Traveling Superior baker serves up sweet treats

Too Good Bakery’s array of treats, from strawberry shortbread dessert bars to double chocolate cookies, is on display every Wednesday at the Downtown Farmers Market in Superior. Owner Liberty Smith also sets up a table at the Blaine Business Center on Thursdays and brings movie-themed treats to Leif Erickson Park in Duluth on Fridays.

The home-baked treats are a stepping stone for Smith, who lives in Superior.

“My ultimate idea is to do a drive-thru bakery,” she said. “That’s what I’m saving up for right now.”

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When she opens it, Heidi Gidley plans to be there. The office manager for Midwest Dental has been a dedicated customer since Smith first set up shop in the Blaine Business Center last month. She orders ahead these days to make sure the baker doesn’t run out of her favorites.

“So today, when I pick up my order, when I come down there at 11 o’clock when she opens, the chocolate chips are still melty. They’re still fresh out of the oven. It’s unbelievable,” Gidley said.

Gidely brought some of the sweets to a family reunion in Hurley, 90 miles from Superior, and fueled a little jealousy.

“It was a huge hit from my whole family,” she said.

The business stirs together Smith’s marketing degree and her love of baking. Growing up in Oregon, she was involved in culinary competitions and cake decorating classes in high school, but her earliest baking memories involve the holidays. She was tasked with making date bars for Thanksgiving and Christmas, the same recipe she now offers at Too Good Bakery.

The idea to open a to-go bakery was sparked during a drive home from college.

“I was just so tired, but I was craving a brownie, just a single brownie,” Smith said,

She wished there was a spot where she could pick up one treat without getting out of the car.

When she got married and moved to Superior, baking became therapeutic. It also generated a lot of positive feedback about her goodies. With the support of her husband and family, Smith left her job in human resources to follow her dream. She opened Too Good Bakery June 1.

“I say baked with love and backed by love,” Smith said. “Definitely backed by my family, and it’s a really good feeling.”

She opted to bake at home under Wisconsin’s Cottage Food Law and bring the sweets on the road, saving up for a permanent location of her own. The farmers market has anchored her to the community, Smith said.

“I have met the nicest people in the world at farmers market,” she said. “And the other vendors, they all help each other. The customers are so nice, and it’s so fun having regulars, you know. I’m learning names, and it’s like our own community of sweet love. It’s really fun.”

The Blaine Business Center location has also been a boon, she said.

“I’m actually looking for another business center to do that in, because if I could do that, that’s huge,” Smith said, and she’s seeking more wholesale outlets for her sweets, working business-to-business.

Her offerings are a mix of old favorites and new creations.

“Honestly, it’s things that I crave and that I love that I made for myself over the years … I pretty much sell what I love,” Smith said, and she gets ideas for new goodies from customers.

The baker has added pre-orders to the mix to ensure customers get the treats they’re craving. She’s planning to offer a subscription service — where people purchase a box of baked goods a week — in August. To learn more or to pre-order items, visit the Too Good Bakery Facebook page, email [email protected] or text 541-944-2055.