A cookie, or a biscuit, is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, nuts, etc.
A croissant is a buttery, flaky, viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough. Croissants are named for their historical crescent shape. The dough is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a thin sheet, in a technique called laminating. The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a puff pastry.
Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid. The base and acid are prevented from reacting prematurely by the inclusion of a buffer such as cornstarch. Baking powder is used to increase the volume and lighten the texture of baked goods. It works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid–base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture. The first single-acting baking powder, which releases carbon dioxide at room temperature as soon as it is dampened, was developed by food manufacturer Alfred Bird in England in 1843. The first double-acting baking powder, which releases some carbon dioxide when dampened, and later releases more of the gas when heated by baking, was first developed by Eben Norton Horsford in the U.S. in the 1860s.
A pretzel, from German pronunciation, standard German: Breze(l) ( is a type of baked pastry made from dough that is commonly shaped into a knot. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical form, with the ends of a long strip of dough intertwined and then twisted back onto itself in a particular way. Today, pretzels come in a wide range of shapes.
A bagel is a bread roll originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. It is traditionally shaped by hand into a roughly hand-sized ring from yeasted wheat dough that is first boiled for a short time in water and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior.
Ukrop's is an American company that operates a central bakery and kitchen producing baked goods and prepared meals. Its baked goods are marketed under Good Meadow and Ukrop's brand. In 1976 Ukrop's bought Dot's Pastry Shop, a well-known bakery in Richmond. It used the name Dot's Pastry Shop for years before changing it to Ukrop's Bakery.
Entenmann's is an American company that manufactures baked goods and delivers them throughout the United States to supermarkets and other retailers for sale to the public. They are often known to have display cases at the end of store aisles. The company offers dessert cakes, donuts, cookies, cup cakes, loaf cakes, pies, cereal bars, muffins, Danish pastries, crumb cakes, and buns among other baked goods. In the past several years, they have added designer coffee flavors along with scented candles to their product line in an effort to broaden its appeal.
Cloverhill Bakery was a producer of baked goods primarily sold through vending machines and retail throughout North America. It also produced buns used by McDonald's. Cloverhill was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1961 as a small family owned vending company that hand-packed pastries. In 1977 the bakery expanded their facilities and implemented an automated Danish baking system. In 2011 Cloverhill opened an additional facility in Cicero, Illinois. Cloverhill was acquired by Aryzta in 2014. In 2017, an ICE immigration raid on its Chicago facility resulted in the removal 800 workers who were found to be hired and employed without legal documentation. On February 1, 2018, Aryzta announced that it had sold the Big Texas and Cloverhill brands to Hostess Brands.
ARYZTA AG is a food business based in Zurich with operations in Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. It is incorporated in Switzerland and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. It discontinued its listing on Euronext Dublin on 1 March 2021. The group is a major supplier in the specialty frozen bakery sector, and is a global supplier of baked goods to the food service, retail and quick service restaurant sectors.
Kwik Trip is a chain of convenience stores founded in 1965 with locations throughout Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin under the name Kwik Trip, and in Illinois, Iowa, and South Dakota under the name Kwik Star. The company also operates stores under the name Tobacco Outlet Plus, Tobacco Outlet Plus Grocery, Hearty Platter, Kwik Spirits, and Stop-N-Go. Kwik Trip, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Valora is a Swiss retail and food service holding company. The company was acquired on 7 October 2022 by FEMSA.
The Acme Bread Company is a Berkeley, California-based bakery that is one of the pioneers of the San Francisco Bay Area's "Bread Revolution," which in turn created the modern "artisan bread" movement in America, and remains a "benchmark" for commercial handmade bread.
La Brea Bakery is an industrial baking company started in Los Angeles, California. Since opening its flagship store on 624 S La Brea Avenue in 1989—six months earlier than Campanile, the restaurant it was built to serve—La Brea has opened two much larger bakeries in Van Nuys, California, and Swedesboro, New Jersey, to serve wholesale clients. La Brea Bakery is one of the largest sellers of artisan bread in the US. In 2001, La Brea was acquired by Aryzta AG. In 2021, Aryzta sold its interest in La Brea Bakery and its other North American brands to Lindsay Goldberg. In May 2021, Aryzta North America was renamed to Aspire Bakeries.
Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. is the American corporate arm of the Mexican multinational bakery product manufacturing company Grupo Bimbo. It is the largest bakery company in the United States. The company, headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, owns many fresh bread and sweet baked goods brands in the United States, including Entenmann's, Sara Lee, and Thomas'. It is also a top advertising sponsor for many major soccer teams around the globe.
The history of California bread as a prominent factor in the field of bread baking dates from the days of the California Gold Rush around 1849, encompassing the development of sourdough bread in San Francisco. It includes the rise of artisan bakeries in the 1980s, which strongly influenced what has been called the "Bread Revolution".
ACE Bakery is a maker of European-style, artisan breads and baked goods. The company, based in Toronto, has some 35 varieties of bread. According to Toronto Life, ACE Bakery's bread is preservative free and from natural starters. In addition to other products, including a line of granola and artisan crisps, marketed across Canada and parts of the United States. Along with breads, ACE Bakery also makes par-baked or partially baked, flash-frozen dough. Founded by a Caledon, Ontario husband and wife, the company is today owned by FGF Brands.
Mexican breads and other baked goods are the result of centuries of experimentation and the blending of influence from various European baking traditions. Wheat, and bread baked from it, was introduced by the Spanish at the time of the Conquest. The French influence in Mexican Bread is the strongest. From the bolillo evolving from a French baguette to the concha branching out from a French brioche even the terminology comes from France. A baño maría, meaning a water bath for a custard type budín or bread pudding comes from the French word bain marie. While the consumption of wheat has never surpassed that of corn in the country, wheat is still a staple food and an important part of everyday and special rituals. While Mexico has adopted various bread styles from Europe and the United States, most of the hundreds of varieties of breads made in the country were developed here. However, there is little to no baking done in Mexican homes; instead, Mexicans have bought their baked goods from bakeries since the colonial period.
A baking mix is a mixed formulation of ingredients used for the cooking of baked goods. Baking mixes may be commercially manufactured or homemade. Baking mixes that cater to particular dietary needs, such as vegan, gluten-free, or kosher baking mixes, can be bought in many places.
