11 Baking Side Hustles to Make Extra Money

Baking is a fun and rewarding activity, but it can also be a great way to make extra money. If you enjoy baking and spending time in the kitchen, what better way to supplement your income than by incorporating your hobby?

Thankfully, there are several ways you can use your skills to earn extra income with a baking side hustle. This article covers 11 specific ideas, so read the descriptions and see which one might be the right fit for you.

Baking Side Hustles

1. Home Baking Business

If you love baking and have a knack for it, why not start a home baking business? Have friends or family ever told you that you should sell your baked goods?

Starting a home bakery is a great way to make extra money while doing something you enjoy. You can bake cakes, cookies, pies, bread, or whatever else you like and deliver them to customers in your area.

Another way to use your baking skills is by designing custom cakes for special occasions. Weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, and other celebrations often call for unique cakes that reflect the personality of the person or people involved. If you’re creative and have a good eye for design, a cake business could be a great side hustle.

The best way to start selling your delicious baked goods on a small scale is through friends and family. Talk to people you know, including neighbors, co-workers, and others in your network.

After gaining experience, you can expand your baking business and reach new customers by posting to Craigslist or using social media. Local Facebook groups can help get your message in front of people in your area. You can also advertise your bakery on local bulletin boards.

Before you start a home bakery, it’s important to check your state’s guidelines. Some states allow you to sell baked goods made in a home kitchen, and others do not. You can research cottage food guidelines in your state or check with your county’s public health office.

2. Sell Baked Goods at a Farmer’s Market

If you’re looking for a way to reach more customers, selling baked goods at a farmer’s market is an excellent option. Farmer’s markets are very popular, and they provide a great opportunity to sell your products to people in your community.

To sell baked goods at a farmers market, you’ll need to meet certain requirements. In most cases, you’ll need to be licensed and registered with the state or county. You may also need to comply with certain food safety regulations. You should also check the rules and regulations of the farmer’s market, as some have restrictions that may impact you.

3. Write Recipe Books or Ebooks

If you’re an experienced baker with many recipes and tips to share, writing a recipe book or ebook could be the perfect side hustle for you.

There are several ways to make money from recipe books and ebooks. You can sell them through online platforms like Amazon, or you can create your own website and sell them directly to your customers.

Amazon is a popular choice for authors because you can sell paperback books without investing in inventory. Through the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program, Amazon will print and fulfill orders as they’re received, which means you don’t need to buy hundreds or thousands of books before you sell them.

Another possibility is to offer an ebook for free in exchange for email addresses, which allows you to build a mailing list of potential customers. This is a great way to promote other products or services you offer.

4. Create and Sell Printables

Are you skilled in the kitchen and love to bake? If so, you could start a side hustle creating and selling printables related to cooking or baking.

Printables are essentially documents that can be printed out and used for a variety of purposes. They can be recipes, checklists, planners, ingredient lists, or any other type of document you can think of. And since they’re digital files, they can be sold online very easily.

Etsy is the most popular platform for buying or selling printables, so it’s a great place to start. You could also set up your own website and sell printables through Podia.

5. Start a Blog or Niche Website

Starting a baking blog or niche website can be an ideal way to share your love of baking with the world. You can write original recipes, how-to articles, lists, product reviews, and more.

While writing will be a big part of your work for this side hustle, you’ll also get to do some baking related to the articles you write.

Blogs and niche websites can make money in several different ways, including display ads, affiliate programs, publishing sponsored content, and selling physical or digital products.

The downside of starting a blog or niche website is that you’ll need some patience. It may take 6-12 months or longer before your site starts making money. But if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, the long-term potential is unlimited. It’s possible that your little side hustle blog could turn into a lucrative business.

You could start a general baking blog or website, or you could specialize in a particular topic, like cake design.

6. Become a Freelance Writer

If you like the idea of writing about baking, but you don’t want to start your own blog or niche website, you could work as a freelance writer. Many blogs and websites hire freelancers to create content, so there are plenty of opportunities.

As a freelance writer, you can start making money almost immediately. There’s no need to wait 6-12 months to grow your own site before you’re profitable.

There are also many other types of jobs and projects for freelance writers aside from working for bloggers and website owners. You could write magazine articles, columns for local newspapers, or even ghostwrite a book or e-book.

Read our article to learn how to become a freelance writer.

7. Start a YouTube Channel

If you’re passionate about baking and want to share your recipes and tips with the world, starting a YouTube channel could be the perfect side hustle for you.

There are several ways to make money from a baking-related YouTube channel. You can earn money through advertising, affiliate marketing, product sales, or direct sponsorships.

The key to making money from YouTube is to build a large audience of engaged viewers. This takes time and effort (similar to building a blog or niche website), but the long-term income potential is outstanding.

Video content is extremely popular, and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. Starting a YouTube channel is an excellent option if you’re interested in using your baking skills to build an online business.

8. Start a Podcast

Like blogging, starting a podcast allows you to share your recipes, tips, and insights with the world. And unlike blogging, a podcast doesn’t require any writing skills. You simply need to be able to record your thoughts and ideas in an engaging and interesting way.

The monetization options for a podcast are very similar to blogs and YouTube channels. You can make money from sponsorships, affiliate programs, or by promoting and selling your own products or services.

This is another long-term business model that offers unlimited income potential but requires several months or more before you’ll earn any money.

9. Create Online Courses

Online courses are a great way to teach others everything you know about baking. You can create short, introductory courses or longer, more in-depth courses that cover specific topics. The possibilities are virtually endless.

You can sell your courses through an existing platform like Udemy or Skillshare, or you can use Teachable to create a website where students can purchase access to your course. Building your own site involves more work, but it also gives you the highest income potential.

Your baking side hustle could involve creating a single course, or you could expand by creating several different courses. You can also bundle your courses together, which is a great way to make money by increasing the average order size.

10. Become a Cake Decorating Instructor

If you’re good at cake decorating and enjoy teaching others how to do it, why not become a cake decorating instructor? There are always people who want to learn how to make beautiful cakes. As an instructor, you can teach them everything they need to know about cake decoration so they can create their own masterpieces.

To become an instructor, start by finding a local community center or cooking school that offers classes in cake decorating or similar topics. Next, put together a portfolio of your best work and reach out to see if they’re looking for instructors. Alternatively, you can rent a venue and host the classes.

This side hustle idea could also be combined with creating an online course on cake decoration or related topics.

11. Food Photography

You know the presentation of your food is just as important as the taste. Good food photography can make all the difference when it comes to getting people to order your cakes or desserts.

If you have some photography skills, you can take photos of your creations and upload them to stock photo marketplaces like Shutterstock and Adobe Stock. When users download your photos, you’ll earn a commission.

Stock photography is a very competitive industry, and you’ll need a large portfolio of photos to make any type of significant income. However, you can also combine this side hustle with others on this list to increase your income potential.

For example, if you sell homemade baked goods, you could take time to photograph your creations before you sell them. Then you can make money by selling the baked goods and also by licensing your photos.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts on a Baking Side Hustle

If you’re skilled in the kitchen and love to bake, there are many ways for you to turn baking into a profitable side hustle. This could involve starting a small business to sell your baked goods, creating baking-focused content, or teaching others to bake.

Whatever route you choose, your baking side hustle could be the perfect way to earn extra cash doing something you love. With some hard work and creativity, you can definitely make money from your baking skills!