For the love of cookies: Southie woman turns baking hobby into a business

By Ginger DeShaney

The timing was perfect for Katie Rausch.

Just as she was turning 30 years old (Feb. 5), she transformed her baking hobby into a business.

“I’m entering a new decade with a new passion,” she said. “I’m so excited. It feels like the right time.”

While stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Katie was looking for something to do “other than working and eating my feelings,” she said with an easy laugh.

She’d been doing a lot of cooking during COVID and decided to take a baking course online, where she learned about cookies, icing techniques, decorating, and so much more.

She made decorated sugar cookies for family and friends. She made a batch for a friend who was going away with a group of people. When they got to their destination “they opened up the cookies and called me immediately,” Katie said. “They told me I should quit my job and do this full time.”

Another friend, who always thought sugar cookies were dry and boring, loved her cookies. She said about Katie’s cookies: “They look good and they taste good!”

“That makes me so happy,” said Katie, who moved to Southie last May with her fiance, Sean, and her dog, Coogan. “People are happy to get fun cookies. They make people happy and that makes me happy.”

That was the catalyst she needed to start Confectionates.

On Jan. 28, she posted on the Southie Community Bulletin Board Facebook page:

Hi there! I am trying to get my cookie business off the ground and what better way to start than with some Valentine’s Day treats! Here are some samples I made to share with you some ideas I can do, but am available to do any custom orders as well! … Please let me know if you would be interested in ordering cookies for the upcoming holiday … Thank you so much for your support!!

“This is the first time I’m putting myself out there to the public,” she said. “It’s nerve-racking.”

That post garnered a lot of orders and now her business is taking off.

She featured photos with her post of her different Valentine’s Day designs, including cute conversation hearts, dinosaurs, and Valentine envelopes. Her adorable cookies reflect her bubbly, fun personality and zest for life.

She works full time as a marketer for a pharmaceutical company, so she bakes after work and on weekends. After work, she figures, “I’ll just do a quick batch, and before I know it, it’s 11 p.m.”

As she enters this new decade, Katie is working full time, getting her cookie business off the ground from her kitchen, planning a wedding (this October, fingers crossed), and taking care of Coogan.

How does she juggle it all? She walks the dog, goes to Castle Island, stays active, and keeps her mind busy.

“I’ve always been a creative person,” she said, noting she loves drawing, music, and the arts. Through baking, “I’m able to express my creative side.”

Katie, who makes all her dough (nut-free) and icing from scratch, creates theme cookies: Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Cinco de Mayo, summer/beach themes, Christmas, etc. But she’ll also do custom cookies, “whatever people want.” She’s already gotten orders for baby showers, baby announcements, and other special occasions.

She acknowledges there is room for improvement: “The more orders and more practice, the cookies will get better and better.”

Before the online baking class, Katie only made chocolate chip cookies (she likes them on the gooey side) and she may eventually include them in her business.

Her Irish doodle is named after a downtown bar with beer specials. “Who doesn’t love dollar beers?” she said. When thinking of a name for her business, she originally wanted to incorporate the dog’s name.

She toyed with Coogan’s Cookies, “but that was kind of lame,” she said. Then there was Coogan’s Confections, but “that wasn’t feeling very snazzy.” So she dropped Coogan and turned it into Confectionates, which denotes love, sweet treats, and affection, she said. Or, as her logo boasts: Crave. Indulge. Love.

“It’s a sweet treat; it’s a confectionate,” Katie said.

Right now she’s happy to drop off the cookies to clients around town. As her business grows, she’ll look into shipping options.

“I feel so honored when people reach out,” Katie said.

“I really enjoy [making cookies] and I want others to experience the cookies and enjoy them as well.”

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To order cookies and to follow Confectionates: