Creativity in the kitchen leads to gluten-free, vegan dessert business

Maggy Pickner learned how to make luscious cookies, brownies and cakes in the kitchen of her aunt’s house in Chamberlain.

She taught herself how to make those same luscious cookies, brownies and cakes in gluten-free and vegan versions after a medical diagnosis led her to eliminate grains and dairy from her diet.

Soon after, she decided to share those treats with others and while still a teen-ager started her own gluten-free and vegan bakery, Sinless Sweets. Now Pickner, who celebrates her 20th birthday this month, has seen such success that before the year is over, she hopes to have her own brick-and-mortar bakery where people can stop in to pick up puppy chow truffles or a peanut butter cheesecake or a layered carrot cake.

And every item is made with nut flours and without eggs and dairy. Pickner gave up gluten and dairy about a year ago after she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, which causes cysts to form in her reproductive system.

“I did some research, and one of the biggest things that was helpful for other women was going gluten-free and dairy-free,” Pickner said. “They cause a lot of inflammation. Cutting those out has helped me just feel better in general.”

In giving up gluten and dairy, Pickner also was following the example of her older sister, Chelsea Giedd, who eliminated foods containing those products from her diet several years ago. In opening her own business, Pickner also was emulating Giedd, owner of Chelsea’s Boutique in downtown Sioux Falls since 2009.

Her mother, Patience Pickner, also is a small-business owner. She runs The Picket Fence, a flower shop and gift store in Chamberlain.

“When I told her (my mother) about my plan, she was immediately stressed,” Pickner said. “She has her own business, and Chelsea has her own business, and they know how hard it is. But they’ve been walking me through it and talking me through stuff. It hasn’t been that long.”

It was in fact only last autumn after Pickner had spent about three months perfecting her first gluten-free and vegan recipes. Her interest in baking goes back at least a decade.

Wanda Bunker, the aunt who helped interest Pickner in baking, said it began because her two children and her brother’s three children spent a lot of time together, especially in the summer.

“I love to bake, and I love to teach others to do that,” Bunker said. “My daughter wasn’t as hepped on it as my nieces were. Even when Maggy was in high school, she’d say, let’s get together and bake something.”

Pickner graduated from Chamberlain High School unsure about a future career. Pickner took classes in media design technology at Southeast Technical College, but they lit no spark in her. She had registered for cosmetology classes at Stewart School, but again “I wasn’t feeling it,” she said.

In the meantime, she had started working at a bakery in Sioux Falls. Early one morning, behind the wheel of her car, she realized she had found her passion.

“I was heading to the bakery and thinking about it — there was no other job I would wake up at 5 a.m. for than baking,” Pickner said.

From her experience of trying to find special treats for Giedd and then herself, Pickner knew how limited the selection for gluten-free and vegan desserts was in Sioux Falls. That’s where she decided to focus her efforts.

Her desserts aren’t necessarily healthy because they still involve sugar, Pickner cautioned. However, she uses gluten-free flour or almond flour – when nut allergies aren’t an issue. None of her desserts use milk, eggs or any dairy. She alternates between coconut milk and almond milk and uses bananas and applesauce for moisture. In some recipes, chia seeds softened in water can mimic eggs. In others, Pickner has found a different substitute: aqua faba.

“It’s a liquid from chickpeas,” she explained. “It’s the most random thing, but it works so well.”

Pickner works from her home while she looks for a suitable storefront. Her current bestseller is a cake, Death by Chocolate Cake, made with chocolate “butter”cream. A chocolate peanut butter cake, a mini chocolate cake with strawberries and her own recipe for pop tarts also are popular.

On Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, she often experiments with new recipes. Merely substituting one ingredient for something gluten-free or for a dairy product does not mean a recipe will be successful, Pickner said.

She also uses the time to respond to special requests. After frequent pleas for cinnamon rolls, Pickner tinkered with recipes and now offers them on her web page.

“Those didn’t even cross my mind,” she said of the cinnamon rolls. “But so many people were asking about it, I finally came up with a recipe.”

“Her stuff tastes amazing,” said Bunker, her aunt. “I can tell she loves it as much as I do.”

Much of Pickner’s business comes from specialty cakes, made for weddings and birthdays. She doesn’t hesitate to make special designs. Her father, Raymond, operated an ice-fishing tournament for many years, and she would design a cake that looked like him fishing on the river, Bunker said.

There are some limitations, however. She has had requests for macarons, but their basic ingredient is egg whites.

“I failed miserably every time. I have seen a couple recipes for vegan ones, but I’m just too scared to even tackle them again.”

She also will not convert any of her gluten-free and dairy-free recipes back to regular flour, eggs and milk. That is to protect her customers.

“I can’t have anything containing gluten — no bread, no paste — in the vicinity of anything I’m working with,” she said. “I can’t have any butter or any dairy, which I don’t because I don’t eat it. A lot of people that have super bad allergies to dairy or gluten could get super sick, and that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”

Maggy Pickner’s website is sinlesssweetssf.com. She also has a Facebook page and is on Instagram at sinlesssweetssf.