That’s How The Cookie Crumbles

We all love a good sweet treat, whether it be a craving or impulse we all tend to reach for a cookie. They come in different shapes, sizes, colors and flavors, but have you thought about everything that goes into a cookie. Yes, sugar, flour and eggs, but have you ever thought about what goes into owning your own brand, brick & mortar and creating your own recipes? What inspires someone to continue on a journey of baking?

I myself am curious because I have done two out of these three. I own my own cookie brand, Comatose Treats, Visit Them Here! My inspiration sprang from my mom. She is a self-proclaimed master of sweets, but her favorite thing to make is cheesecake. She would take me to get a haircut, and end up walking out of there with a decent stack of cash, by selling cheesecake slices. This sparked my interest in not only baking, but business. Watching each barber and customer’s eyes light up after taking a bite out of her creamy rich Reese’s Pieces cheesecake made my eyes open and brain start to think. If they liked it, I could only imagine what would happen if she rolled out a line of top 3 flavors them hit the farmer and vendor markets. Now that I am 27 venturing on this journey I branched out to speak with Craig Hurlbut, the Owner of Clemente Bakery.

Craig’s is more than cookies, he is a genuine lover of making dough rise. His day begins at 4am where he starts off with baking bread, this process takes two hours to prep and one hour to cook, he repeats this for two rounds to ensure the bakery is stocked for the day. The next person comes in at 9am to help with the baking of the sweet treats. When asking Craig what inspires him he explained how he has two decades in the restaurant industry where he was an actual line cook as well as a pastry chef. This brought him joy, but what really brought him into his own light was during the pandemic. His wife started to fall in love with the process of adding yeast to sourdough and watching it rise. She then approached him for help, like any good husband, he agrees. This projected him into going after his own brick and mortar. Another question I asked Craig was how does he differentiates himself when making different flavors of cookies and bread. Craig’s response was he got himself educated on flavonoids and how they work together to not only create an endless chain of new possibilities, but it also helps our overall health. An article published by Healthline broke it down so simply by saying, “they help your body function more efficiently while protecting it against everyday toxins and stressors.”

Another thing that separates him is his sourcing of ingredients. He goes the extra mile to source Einkorn flour. Einkorn flour is oldest flour ever created, it was cultivated 9 thousand years ago but the best thing about this type of flour is the benefits it provides to your body. Keeping it simple this baking ingredient is a cheat code! Einkorn is higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates than modern wheat. It has about 30% more protein and 30% less starch than flour made from modern wheat. For the people that are gluten intolerant this could be for you. When baking the mixing process of flour and wet ingredients is what brings the gluten alive which also helps what you’re baking rise. Einkorn flour doesn’t really do this, you should only expect about a 20% rise so gluten won’t be a demise for you. The final question I got to ask Craig was about the adversity he faced when getting Clemente Bakery up and running. He chuckled and responded, “You can’t pre-think everything.” Craig ran into a bit of cat and mouse game with having to get licensing and permits. He highly recommends getting acquainted with your local chamber of commerce they are life savers and tend to know all the answer on how to make mountains move when it comes to that side of business. The other adversity is staffing. It becomes difficult at times to find the right personality pieces to complete your puzzle, but when everything falls into place you get to really admire the beauty of what you built as well as the smiles of satisfaction from your customers. If you’re ever in Ventura head over to Clemente Bakery to get educated and have your taste buds dance with joy.