Making dough is usually the first step in the bread-baking process.
They raise the bar at Great Harvest Bakery and Café in Ames by grinding wheat into their flour.
“We get bags of wheat delivered, and we take it in and mill it,” owner Kim Sharp said.
Their personalized flour mill is located in a small room off the kitchen. Affectionately named Milton, the room is decorated with googly eyes and a smile, making it a favorite for the many groups of schoolchildren who visit on field trips.
Great Harvest’s wheat is specially grown near the Canadian border in northwestern Montana.
“It’s the only place in the United States where it’s grown,” Sharp said. “It’s non-GMO and it meets the highest specs for quality wheat.”
Great Harvest adapts recipes, offers gluten-free options
It’s not just the freshly ground wheat flour that sets Great Harvest’s products apart, head sweets baker Syndie Swalla said.
The dough is hand-crafted and pure, free of harmful ingredients.
“What makes our stuff special is that we don’t use preservatives and we make things fresh. We use recipes — we don’t just open a box and pour,” Swalla said. “Everything you get here is just like you would bake at home.”