Welcome to Kitchen 253! In this episode, hosts Evelyn and Joe Lopez, and producer Doug Mackey, discuss three local bakeries: Maggie Magee’s Bakeshop in Fircrest, the Wren’s Nest Baking Co. in Ruston, and Hess Bakery & Deli in Lakewood.
When you first walk into Maggie Magee’s Bakeshop there is the most amazing aroma of sugar and cinnamon. Seriously, bottle that and I would use it in place of any air freshener or cologne! Upon dropping in on a weekday, there was a nice selection of cookies (big cookies), some coffee cake, and tray bake bars. We tried snickerdoodles, toffee crunch, chocolate chip, a crumb top coffee cake, and a peanut butter s’mores bar. The cookies were delicious, and had a real home-baked taste. These are the cookies you wish your Mom made—big, full of chips, chewy. Highly recommend. Also, Maggie Magee’s has special items for the weekend. On Saturday they have a wide variety of artisan bread loaves (olive, rosemary, dill, etc.), and on Sunday they have freshly baked cinnamon rolls. If I lived in Fircrest, a quick run for Sunday morning cinnamon rolls would definitely become my weekend routine. Check them out. Also, check out their website at https://www.maggiemagees.com and learn about their cookie classes. Maggie Magee’s is located at 604 Regents Blvd.
Our second stop was at the Wren’s Nest Baking Co. 5121 N. Pearl Street in Ruston. This bakery simply blew me away. I had heard it was an all gluten-free bakery, and that gave me pause. The few gf items that I have made did not turn out well—something was off with the mouth-feel and texture. So, I was a bit dubious when I went into the Wren’s Nest. Boy was I wrong. First of all, it is gorgeous. The bakery has lovely display cases and friendly staff. There is a viewing window into the baking area and I could have stood there all day. Then there is a relaxed, open space seating area, and a couple of comfy chairs by a fireplace. Imagine sitting there with a pastry and coffee—pure heaven. Now, as for the food—wow. We tried spicy beef empanadas for dinner, and a beef kolache (meat pie in a bun). Both were delicious. The empanadas were spicy, and I never would guess that the flaky pastry crust was gluten-free. The kolache was even more of a surprise—the meat filling was savory and moist, and the bun was soft and bready, like a nice dinner roll. I would definitely get both again, and try the other flavors. You can see photos at their website at https://www.wrensnestbaking.com. We also tried strawberry and chocolate macarons. They were everything a good macaron should be—beautiful, chewy, crisp exterior, punch of flavor in the filling. We did not try the breads or other pastries, but I certainly will return. This place would be my choice for any coffee or lunch meet ups. It is wonderful.
Finally, we stopped in Lakewood for an old school favorite, Hess Bakery & Deli (6108 Mt. Tacoma Drive SW • Lakewood, WA 98499, https://hessbakery.com ). This is THE place for German deli items, delicious big pretzels, and beautiful cakes. You can have a very nice lunch there (and cake for dessert) among the older German ladies. We picked up some pretzels, small rolls (brötchen), and a couple of tubes of German chicken liver pate’. If you like liverwurst, I highly recommend the pate’. It is delicious, and more mild than most other liverwurst. The bakery has a great selection of breads, including a fantastic chewy rye, but really I stop there for the pretzels. You will never be tempted by a mall pretzel again. The Hess pretzels are large, chewy, but very soft inside with a perfect sprinkling of salt. So good!
Since we were talking about baking and bakeries in this episode, I wanted to share my best, most reliable, brownie recipe. I’ve been baking these Brownies for more than 45 years. You can use this recipe as is for a great chewy, chocolatey brownie, you can frost it, bake it thin, or use canna-butter to make pot brownies, It is the only brownie recipe you will ever need.
Recipe: Aunt Mollie’s Brownies
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