Laurel Bakery

05/10/2023

Hey ! Your favorite sourdough boules are back this afternoon ... Along with tangy chocolate chip cookies, cardamom challah, mini bagels and a bunch of other treats. Market runs 4-7 pm, get there early for the best selection!

11/16/2022

Hey trying something a little different here -- I've got a couple of fresh-baked sourdough boules looking pretty fine, available for purchase right now today with no pre-order required. These are a blend of regionally grown white and high-extraction wheat flours (sourced from Farmer Ground Flour in NY and Small Valley Milling in PA), raised entirely on natural leaven. $9 for a 2-lb loaf, local delivery available for a small fee. Click the photo to purchase through my Shopify (that should work... I hope...) or just message me here!

09/20/2022

Hey trying something new -- I've set up an online store where you can buy your favorite and other delicious baked goods. Today I've got basic sourdough boules and also boules with rye -- these are freshly baked and available now for pickup or delivery, no preorder required. I *won't* be at the market this week so this is the only way to get this bread! Click the shop link in profile or the product link in the post to order and get your boule for dinner tonight -- you can pay online or select in-person payment and choose pickup or delivery. Happy eating!

08/12/2022

Calling all bagel-lovers -- bagels have been on hiatus around here for a bit, but I just picked up some fresh high-gluten flour and found an opening in the schedule so they're back on the menu this Saturday morning! Plain, poppy, sesame, onion, garlic and everything all available -- pick up from the bakery kitchen in downtown JC (that's my house) or get local delivery for a small fee. Order form in the IG profile, or just DM me here to

07/13/2022

Hey it's a hot one but I am all set up at with some beautiful sourdough boules, a fresh batch of mini monkey breads, tangy chocolate chip cookies and more for all your carb cravings! Market's open til 7 - come say hi and take a walk through the splash pad to cool off (recommended to keep your bread dry though)

06/21/2022

We spoke to some local bakers about the impact of the new cottage food permit that helps these Hudson County small baking businesses.

05/17/2022

Downside of running a bakery out of your non-climate-controlled home kitchen: on a busy morning it can feel like a million degrees even when it's only 70 outside. Upside: the house smells a-maaaaa-zing. These porridge loaves--and a lot of other stuff--will be available at my table at the from 4-7 pm tomorrow. Come say hi if you're in the neighborhood!

04/01/2022

Who doesn't love challah? It's a staple of Shabbat dinners at my house, and a favorite of the kiddos. But a fluffy white bread can start to get a little... what's the word... boring for my whole-grain and sourdough-loving self, without a few adjustments. So since it's Friday, here's a breakdown of how the challah gets made and what makes it different:

1. A blend of white bread flour and whole-grain Kamut from Montana Flour & Grains. Kamut is somehow simultaneously buttery and hearty -- just right for this recipe.
2. A slurry of water, flour and yeast -- just a little head start for the fermentation.
3. A bit of fresh ground cardamom. Because everything's better with cardamom.
4. Sugar, salt, eggs, oil -- the things that make a challah a challah.
5. Two separate pre-ferments built the night before, because good bread is worth a few complications. This is a 100% sourdough levain with some whole wheat and a white-flour poolish with a bit of yeast. Their job is to bring some tanginess and depth to the flavor.

Mix it all up, knead it, let it rise, braid it, let it rise some more, sprinkle on some sesame seeds, bake it nice and low to keep it tender... Yum. It's a challah me and the 7-year-old can both enjoy.

03/28/2022

Hey , happy Monday! Got something new to share with you this week...

Sumac and cumin are a couple of my favorite spices, which is no surprise. Tangy, rich, a bit fruity, a bit earthy -- that's how I want my bread to taste, and it's how I want my food to taste too. So.... why not put the sumac and cumin right in the bread, right?? Right.

This is a sourdough loaf made with a blend of white bread flour and whole-grain Kamut, spiced with sumac and cumin (and a bit of coriander, too) and baked in an open oven. Good with cheese, good with butter, good with some sliced lamb roast as a sandwich, good with a bowl of seafood chowder (I am told), and most likely good with other as-yet-undiscovered combinations too. It's on the menu this week at an introductory price, and I'm excited to hear what folks think of it. Matter of fact, I'm about to go put a slice in the toaster myself...

