Darci Hammer has opened a storefront and commercial kitchen in Jaffrey for her gluten-free baked goods company Doodle Eats.
The Peterborough baker has been producing gluten-free toaster pastries known as “Doodle Pies” and rustic “Doodle Breads” out of her home kitchen since June of last year.
“I want food that is delicious for everyone. You don’t have to be gluten-free to enjoy it,” Hammer said. “It kind of brings you back to being a little kid, the fun of treats and something special.”
Hammer, who was diagnosed with celiac disease after college, began Doodle Eats as a way to disconnect from her career in the technology industry and to create baked goods that could be enjoyed by all.
Prior to moving to Peterborough with her husband Roger Mitchell, Hammer lived in Brooklyn, New York, and “ran a global operations team in the finance and ad tech world.” The two would move to Peterborough to be closer to nature.
“I was ready for a change,” Hammer said. “I found that going into the office every day wasn’t making me happy. I wanted to find something that made me and the people around me happy.”
When determining her next steps, Hammer recalled memories of her childhood, and the magic and togetherness of baking in the kitchen.
The “doodle” part of her business’ name and products is a call back to her childhood nickname “Darci doodle the corn kid with pop.”
“It was a lot of self evaluation of what makes me happy and what areas interest me,” Hammer said. “As I was going through that process I always came back to family and being around people and having good foods and drinks to create an environment … that was my happy place.”
It took about six months to a year for Hammer to figure out the specific baked goods she wanted to pursue with her business.
After messing around with croissants and some other ideas, Hammer began making toaster pastries as a way to be a little more fun and silly.
Hammer’s Doodle Pies are made up of three parts: a fruit filling, a crust and a glaze. Hammer has created a stable of regular flavors – including original crust, blueberry filling, and lemon, original crust, cherry filling, and lime glaze, and ginger crust, fig filling, and lemon glaze – and a seasonal flavor.
The spring flavor is original crust, orange filling, and vanilla icing. Past flavors include ginger crust, pumpkin filling and maple glaze and chocolate crust, salted blueberry filling and maple glaze.
“It was looking to see what is spring like and what seems exciting … tasting it was like what spring is here,” Hammer said, of the creamsicle-like spring creation.
She also has a partnership with Vicuna Chocolate in Peterborough: chocolate crust, raspberry nibs, and chocolate glaze.
For breads, Hammer has created sourdough, country, and pumpernickel boules.
In addition to being gluten-free, Hammer prides herself on bringing forward products that are simple and clean.
“Being a smaller start-up company, I have to be passionate about all the products I make … if I don’t believe in it, I shouldn’t expect anyone else to,” Hammer said.
Hammer’s new storefront – located between Dunkin’ Donuts and Subway on Peterborough Street in Jaffrey – was opened on March 15.
The new location will allow for a more consistent and efficient baking process and give Hammer more space to experiment, she said.
Hammer recently announced she will be selling crostinis and croutons; more products are in the works for future releases.
“The experience is to come in and buy the product. You get to pick and choose – I have more varieties than most of the places that I sell to,” Hammer said. “The idea is to get the full feeling of Doodle Eats.”
Hammer says she will continue to sell her products in a number of locations, including Nature’s Green Grocer, Nest Children’s Shop, and Rosaly’s Farmstand in Peterborough, The Hancock Market, and the Monadnock Food Co-op in Keene.
“It’s been great because I can have more consistent feedback from customers and I am hearing the excitement of people who otherwise wouldn’t have found my products,” Hammer said.