By 8:30 a.m., a line wraps around a strip mall on West Main Street in Sun Prairie, leading to Bri’s Fresh Bakes’ front door. Despite the bakery’s well-oiled operation, longtime fans of Bri’s know to arrive early, hungry and prepared to wait. It might take an hour, but their patience is rewarded when customers finally reach the glass case of glazed and gilded viennoiserie.
Bri’s Fresh Bakes is perhaps best known for its cruffins (croissant-muffin hybrids) and its beautifully cross-laminated pistachio croissants, filled with pistachio pastry cream and dipped in pistachio ganache. Alongside these two fan favorites is a strong ensemble of scones, Danishes, cookies, bread and — in true Wisconsin tradition — a pretzel.
Head baker Bri Simler had been operating a successful microbakery for the past five years, renting kitchen space at Flavors Events and Catering and selling at the Sun Prairie Farmers’ Market. When she finally began thinking about a brick-and-mortar store, a Sun Prairie location was nonnegotiable. “I didn’t want to be in Madison,” she says. “My home is here in Sun Prairie, and that’s where the majority of our customers are.”
Few options fit the bill, but in November 2025, Simler — then just 25 years old — found a space in a former dry cleaner and set to work negotiating rent, building out a kitchen and hiring a team. She didn’t anticipate the near-constant line around the block since the bakery opened in March, nor did she imagine reaching her three-year projections within her first month of business. Still, she’s not overly eager to scale. “I want to bake. That’s my goal for the business,” says Simler, who is still hesitant to define herself as a bakery owner. “I don’t ever want to be taken out of [the craft].”
Bri’s Fresh Bakes might never be a seven-day-a-week business. The line might be long. The parking lot might fill up (just wait — turnover is fast, and happy customers are always leaving). And for those who don’t arrive early, the pastries might even sell out. Just as the croissants displayed in the case take time and effort to bake, Simler notes that it takes time and effort to buy one.
Popular Mash-Up
A not-so-distant cousin of the morning bun, a cruffin is exactly what it sounds like: part croissant, part muffin. After all the steps are completed — laminating, shaping, proofing, baking, filling, rolling in sugar and decorating — each cruffin takes about three days to make. (The team sells up to 400 each week.) Fillings include Nutella, fruit compotes or pastry creams. While the Nutella variation is a menu staple and perennial bestseller, Simler introduces a new cruffin flavor each month — “Thai tea” and “key lime pie” are recent favorites — pulled from the list of flavor ideas she stores in her Notes app…