Baylee Sleeper, owner of Queen B’s Bakery, is all smiles Saturday as she stands at the checkout table inside her bakery at 261 Water St. in Augusta. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

AUGUSTA — Baylee Sleeper has always found peace in baking.

It helped her through an abusive marriage and divorce proceedings. And it brought her to Augusta and has kept her going when learning to be a single mother gets difficult.

And now, she said, it’s her fresh start.

Queen B’s Bakery, Sleeper’s new cookie-centric bake shop, plans to hold its grand opening Wednesday at 261 Water St. in Augusta. The Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce will have its ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:30 a.m., and Sleeper said Santa himself is expected to make an appearance from noon–4 p.m. The location will be open until 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Sleeper, who had been working from her home in Livermore, said she will continue to focus on the cookies that she has perfected over years of catering and selling at fairs and shows — perhaps most notably the Fryeburg Fair. Their consistency is the selling point, she said; the cookies are fully baked, but with the soft texture of cookie dough. Queen B’s will also continue catering and crafting special orders for events, she said.

The goal with the new storefront location in Augusta, Sleeper said, is helping other people get through whatever it is they’re struggling with — just like baking has for her.

“It’s near and dear to my heart because it’s not just a business to me,” Sleeper said. “And I want to actually be able to help other people do the same thing, like get out from under their (struggles). If they’re in the same situation, I want to be able to be in a position that I can help more people with that too.”