Blount County Women Entrepreneurs Serve Up Sweet Success
Beneath the Smoky Mountain skies, Blount County is teeming with women-owned businesses sharing smiles and sweets. Their journeys look different, but they all followed their callings, leaving their community far better (and far tastier) for it.
Wildflour Bakery
Growing up, Alexandria Ducote fell in love with baking by admiring her mother’s birthday cakes, eventually promising her family they’d see her bakery’s name in lights one day.
“Being able to share my passion and my own creativity with the public was always the dream,” Ducote says.
After attending Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena and spending three years working in Hollywood, Ducote returned to Maryville in 2013. Following stints in several local bakeries, she finally turned that dream into reality by opening the Wildflour Bakery storefront in October 2025, and it quickly became a staple in Maryville and Blount County.
At Wildflour, guests enjoy a wide range of sweet treats baked from scratch daily. To keep offerings fresh and interesting, Ducote rotates the delectable menu every two weeks, featuring plenty of options that are gluten- and dairy-free, alongside “all the gluten and dairy your heart desires.”
Crowd favorites include banana pudding, classic cheesecake, fruit cobblers, chocolate cupcakes, coconut macaroons and dairy-free jam thumbprints, while Saturdays star the bakery’s decadent cinnamon rolls. The pastry case is always stocked with eclairs, fruit tarts and cannolis – with even more pastries on the way.
Beyond daily treats, Ducote creates custom birthday cakes, custom cookies, wedding desserts and spreads for large parties. In just its first year, Wildflour has earned a firm place in Maryville’s hearts and stomachs, collecting three community-voted awards as a testament to what Ducote has brought to Blount County.
“I never gave up, even when I wanted to,” she says. “I’m also proud of 18-year-old Alex for following this dream and not listening to the outside world.”
Kooky Cookies
Margarita McClure was born to be a baker. As a child, she was obsessed with making cookies, eventually launching her own cookie business in college. While attending culinary school in Los Angeles, she met her husband – an East Tennessee native – and the two eventually decided to settle in Knoxville.
When her kids found themselves home from school during the 2020 pandemic, McClure saw building a business from scratch as an incredible hands-on learning opportunity.
What started as online sales and local farmers market pop-ups quickly expanded. Now based in a larger production kitchen, her footprint across local markets and festivals keeps growing.
Early on, McClure identified a distinct gap in the market: delectable, allergy-friendly desserts that truly taste good.
Thanks to a completely separate gluten-free kitchen, customers with food allergies or celiac disease can experience the pure joy of ordering from a bakery without worrying about cross-contamination or settling for treats that feel like a compromise.
“Our goal has never been to make ‘good for gluten-free’ desserts,” McClure says. “We want to make desserts that stand on their own, where people love them first and only afterward realize they’re gluten-free or vegan.”
The bakery’s menu changes monthly, with every flavor available as regular, gluten-free and sometimes vegan, too. The salted caramel stuffed cookie has been a bestseller since day one, while the browned butter chocolate chunk stands as another beloved classic.
While McClure is quick to credit the community for embracing Kooky Cookies and supporting them every step of the way, she is most proud of what the venture has brought to her family. As her children have grown alongside the business, they’ve absorbed vital lessons that no classroom could ever teach.
“Watching them grow into capable, hardworking young adults has been every bit as rewarding as watching the business grow,” she says.
Proving that the best recipes always call for a generous cup of courage, these women have filled Blount County with flavors as rich and memorable as their own unforgettable journeys.
Get to Know Blount County
Want to learn more about living and working in Blount County? Check out the latest edition of Livability Blount County.
Related Content