03/23/2022

Today's sourdough boules with rye came out looking especially nice... These lovely loaves are made with organic white bread flour from Small Valley Milling in Central PA, high-extraction wheat flour from New York's Farmer Ground Flour and Danko rye from River Valley Community Grains right here in NJ -- because fresh local flour just tastes better.

03/01/2022

Hey there bread-lovers! Wanted to share a few pics of my newest boule as it goes from rough dough to finished loaf. This is a buckwheat pecan bread, featuring white bread flour, high-extraction wheat flour, whole grain buckwheat and rye flours, toasted buckwheat groats, toasted pecans, and buckwheat honey. Got a lot of interest when I first put this on the menu, so I was grateful my daughter had just scored a giant mixing bowl in a school raffle -- came in very handy. The groats and pecans are added in gently over the course of bulk fermentation, so they become well incorporated as the gluten in this slightly delicate dough has a chance to do its work.

After about three hours of bulk ferment the dough is starting to feel a little bouncy and then it's time to divide, shape, roll the top in a few more groats and deposit in four floured bannetons. A final rise overnight in the fridge keeps the dough from overproofing while giving plenty of time for all those flavors to continue building. The next morning, it gets baked in a Dutch oven to trap steam for a nice rise and shattery crust... and then, finally, it's ready for someone to enjoy. Perhaps lightly toasted with some good cheese.

These boules are on the menu again this week -- still time to order, plus there's challah on Friday, bagels on Sunday, and a couple other boule choices. Find the link to the order form on my profile page. Looking forward to baking for you!

02/13/2022

For most of my life I was a pretty big NFL fan, but as I get older the part of my brain that used to be devoted to football is given over entirely to bread.

Most of you are probably more normal and will be watching the Super Bowl in a little bit, but you've still got time to get your bakery orders in before then! It's a short week this week before the Presidents' Day weekend, but boules are still available Mon-Wed and challah on Thursday. Tangy chocolate chip cookies, too. Order form is at https://tinyurl.com/laurelbakeryjc, or find it in the profile above.

02/07/2022

Happy Monday ! It's a dreary one out there, but you know what would help? Some tasty carbs to look forward to. Taking orders now for sourdough boules, challah, and bagels... chewy, malty, delicious bagels... available on designated days later this week. Please send all orders through the web form (tinyurl.com/laurelbakeryjc, also linked in the profile). Got a couple sweet things on the menu for your consideration this week as well. Looking forward to baking for you!

02/01/2022

Let's talk a little bit about flour.

I'm not an expert by any means when it comes to how grains are cultivated and processed, but one of the really fun and fascinating things about becoming a serious baker has been the opportunity to play with flours and grains in lots of different varieties and forms, to discover how unique and distinctive they are. They all have their own taste, smell, and feel which comes thorugh so clearly even before they're baked: A dough with wheat flour is very different than one with a little bit of rye which is quite different than one with some einkorn. And incorporating different forms of the grain, like berries or rolled flakes, changes things further. It's a reminder that these ingredients are alive, with all the challenge and possibility that offers.

In the front of the pic here are whole rye berries -- how the grain comes off the plant when harvested. Behind that are rye flakes produced by rolling the berries (think rolled oats, but with rye). Behind that are three different flours: whole-grain Danko rye from River Valley Community Grains; high-extraction wheat from Farmer Ground Flour, which has only the coarsest parts of the bran removed; and white flour. You can see how different the rye looks; it's not surprising that it doesn't take much to significantly change the character of a loaf of bread.

Put these flours and the flakes together with some natural leaven, some water, a little salt, plenty of time, and a blast of heat... you get a sourdough boule with rye. Yum. Still time to order yours this week! Find the order form at the link in the profile above.

01/23/2022

Hey Facebook folks -- sharing a few pics of my favorite recent bakes, including sourdough boules with einkorn and rye from River Valley Community Grains and my basic sourdough featuring regionally grown wheat from Farmer Ground Flour. These breads and more are available this coming week through the order form at the top of this page... also refining some sweet stuff that will be available soon, so watch this space!

01/07/2022

Daily bread -- wheat boule with a touch of char.

