A South Dakota business is revolutionizing the bakery industry, one muffin at a time.
Bizzy Lizzy Flourless Bakery is the first and only flourless bakery in the country, whipping up delicious cookies, bars, and muffins since 2007.
The bakery, based on the family farm in White, is a team effort between Sheila Rae and her daughter, Lizzy Olauson. A professional educator and public speaker, Rae has always loved to bake.
In 2007, she was searching for a way to feed her children a healthier breakfast when she stumbled upon inventing a nearly flourless cookie recipe that soon led to a new way of thinking about the food we eat.
“When I was creating the cookie, I got close to not using flour and mentioned it on the phone one day with my mom,” said Rae. “’What if I just made it without flour?’ And she said, ‘You can’t bake without flour, honey.’ And I said, ‘I think I can.’”
MAKE PUMPKIN SPICE COOKIES
For a festive, healthy dessert this holiday season, pick up a Bizzy Lizzy’s Flourless Cookie Mix and whip up some Pumpkin Spice Cookies.
> 3/4 cup pureed pumpkin or canned pie pumpkin
> 5 tablespoons of melted butter
> 2 eggs
> 1 teaspoon cinnamon
> 1/2 teaspoon ginger
> 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Follow package instructions for mixing and baking procedures.
Rae and her family were living in Michigan at the time and started supplying the cafés at the University of Michigan with tasty flourless baked goods and confections, as well as selling at local farmer’s markets. The school challenged the baker to create a flourless muffin in three weeks. Rae met the challenge, adding brownies and other bars to the line.
After outgrowing their basement bakery in Michigan, the family moved home to South Dakota, back to her parents’ farm. Now, Bizzy Lizzy Flourless Bakery supplies baked goods to all the South Dakota Hy-Vee locations, and numerous other stores throughout the Midwest.
Rae, her daughter, and the team make 1,500 muffins every Monday, and by Tuesday afternoon, they’re all sold.
“The muffins start with a fruit or vegetable as the main ingredient,” said Rae. “A lot of the produce we use in those muffins is grown locally. If it can be grown in South Dakota, we’re growing it. We’re growing apples in our orchard, we grow wine grapes for our muffins. We grow pumpkins and carrots and squash. And what we don’t grow is grown a mile from us with organic principles.”
When inventing a new recipe, Rae likes to include at least seven grams of protein and four to five grams of fiber. A cookie or muffin from the Bizzy Lizzy Flourless Bakery is designed to keep you full for up to five hours.
The bakery often uses oatmeal, flax seeds, and peanut butter as substitutes for flour.
“This is just looking at a healthier way for our gut,” said Rae. “Our stomach is way happier eating oatmeal than it is when we put flour in it.”
In the stomach, flour can act as an inflammatory, according to Rae, absorbing liquid and making you feel sluggish. Oatmeal, on the other hand, is a lubricant to our gut and is “good for our hearts.”
Bizzy Lizzy Flourless Bakery sells both pre-made items and mixes to take home and make with your family, available online and at stores around the Midwest. The bakery has expanded to include a pizza crust, cake mixes, granola, and various cookies and bars. The famous Andrew Bar, with a peanut butter base and gluten-free cereal, is the perfect sweet tooth treat.
“I think it’s making people look at food a little bit different because we all grew up using white flour,” said Rae.
During the holidays, the bakery whips up truffles and sells gift baskets stuffed with a variety of tasty baked goods that can be picked up at your local Hy-Vee store.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT BIZZYLIZZYBAKERY.COM.
