Duran Baking Goods for the Community

Iris Duran sells homemade baked goods at the farmers market, offering everything from cookies and brownies, to cakes and bread. Everything she makes is made fresh.

Duran says cookies are her specialty. “That’s kind of what I started with,” she said. “I make Crumbl-style cookies, M&M, monster, and smaller cookies. I kind of ventured out into TikTok. I feel like that’s where I really get my inspiration.”

Her selection changes with the seasons. While Duran has embraced the current “summer vibe,” fall is Duran’s favorite time to bake.

“Once fall hits, that’s my favorite season,” she said. “I do a lot of fall desserts, including pumpkin pumpkin spice and coffee-flavored things.”

Duran’s baking business began while she was home with her first baby. Her husband owns a food truck, and he initially asked her to make desserts for it.

“Little by little, people started asking, ‘Are you going to be there?’ or sending me messages,” she said.

As interest grew, Duran looked into Kansas’ laws regarding homemade food sales and discovered that certain baked goods could be sold as long as they were shelf-stable and she followed the state’s food laws. From there, she focused on cookies, breads and other baked goods that could be sold without the need for extensive decorating.

For Duran, starting the business was also a way to earn an income while staying home with her daughter.

“The worst part is the time it takes to bake everything,” she said. “It’s a lot of time, especially with the baby. I wanted to do something to make an income, but I had a baby. She was my first baby, so I didn’t want to leave her.”

Her daughter has also become part of what motivates her to keep baking.

“Honestly, the inspiration was also because people would buy things for my baby,” Duran said. “Being able to spoil her, I feel like she was the one who inspired me to keep going.”

While the baking itself can be time-consuming, Duran says one of the best parts of having the business has been the people she has met along the way.

“Just meeting everybody. The community is probably one of the best things,” she said.

Duran was relatively new to the area when she started selling her baked goods. At first, she mostly knew her own family and her husband’s family. Selling at the farmers market gave her an opportunity to meet more people and become involved in the community.

“As I put myself out there, I made a lot of friends,” she said. “That was probably the best part.”

Duran began selling at the farmers market last year, making this her second year. She has also branched out to events in Garden City and Liberal.

Baking has long been something her family associates with her. At family gatherings, Duran is often the one who takes charge of dessert.

“My whole family, whenever we have get-togethers, I kind of take charge of the desserts and make them,” she said.

Her family has always known her for baking. Now, as her business continues to grow, the community can try her baked goods, too.