Welcome to The Domestic Rebel! My name is Hayley and I am the 35-year old writer, photographer, recipe developer, taste-tester and creator of this blog. I’m so glad you’ve stopped by my little slice of sprinkly, butter-laden heaven on the interwebs. If it wasn’t apparent, I like to bake… a lot.
The Domestic Rebel is about baking fearlessly in the kitchen, using everyday, ordinary ingredients and transforming them into extraordinary, badass desserts. I have no culinary experience and I am entirely self-taught when it comes to cooking & baking. I love easy, no-fuss recipes that require little skill but that look impressive and taste like you’ve been baking all day! After all, it’s the thoughtfulness and love of the treat that speaks volumes — not how much time or how many fancy ingredients you’ve used! Plus, the extent of my “fancy ingredients” is usually along the lines of Twinkies or donut holes. #truth
A little more background on me, my aesthetic and my blog… Growing up, I would spend hours baking homemade croissants in my grandmother’s kitchen in Paris while listening to smooth jazz. Just kidding, I grew up on McDonald’s and Nutty Bars. No one in my family cooked or baked, and I certainly did not spend any time in the kitchen with anyone since it was constantly abandoned. My family & I went out to eat almost every night and my grandma would keep us satiated with snack cakes, chips and cookies. It wasn’t until I was older (and sick of the Taco Bell menu) that I decided to teach myself how to cook and bake. I started trying to make impressive, elaborate dishes with hard-to-pronounce exotic ingredients but soon realized that the pretentious way of cooking was sooo not my jam. I reverted back to what I knew best: using everyday, easily accessible items to create unique, one-of-a-kind desserts, like Churro Toffee Bugles or Strawberry Crunch Poke Cake that looked hard to make but were easy, achievable, and most importantly: delicious!
The Domestic Rebel was created in January 2011 as a way for me to share the abundance of crazy stories, unique ideas and easy recipes that are constantly floating around in my head. I quickly realized this was my life’s true calling as I have always had a intense love for food — especially the sugary kind — and for writing, which I have been doing since I was a small girl. As a kid, I loved being read to by my Grandma Marjorie and my mom & dad. Reading and telling stories were such a fun way to escape reality and allow my extensive imagination run wild.
Since its start in 2011, The Domestic Rebel has grown exponentially, averaging around 750,000 unique visitors per month. I post new content on the blog 2-3 times per week and am posting new content on my social channels 7 days a week. I also have loyal fan bases on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. I’ve worked with major brands including Oreo, SilPat, Ninja Kitchen Systems, The Pampered Chef, KitchenAid, Pillsbury, Candiquik, Krusteaz, Lucky Leaf, Musselman’s, International Delight, Rodelle Vanilla & more, and have been featured numerous times on Huffington Post Taste, Woman’s World Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, BuzzFeed, PopSugar & more. In addition, I’ve also been featured on Good Day Sacramento, HLN TV’s Morning Express with Natasha Curry, Home & Family, and QVC!
And I also wrote three cookbooks! Check them out!
Out of the Box Desserts was released on August 2, 2016
Two in One Desserts was released on June 20, 2017
Out of the Box Holiday Baking was released on October 23, 2018
More About The Girl Behind Those Big Glasses…Besides being the author of this blog, I’m also a dog mom to a scruffy Yorkie/Shih Tzu mix and a now-in-doggy-heaven three-legged Border Collie, both rescues. I live with my rescue pup in sunny Sacramento, where I was born and raised. In my free time I love to antique and thrift (I’m a huge vintage collector!), go on nature walks, hit the farmers market, try new restaurants, read, listen to records, watch the squirrels in my yard, hang out with my girlfriend or pup, take photos, and craft.
Want to know more? Read my posts — trust me, you’ll probably find out more than you ever wanted to know.
Want to get in touch? I absolutely LOVE meeting each and every one of you & would love for you to say hi! If you ever have any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions or creepy fan mail you want to send me, I highly encourage it! Email me anytime at thedomesticrebelblog @ gmail (dot) com. I try my hardest to respond to every comment & email I receive; however, sometimes they get lost in cyberspace and I apologize if I do not get back to you in a timely manner. I look forward to hearing from you!
And once again, THANK YOU for stopping by! Enjoy my sugar-filled life! xo.