For valley residents who make an effort to eat natural, organic or vegan foods, options are limited when it comes to sweets.

Sarah Niebler is hoping her Glenwood Springs bakery, Sunshine & Moons, will help fill that void.

The bakery opened Nov. 15 and offers a variety of from-scratch products, including cakes, candies, cookies and confections, many of which come in a vegan option.

Im a natural and organic bakery, Niebler said. I also do gluten-free and vegan because I have a lot of friends who eat gluten-free and vegan, and they need specific things. All the candies are actually gluten-free.

Some of her candies include caramels, toffee, chocolate caramel fudge, hazelnut chocolate caramel fudge, turtles and more.

The candies all kind of were inspired by my grandfather, Niebler said. He always made homemade caramels, he made toffee, he made peanut brittle, stuff like that.

Niebler has a bachelors degree in dietetics, a culinary arts degree and a baking and pastry degree. She has worked in the food service industry for more than 15 years and has run restaurants, but she always knew she wanted to own her own bakery or bed and breakfast. She and her husband moved to the valley when they were hired at Whole Foods two and a half years ago, and she acquired the space for her bakery at 2550 Highway 82, Unit A208, in May.

One of our goals to get up here was to open up a bed and breakfast, a bakery or something like that, Niebler said. So it kind of turned out that this was the opportunity.

Niebler, who is currently the only employee at the bakery, said the shop is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, when anyone can drop in to shop around. She also takes special orders, and she said she usually reserves Saturdays for taking care of wedding cakes or other custom orders. Sunday, she said, is definitely her day off.

Its just me right now, Niebler said. In writing my business plan and getting all this together, it was hard to get a business loan. So I told myself, I cant afford to pay somebody right now, so whatever I can do, its by myself. My husband helps me on the side, but he still works full-time at Whole Foods.

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Sunshine & Moons offers natural, organic baked goods