Cruffins + community—get to know The Moon Bakeshop

madeline watkins the moon bakeshop — Madeline Watkins, co-owner of The Moon Bakeshop. (Sarah Gronberg / Hville Blast)

“Small batch from scratch”—that’s what The Moon Bakeshop on Jefferson Street in Downtown Huntsville is about. But, there’s more to the story. We interviewed Madeline Watkins, co-owner of The Moon to get all the details on this popular bakery’s past, purpose, and future.

How it all started

Three and a half years ago, The Moon Bakeshop opened its doors. But how did it come to be? We’re glad you asked.

Madeline and Thom Watkins, the husband and wife team behind the bakery, came up with the idea together. Before they moved to Huntsville, the couple lived in Nashville. Thom worked in the food industry, and Madeline was a graphic designer.

When the two were together at home, though, they baked. When they traveled, they sought out local bakeries and found those were the spots they enjoyed most.

Jefferson Street gets a bakery

moon 5 — We love the outdoor seating area. (Sarah Gronberg / Hville Blast)

They noticed that Huntsville’s downtown was missing that local bakery that they enjoyed on their travels. So, the couple saw an opportunity and went for it.

“We decided that this is what we want to to do together.”
Madeline Watkins, co-owner of The Moon Bakeshop

They looked at a couple of other locations in Huntsville before settling on the current Jefferson Street location.

“We saw potential for this area, an up-and-coming downtown area.”
Madeline Watkins

In April 2019, The Moon Bakeshop started serving Huntsville its Southern-influenced, European-inspired baked goods.

Cruffins + community

moon bakeshop menu — So much to try, and you can’t go wrong with any of it. (Sarah Gronberg / Hville Blast)

Madeline’s favorite part of owning The Moon is that she gets to do what she loves every day and share it with her family. Her daugher, who was born a week after the bakery opened, is already interested in the business at just three years old.

“She basically grew up in here, and she loves it. It’s really neat to try to teach her about responsibility, cooking, baking and owning a business.”
Madeline Watkins

But, the family extends beyond Madeline, Thom and their daughter.

“Our employees are our friends now. We’re like a family, and we get to create things together.”
Madeline Watkins

Recently, they’ve has also been finding ways to help the community, which Madeline thinks is awesome. They started their “The Moon Mission to Love Cookie Box” project last month, offering cookie boxes to customers with all proceeds going directly to a local non-profit.

Looking toward the future

Madeline and Thom want to grow their bakery, but are uncertain as to what that means just yet—whether that means a whole other location or expanding within what they have now.

They’ve talked about restructuring the space, as they’re bursting at the seams in their current kitchen. They’d love to expand their kitchen as well as their specialty order options.

We’ll have to wait and see what comes next in The Moon’s story. For now, we’re more than happy to enjoy their baked goods in their current setup.

Most popular item: tie between the breakfast sandwich and the cruffin (croissant dough with almond pastry cream filling, rolled in cinnamon sugar)
Madeline’s favorite item: the power bar (a chewy, gluten-free bar with peanut butter, chocolate, oats, coconut and more goodies)
Thom’s favorite item: the housemade croissant

Hungry yet? Here’s where to find The Moon.