Tamara Warren has a selectively superb memory.
When it comes to her passion for baking, she has muscle memory. Anything else, and it can get a little murky.
The baker doesn’t keep an ingredient list or measure anything out. Recently she debuted a banana chocolate chip cookie, and somebody asked her what’s inside.
“I was telling her everything I put in, and I was like, ‘You know what? I think I put cinnamon sugar in it,’” Warren said with a laugh.
Sweet treats for all
To see the menu and place an order for delivery or pickup from Warren’s Baked Bliss, visit warrensbakedbliss.com. Find the bakery’s booth at the Route One Farmers Market in Lompoc on Sundays. It will also be at the Oak Folk Studio farmers market, 4850 S. Bradley Road, suite B, in Orcutt on June 20.
See the sweetness on Instagram by following @warrensbakedbliss.
Outside of the kitchen she can’t recite how many cups of flour go in each batch, but when she’s in the process of making dough, she can rattle that number off the top of her head. Though she measures with her heart, the sweets come out of the oven perfectly every time.
She officially started her cottage bakery, Warren’s Baked Bliss, in September out of her home on Vandenberg Space Force Base. Since then, business has skyrocketed. Customers count on seeing her every Sunday at the Route One Farmers Market in Lompoc, but she also pops up at other markets, like one at Orcutt’s Oak Folk Studio on June 20.
Warren brings brownies and cookies to markets but also sells pies and cheesecakes for delivery or pickup. Some of her customers also live on the base, but those who don’t may arrange pickups at the visitor’s center. Warren drops off local orders, too.
Growing up, it was Warren’s aunt who was known as the baker in the family, but in college Warren started carving her own path. It started the classic way, with a hobby that doubled as gifts for friends. Years later, it turned into a much-needed creative expression.
‘I think the last four weekends that I’ve been at Route One, I’ve sold out within an hour. I was like, “Holy crap. I feel like I’m kind of famous.’’’
—Tamara Warren, Warren’s Baked Bliss founder
The military lifestyle comes with a lot of variability and change. Baking is one of the more consistent aspects of her life no matter where her family is stationed.
One reason baking comes so naturally to her may be linked to her knack for science.
“I love science,” she said. “Love, love, love science.”
While working remotely, running the bakery, and caring for her son during her husband’s deployments, Warren is also getting her second master’s degree in health care management. Her first was in biomedical engineering.
Despite those credentials, she said she’d never want to be the smartest person in the room. Instead, she strives to learn from them.
“I don’t know how to stop going to school, unfortunately,” she joked.
Her kitchen is also a laboratory where she fine-tunes recipes. Warren makes as much by hand as possible, down to add-ins like cookie butter and lemon custard. The baker supports other small businesses by buying local ingredients.
Oreo, Biscoff, chocolate chip, and s’mores always appear on the Warren’s Baked Bliss menu. It also features rotating flavors like this season’s lemon and strawberry cookies, and her banana chocolate chip cookie, which she released at the end of May at Route One.
“I think that was the first cookie to sell out,” Warren remembered. “As people were eating it, other people heard them talking about it, so other people came over to grab it.”
Granted, because it was the debut, the baker only brought three dozen banana chocolate chips to the market that day. Her total inventory was 500. It only took about an hour until her whole booth was sold out.
People line up at 9:30 a.m., half an hour before the Lompoc farmers market officially begins. Not many other booths garner such a line, but the Fika Coffee Company is one of them, the baker noted.
“I think the last four weekends that I’ve been at Route One, I’ve sold out within an hour. I was like, ‘Holy crap. I feel like I’m kind of famous,’” Warren said. “It was super cool to experience that.”
During the early stages of her business, Warren only brought 150 cookies. Then she upped the number to 300.
Now, at 500, it’s hard for her to imagine increasing because of the preparation demands. Her kitchen is already home to three stand mixers.
“It’s so much quicker,” she said.
If she plans it out right, Warren will designate one day a week for baking. It’s a very chaotic day, but she enjoys being in the flow state.
Baking day starts with some music. Anything from country songs to beats by Cardi B. The tunes help her get “in my zone.”
After the oven timer beeps, it’s time to package the goodies up and slap on stickers, the most tedious part.
“I bought a Cricut, and so I do all my stickers by hand,” Warren said. “I will design them on Canva and then put them on Design Space.”
Two hours is all it takes with a helping hand, but if Warren is taking on the task alone, she might need all day so she can take breaks.
Warren also likes a second opinion when taste testing new recipes. Without a big sweet tooth herself, one bite of each creation is usually enough for her. The baker will call in her husband or son for their comments because for Warren, the ritual of baking is about the creative outlet, not eating the end result.
“It was [baking] or it was yoga,” Warren said. “But I always go back to baking.”
Reach Staff Writer Madison White, who has a major sweet tooth, at mwhite@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in June 11 – June 18, 2026.