I've set up a Google Form to accept new orders: https://tinyurl.com/laurelbakeryjc. It's showing a limited menu for next week as I await delivery of some specialty flours; I'll do my best to keep it updated and showing what's available in terms of both menu items and pickup/delivery days. Right now, plenty of bread slots open for Thursday and Friday!

01/06/2022

Hey bread-lovers, got something different for you this weekend. These bagels are hand-rolled, cold-fermented, boiled-then-baked, and very tasty. At 4 oz apiece they're a little smaller than what you might find at some other places but plenty big enough for a lox-and-cream cheese sandwich to start the weekend right. Available by the half-dozen ($10) or dozen ($18); choose everything, plain, sesame, poppy, or an assortment. Taking orders for Saturday morning only -- pick up on Laurel Court in downtown JC or delivery available to JC/Hoboken for a $2 fee. DM or text/WhatsApp to order.

01/03/2022

FREE BREAD ALERT! These guys are a riff on Italian bread, adapted from a recipe in Maggie Glezer's excellent "Artisan Baking" cookbook. They're mostly white bread flour, with a bit of whole-grain kamut and high-extraction wheat worked in; honey, potato, and two pre-ferments add body and flavor. Will offer them for sale soon if there seems to be interest, but these two loaves cooked as a test batch are available as free samples. Drop a message to claim one; must pick up today from Laurel Court in Jersey City.

01/03/2022

Happy New Year ! May 2022 bring us all better things and plenty of good bread. This week's baking is going to be focused on refining a few offerings that hopefully will be for sale soon, but I am taking orders now for the basic sourdough boule ($8) or challah with kamut and cardamom ($6). Drop me a messaage through FB/text/WhatsApp to order.

12/21/2021

Launching a small business just as the latest Covid wave hit our region has been a little challenging, , especially with two kids 10 and under in the house. Grateful for the vaccines, for my family, for my community... and for baking. Made a couple lil tweaks to the technique for the einkorn barley boule, and they look like keepers. Also grateful to the wonderful grain growers and millers at who provide the raw materials that makes this bread possible. Here's to a safe (and delicious) holiday season.

12/18/2021

One of the endlessly fascinating things about baking is the transformation from raw materials to a finished product -- and how little changes in the process alter the end result. Time, temperature, technique, the particular ingredient mix... change any one of those and you'll get something different, sometimes according to plan, sometimes not. Working with sourdough, you get to see multiple transformations in every loaf: the ripening of the levain, the development of the dough from shaggy and sticky to silky and strong, and finally, the bake. I still hold my breath a little bit every time that it will work, which makes the good outcomes that much more gratifying.

These are the wheat boule (left) and rye boule, just before and just after the oven. Boule orders are now fully booked through a planned winter break on the 23rd, but drop a DM or text to place an order for kamut-cardamom challah for the coming week.

12/15/2021

Hey thanks *so* much for the enthusiasm and support around our launch, proud to say this little operation is fully booked for sourdough the rest of the week, and next week is almost full too! (But we can squeeze in more challah loaves, so if you're interested in one of those, drop a note.)

Baked this morning a new menu item, the einkorn-barley sourdough. The flour blend on this recipe starts with the all-purpose and high-extraction flour in the basic wheat boule, then adds a good-sized portion of stone-ground whole einkorn flour from and a bit of barley flake porridge. With all those whole ancient grains it doesn't open *quite* as dramatically as the wheat boule, but it still looks pretty fine, and it tastes and smells a-maz-ing.

12/13/2021

Happy Monday ! Got something a little sweet for you this week: brown butter-chocolate chip cookies and almond-hibiscus biscotti. One tangy and chewy, one tart and crunchy, both balanced between sweetness and some whole-grain goodness. They're not on the menu yet, but any bread orders this week will get a free chocolate chip cookie and a few biscotti as a sample. Reach us through DM or by text/WhatsApp to order!

12/12/2021

12/12/2021

12/12/2021

12/10/2021

Friday evening seems like a good time for a challah post! Whole-grain Kamut flour from Montana Flour & Grains, blended with King Arthur bread flour, gives these loaves a golden color and lots of flavor, and the single-strand braid helps them stay tender in the oven. A pinch of freshly ground cardamom keeps things interesting. Delicious at the dinner table or as French toast for breakfast.