Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
To take care of yourself and your tribe. That includes your staff, customers, and community.
Running a small business is hard and takes a village to be successful. We do our best to make sure that we provide a warm, welcoming, environment for the public, a family for our staff, and blessings to our community.
We promote small businesses and local makers by purchasing their wares and giving them a place to sell their products. We also support local fundraisers and nonprofits with donations, and send our leftovers into our community by way of feeding our first responders, civic organizations, and through a local church that provides a free weekly meal to anyone who needs one.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.swoonworthysourdoughbakery.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557149097299
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/swoonworthy-sourdough-artisan-bakery-luling
Image Credits
Nicole Lancet Smith
