BAY CITY, MI – It’s all about good-tasting gluten-free products for Alicia Faulk-Horton.
And to be able to offer her homemade goodies to the community is the cherry on top.
Simply Gluten-Free Kitchen is a cottage bakery operating off State Park Drive out of Faulk-Horton’s 100% gluten-free kitchen.
A view of gluten-free baked goods from Simply Gluten-Free Kitchen in Bay City, Mich., on Friday, June 27, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com
It opened in September 2024, and it has been a whirlwind ever since, Faulk-Horton said.
Even though Faulk-Horton had no interest in learning how to bake in her childhood and teenage years, she said she remembers both of her grandmothers having a knack for it.
Once Faulk-Horton became a young adult, she said the urge to bake just popped up.
“It’s like therapy and it makes me have to focus so much on what I’m doing. The outside world goes away,” Faulk-Horton said.
Owner Alicia Faulk-Horton poses for a photograph in front of the porch stand for Simply Gluten-Free Kitchen’s baked goods in Bay City, Mich., on Friday, June 27, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com
Faulk-Horton hasn’t been gluten-free her entire life, but once she developed celiac disease, she said she struggled switching from baking with gluten to without.
“I stopped baking completely for years and years and years,” Faulk-Horton said.
However, as do-it-yourself sourdough rose in popularity over the last few years, Faulk-Horton got inspired to give it a go herself.
By Thanksgiving in 2023, Faulk-Horton had created her own sourdough starter and practiced baking with it so she could perfect the classic Thanksgiving rolls, but gluten-free.
A view of the porch stand from Simply Gluten-Free Kitchen in Bay City, Mich., on Friday, June 27, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com
After that, Faulk-Horton said she shared some gluten-free cookies and bread with a friend last year, and that’s when Simply Gluten-Free Kitchen put down its roots.
“I just want people to eat good, gluten-free food. That’s my biggest mission,” Faulk-Horton said. “I think even if I wasn’t celiac or gluten-free, I’d probably want to do what some of these other ladies are doing and still get it out there.”
A view of gluten-free English muffins at the porch stand from Simply Gluten-Free Kitchen in Bay City, Mich., on Friday, June 27, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com
All of the baked goods have been flying off the shelves, Faulk-Horton said, but the top picks are the English muffins, sourdough loaves and cinnamon rolls.
Faulk-Horton said her 13-year-old daughter, Madison, whips up the gluten-free cookies.
Coined Madison’s Sweet Treats, Faulk-Horton said this new summer job for Madison is taking off. Madison pays her mother 25% for the materials, but keeps the rest, Faulk-Horton said.
A view of gluten-free baked goods at the porch stand from Simply Gluten-Free Kitchen in Bay City, Mich., on Friday, June 27, 2025. Kaytie Boomer | MLive.com
The most popular cookies are the chocolate chip, but she also makes gluten-free and dairy-free brownies.
Customers can pre-order their gluten-free products, stop by Faulk-Horton’s porch stand on Fridays and at the new Bay City Dockside Market at H2O’s Waterside Grill on Tuesdays.
Faulk-Horton is the person who launched the Dockside Market after holding her first show at Meats and Mooore, 1411 South Wenona St. She gathered several bakery businesses together and was pleasantly surprised at the turnout.
“This community took me right in and, honestly, they helped me grow because all of the people that would come up and say, ‘Do you have any gluten free?’, they’d send them over to me,” Faulk-Horton said. “It’s just became this like little family and community.”
Once Faulk-Horton chatted with more Bay City business owners, they collectively agreed it would be great to start a summertime market on the West Side.
In the winter, Faulk-Horton’s daughter painted a window at H2O’s and that’s when Faulk-Horton connected with owner Marc Owczarzak.
Since both the restaurant’s and Faulk-Horton’s missions of offering fresh foods to the community aligned, the Dockside Market began outside the restaurant earlier this month.
“I thought it was going to be a little slow as people learned about it, but it was insane. People loved it, so it should be an exciting season,” Faulk-Horton said.
There are special gluten-free breads, such as banana and zucchini, offered only at the Dockside Market, Faulk-Horton said.
The Dockside Market will run 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays at H2O’s until Oct. 7.
Faulk-Horton said she can accommodate other dietary restrictions for pre-orders as well.
For more information or to pre-order gluten-free baked goods, click here for the Simply Gluten-Free Kitchen’s website and click here for the Facebook page.
Would you like MLive to feature your favorite restaurant in Michigan’s Best Local Eats? Send the details, including business name, address and best menu item, to Kaytie Boomer at kboomer@mlive.com.