When Christina Baker watched her fiancé and brother skip their favorite desserts at family gatherings after being diagnosed with diabetes, she felt something more than concern — she felt motivated. What began as quiet home experiments with sugar substitutes quickly grew into Chrissy’s Creations, a weekend bakery project with a loyal and growing customer base.
“I was sad for them when they had to skip their favorite things at holiday gatherings,” Baker said. “It felt like we were leaving them out in the celebration, so I started experimenting at home and giving things to people to try.”
Her fiancé loved the early creations so much he shared them with coworkers and family. Before long, Baker found herself operating a small cottage bakery out of her own kitchen. The business took a new turn when she met Chrissy McHenry through Keeney’s Kitchen. McHenry, who had dreamed of owning a bakery “since she was a very little girl,” became a natural partner.
“We started baking together and it’s like we’ve known each other our whole lives,” Baker said. “We’re great bakery partners, but also great friends with the same values.” Both are Shawnee State University alumni and share what Baker calls “a lot in common,” making the partnership feel effortless.
Both women work full time — McHenry as general manager at Keeney’s Kitchen — yet they dedicate their weekends to Chrissy’s Creations. The bakery is still in what Baker describes as “the middle stages of transition,” but they envision the business becoming more than a weekend passion project.
“We’ve split responsibilities, so it balances well for us,” Baker said. She manages customer messages, social media posts and research into how other bakeries adapt recipes, while McHenry handles logistics, ordering and employee knowledge from her managerial background.
Recipe development is a shared joy.
“We experiment with new recipes together and decide on the menu together,” Baker said. “It just happened naturally.”
Baker remembers clearly the moment she realized their venture could become something bigger. It came in the form of a sugar-free recreation of a childhood favorite: a Fudge Round.
“The day we made our first sugar-free knockoff of a Fudge Round, which we call Brownie Rounds, was the moment we knew we were on to something,” she said. “Then when people started telling us they couldn’t tell it was sugar-free, I knew we had done it right.”
Their lineup now includes Cloud Cakes (a play on Twinkies), chocolate chip cookie sandwiches, cream horns and their widely loved Fluffs — with the Christmas Tree Cake Fluff standing as a seasonal favorite. Baker’s personal favorite is McHenry’s sugar-free Honey Bun cake, while her fiancé is loyal to their sugar-free Sammies, a Samoa cookie remake. Creating baked goods that are both sugar-free and gluten-free isn’t simple. Baker calls it “a bit of a science.”
“Every sugar substitute has an aftertaste,” she said. “We’ve just learned what flavor takes it away and what version to use for what we’re baking.”
On Saturdays — their designated baking day — the team fills orders and then turns to experimentation. Some recipes make the menu immediately, some require tweaking and others are scrapped entirely. But the process remains one of the most enjoyable parts of running the business. Baker believes more people are drawn to allergen-friendly and healthier baked goods because they want choices after years of doing without.
“People are excited to have inclusive options,” she said. “A lot of people have gone a long time without, and now they’re excited to have new yummy things.”
Whether customers choose sugar-free options for health reasons or general lifestyle changes, Chrissy’s Creations aims to make those shifts more enjoyable. “Sugar-free and gluten-free can be just as fun and delicious,” Baker said. “It doesn’t have to be boring and sad.”
The bakery now supplies sugar-free goods wholesale to 12 businesses, including Keeney’s Kitchen, Adam’s Flying Pig and Taylored Cookie Bakery. Their newest partnership is with Slow Drip Coffee House. Each partnership is intentional.
“We had to choose businesses with similar interests, who needed options and representation for customers,” Baker said.
For Baker and McHenry, the real joy comes from the people they serve.
“The most rewarding parts are when someone who has to have sugar-free for health reasons tells us they haven’t had something that good for years,” Baker said. “Or when we make a birthday cake for a child who is so excited that they get a store-bought pretty cake too. Those moments are our favorite.”
From a heartfelt home experiment to a growing local staple, Chrissy’s Creations has already transformed the way many in the community experience dessert. And with a strong partnership, a shared vision and a menu full of nostalgic favorites, Baker believes they’re only getting started.
