The only thing I've ever successfully baked is Ghirardelli brownies. That come from a box. And even then, if you mess with my baking system (like, I'm baking them in someone else's oven or for the first time at my new apartment), the brownies get messed up.
My best friend Amanda and I still joke about that one time in seventh grade we tried to make Nun's Puffs, and we didn't have most of the ingredients so we unsuccessfully substituted, and wound up with barely edible but-we-ate-them-anyway-because-we-worked-hard-gosh-darn-it breakfast pastries. I effed up some boxed chocolate chip cookies once — I swear I followed the instructions for "chewy," so I don't know why they were like eating cookie chips — and I found out the hard way that if you leave the cardboard underneath a frozen pizza while it bakes, you wind up with pretty much raw dough topped with melted cheese, pepperoni and vegetables.
I am, however, quite good at eating baked goods.
Case in point, sad PMS-ing Dallas has been known to eat entire boxes of Girl Scout cookies alone, in one sitting, on her couch while drinking whiskey. Also case in point, yesterday morning's venture to a new (to me) bakery in my new(ish) home of Athens, Georgia.**
I originally attempted to go to the Milledge Avenue Jittery Joe's, which is a local coffee roastery. Highly recommend their spiced iced dirty chai lattes. But I was running late, there was a line ... and though I desperately craved coffee, my immediate thought was "I ain't got time fo' that today."
That's when I remembered this quaint little bakeshop around the corner from Jittery Joe's — Independent Baking Co.! I parked my car possibly illegally and darted over.
"This is perfect! Especially since I discovered that I left my yogurt out overnight at JE's house and now I don't have breakfast," super-adult me said to myself.
Y'all. This little bakery is precious. And I don't mean that in the stereotypical Southern ol' biddy way that is only one step above being told "bless your heart." I mean that in a genuine fashion. It's tee-tiny, clearly made as a place to bake really good bread and pastries, and they tossed out a couple stools for people to sit at.
I would also like to commend Independent Baking Co. on their incredibly minimalist and modern logo design. Obsessed.
But what everyone else obsesses over isn't what's on the outside of this place. It's what's on the inside, and boy, let me tell you — if you're on one of those low-carb or keto diet things ... please get off of it for a day and come here. Fresh-baked anything smells amazing, but fresh-baked bread has this rustic earthiness to its smell that is so warm and inviting. Behind the counter you're greeted with shelves stuffed with loaves and loaves of fresh-baked bread that's emanating that homey smell. I could tell just from looking at them that they were perfectly crusty.
Since I was on the way to work, and eating a loaf of bread by myself is generally not socially acceptable, I glanced down at the front counter, which offered up several different grab-and-go pastries. The danish with spinach and chevre (!!!!) began to call my name, but the woman behind me in line saw me looking and directed my attention elsewhere: to The Morning Roll.
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| Please pardon the less-than-stellar Insta story photo quality here. |
First: The size. These babies are about the size of my hand, and a solid two inches tall.
Second: Not your average cinnamon roll. Morning rolls are made with delicate, flaky croissant dough, dipped in cinnamon sugar, baked and then dosed with a second hearty helping of cinnamon sugar.
Third: I walked out of here, tip included, with this sugary delight and a latte made with Counter Culture coffee, for only a buck more than I spend at Jittery Joe's for my regular breakfast drink.
It was very hard to eat my morning roll at work and resist the temptation to get back in my car, drive to the other side of town and just eat the rest of them. The original dusting of cinnamon sugar caramelized while baking, so there was this crisp candy-like layer in areas around the croissant dough. I adore croissants (if it's offered as bread for a sandwich, that's what I'm getting), and this was top-notch. The thin outer layer was crisp; hidden underneath was this exquisite cushion of pastry perfection, lightly sweetened.
I'm taking names of anyone who wants to split one of their loaves with me on my next visit.
** TLDR I moved back to Athens full-time last fall; started a new job; hence why it was hard for me to settle in time to write fun stuff that probably only my mom reads.
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