What began as a young woman passing time in her home kitchen during the pandemic has grown into a bakery with a distinct cultural voice.

Sophie Hungrywolf, 25, of the Tohono O’odham Nation and of Umatilla and Arapaho descent, now runs The Hungrywolf Bakery, a business that blends inventive desserts with the traditions and history that shape her.

Hungrywolf is from the community of Tecelote in the Chukut Kuk District, in the far southwest area of the Tohono O’odham Nation, bordering Mexico. She’s turned her love for baking into a business that celebrates creativity, community and culture.

Hungrywolf’s passion for baking began long before the idea of a bakery ever existed. Growing up, she spent hours in the kitchen alongside her mother, baking cookies and cupcakes for family gatherings.

By the time she was a teenager, baking had become a creative outlet, but it wasn't until the pandemic that she began to experiment, tackling challenging recipes she discovered online.

“Every day I was trying a new recipe or working on a challenging recipe,” she said. “Sometimes I would do it and then it wouldn't come out how I want, so I would retry again.”

Those once-casual kitchen experiences quickly grew into something bigger. By late 2020, Hungrywolf began taking small orders. She started with chocolate-covered treats, then cakes and pastries, before developing her signature “New York-style” cookies and other treats.

As her bakery grew, Hungrywolf realized she wanted her business to represent more than just desserts, she wanted it to represent who she is. Drawing from her Umatilla and Arapaho roots, she began weaving elements of her cultural identity into her business.

“I really started to think about how I could incorporate my culture into the business, and how would I do that?” she said.

This reflection led to her business name, a tribute to her late father and her family history.

“When I named my business The Hungrywolf Bakery I wanted to represent my last name. My last name comes from my father’s Arapaho side,” she said. “When European settlers came, they changed our last name from Hungrywolf to Hungary to sound more European. A lot of my family, they’re named Hungary, but I'm the only Hungrywolf.”

This blending of old and new carries through her baking, which combines traditional Indigenous ingredients like mesquite flour with modern dessert trends to create unique flavors.

Her mesquite chocolate chip cookie has become a fan favorite.

“Mesquite flour – it’s one, hard to come by, and two, it’s a different type of flour,” she said. “There was a lot of trial and error, but I like to get it to where it was still my style of cookies.”

Beyond the treats themselves, Hungrywolf uses her desserts to express humor and representation. Her mini cakes often feature phrases familiar in Indigenous communities — “Auntie Vibes,” “This is Indigenous,” and “Uncle Energy.”

For her, those designs are yet another fun way of incorporating her identity.

“I like to do those ones because when people see it, it brightens their day,” she said, recalling an Indigenous Peoples’ Day event where she was a vendor. “I did like Auntie Vibes and Uncle Energy, that’s a very pop culture thing, especially in Indigenous communities. A lot of people were happy to see that. Even if they don't get it or anything, it’s just for them to see visually and be represented in a small dessert.”

While her creativity and skills came naturally, running a business was a new challenge. Hungrywolf admits she has been more of a quiet observer.

“I am pretty (missing a ‘much’ here?)  to myself; I feel like I’m a fly on the wall until you get to know me,” she said. “I like to observe things, but when it comes to business, you have to be out there – to get your name out there, talk to people, make connections – which I normally don't mind. It's just a little nerve-wracking when you think about it.”

Her first pop-up market was on the Tohono O’odham Nation, where she sold her treats at the local monthly farmers market in Sells, Arizona. As her business grew, she began expanding to pop-ups in Tucson, often learning as she went.

“There’s no guide to how to do pop-ups,” she said. “Everybody’s kind of like… you learn as you go.”

As demand grew, Hungrywolf realized she couldn't do it alone. Her partner, sister and close friends stepped in to help bake, package and staff events.

“The business has grown a lot within the last 10 months from January to now,” she said. “And so I've had to hire more people just to help.”

Now, The Hungrywolf Bakery has expanded into multiple locations, with Hungrywolf's treats being sold by local merchants including the Traveling Eagle Store near San Simon, Arizona; Gu Achi Trading Post in Gu Achi, Arizona; the Shell gas station in Sells; and in Tucson at Saguaro Square, an eastside shop that feature art from local vendors.  .

The bakery’s success is rooted in community support. Many of her opportunities have come through word of mouth: customers who share her products on social media or store managers who were already fans before she reached out.

“I did my first wholesale probably about a year ago,” she said. “I was at the Traveling Eagle – they were fairly new, they had been open for a bit – and I had asked them, you know, just out of the blue if they would be interested in having my cookies here?”

She quickly learned the manager had already been following her on Instagram.

“It was really nice, you know, that they already knew me because of that,” she said. “It just made it easy.”

Hungrywolf’s online presence has been another key part of her growth. Through Instagram, she shares new flavor launches, market updates and behind-the-scenes glimpses of her process or daily life.

“Social media is a big game changer for a lot of businesses,” she said. “Sometimes that’s all it takes just like posting and being consistent everyday to get out there.”

As the bakery continues to grow, Hungrywolf is focused on expansion, in Tucson and beyond. She’s recently begun doing pop-ups in Phoenix and hopes to add more wholesale partnerships across Arizona.

“I do see myself expanding, hopefully getting a couple more wholesales in Tucson,” Hungrywolf said.

She is also looking to return to her earlier creations, experimenting with cake jars, new pastries and seasonal desserts.

“I am hoping besides cookies that I could do different items. When I first started my very first farmer's market, I made cake jars. I probably brought about 40 and I sold out,” she said. “I'm hoping I could do something that has a twist on it, make it a little bit more gourmet, or more unique flavors, so hopefully we can expand our business into that besides just cookies.”

Looking back on her journey, Hungrywolf says she still has moments of disbelief.

“When I posted I was going to have my cookies at the Shell, people from all over – on the rez, in Tucson – were just so happy to see me have my cookies there. It's the main hub there. Everybody goes to Shell. Especially if you're going to Rocky Point, people stop there,  so it was really nice. And it was one of the best posts that I have done on social media,” she said. “I really had to take a step back and look at my growth, from where I was when I first started and where I'm at now. ”

Trinity Norris is the founder of O’odham Media and has a master's degree from the University of Arizona in Global Media Studies.

Tucson Spotlight is a community-based newsroom that provides paid opportunities for students and rising journalists in Southern Arizona. Please support our work with a paid subscription.