Day 1 of our Bake!-Cation

It was 40° when we rolled out of bed, but warmed up to a balmy 70° by end of day.

Class kicks off at 8 this morning, so we’re up and at 'em earlier than a caffeine-fueled squirrel. The trek to Zingerman's Bakehouse—our classroom for the day—takes about 30 minutes, but with rush hour traffic in Ann Arbor, we’ll need to factor in a few extra minutes. The bakery opens at 7, which means we can indulge in a pastry while we twiddle our thumbs and pretend to be patient.

However, the owner's son showed up at our door last night, bagels in one hand, cream cheese in the other, and a giant chocolate bar for good measure. Apparently, the owner was aware we’d be hitting up Zingerman’s for classes this week, and the son casually mentions, "Oh, they have Zingerman’s bagels at Kroger!" So, off they sped to Ann Arbor to snag us some breakfast. What a delightful surprise, especially since breakfast isn’t even a thing here! But here’s the kicker: those weren’t Zingerman’s bagels at all—they were Einstein’s! Oh well, it’s the thought that counts.

We decided to forego the bagged bagels and see what Zingerman’s bake shop had. 

Turns out they had plenty and we were really glad we had not eaten one of the bagged grocery store bagels  

Amazing sticky bun

Apple danish

Welcome to our culinary escapade: the Ginger Jamboree! Ginger is my spice soulmate, so I’m practically doing a happy dance just thinking about this class.

We’re whipping up three Bakehouse classics starring ginger: the crowd-pleasing Ginger Jump-Up Cookies, the delightful Ginger Scones, and the grand finale—a flavor explosion known as the Gingerbread Coffee Cake! If your salivary glands aren’t working overtime yet, they probably should be!

Ginger Scones

Last on the agenda (I’m going in reverse order here) are the buttery, mouthwatering scones, crafted with award-winning Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter and the sweet and spicy magic of crystallized ginger. Seriously, this butter isn’t just a pretty face; it snagged 2nd place at the 2026 American Cheese Society Competition and a jaw-dropping score of 99.95 out of 100 at the 2024 World Championship Cheese Contest. Too bad I can’t stash a truckload of it in my suitcase!

The Bakehouse Ginger Scones are made with just enough flour to hold the butter and heavy cream together—no gym memberships required! The dough is studded with spicy cubes of crystallized ginger from the South Pacific. Dipped in sugar syrup and dusted with coarse sugar crystals, these little nuggets offer a delightful crunch. Since we had a little extra time, the chef taught us how to make the crystallized ginger. 

Mine are a bit deformed

But they puffed up nicely anyway and wow, were they good. We might find ourselves needing one scone for immediate consumption and another for our nostalgic cravings later on!

I’m not sure how we can elevate the scones, but stick around—it gets even better!

Ginger Jump-Up Cookies

What’s the secret sauce behind the Ginger Jump-Up Cookies? Unrefined brown sugar (muscovado) from the exotic African island of Mauritius, paired with juicy chunks of the crystallized ginger. Plus, we’re using freshly milled regional whole grains from Michigan—organic soft white wheat berries from Kischnick Farms, milled right here at the Bakehouse. The freshly milled whole grain flour adds a flavor depth that would make any foodie weep. 

Unlike those cookie imposters out there, these gems have a complex flavor profile that’s sweet but not too sweet—just the right balance! With lots of ginger bits and a sprinkle of Demerara brown sugar, they deliver a delightful crunch to complement their tender texture.

And now, the pièce de résistance: the Gingerbread Coffee Cake!

Can it get any more fabulous? This cake boasts a star-studded ingredient list: sweet and spicy gingerbread made with the beloved Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter (yes, the same superstar from the scones), demerara sugar, crystallized ginger, and a splash of fresh orange juice. It’s got that dark, mysterious vibe thanks to rich molasses, a dash of Zingerman’s Coffee Company brew, and a pinch of pepper. Just imagine slicing into a thick, warm piece, topped with a generous dollop of fresh whipped cream. I can't think of a cozier, more aromatic, and downright delicious way to kick off fall than with sweet and spicy Gingerbread Coffee Cake.

Boxing up our goodies to go

We all tasted just a bite of the instructor’s finished products and are each sent away with the cake, two dozen cookies and dozen scones that we made in class. 

Well, that was just the morning session. Up next is the Fresh Milled Grains class! But first, we have a glorious hour and a half for lunch. Who’s brave enough to eat after all that gingery goodness we’ve been feasting on this morning? We are, of course! Data shows that our stomachs have no limits!

We decided to see if we could get in to Zingerman’s Roadhouse for lunch, but with the big UofM/Iowa game today, it might not happen. We managed to squeak in just before the big rush. Even though we only had a small piece of scone, a bite or two of the cake and cookie, we weren’t very hungry for lunch. It might have had something to do with the sticky bun and apple danish we had before class. 

I had the small pear and cucumber salad

Local pear and cucumbers, tossed with Mt. Vikos barrel-aged feta, arugula, dried cherries, and sunflower seeds dressed in a chile citrus vinaigrette.

Jo Anne had the heirloom tomato soup

Heirloom tomatoes from We the People Opportunity Farm, onions, olive oil, and garlic garnished with herbs.

Elisha Barnes single origin peanuts

We decided we needed to try these peanuts from the only farmer in the U.S. still doing this old school method, cured in the sun, blistered, roasted and salted for a sweeter tasting peanut.

Now on to the afternoon session!

In this interactive class, we’ll be crafting loaves of Michigan Wheat Bread, whipping up Soft White Wheat Biscuits, and baking some Bakehouse Oat-rageous Funky Chunky Cookies—all powered by organic whole grain flours milled fresh on Bakehouse's dynamic stone mill. Plus, we’ll learn how to channel our inner grain guru by milling whole grain flours right in our own kitchen with a countertop Mockmill Stone Grain Mill.

Jo Anne is basically the queen of grain milling, while I'm still figuring out if I’m more of a grain jester. But hey, my baked goods have been tasting pretty darn good! Kim even pointed out that our pancakes have gone from “meh” to “wow” thanks to that fresh milled flour. We’re all in on freshly milled flour for a plethora of reasons—mostly because it’s a blast and it packs a flavor punch that could knock your socks off! Freshly milled flour leads to breads and pastries that not only taste like a dream but also smell divine because our noses are the ultimate flavor judges! Plus, those vibrant colors? Yes, please! And since we’re keeping the oils from the grain’s germ, the baked goods get that tender, melt-in-your-mouth quality that makes you question why you ever settled for store-bought.

Oat-rageous Funky Chunky Cookie

Now, let’s talk about the Funky Chunky Cookie. We swapped out walnuts for toasted oats, and the result? A chewy, buttery, toasty delight packed with dark chocolate chunks. Plus, we’re using a mix of regionally-grown, organic wheats (shoutout to Janie’s Mill in Ashkum, IL, and Kishnick Family Farm in Vassar, MI). Seriously, fresh out of the oven, the experience is like a warm hug for your taste buds!

Amazing Soft White Wheat Biscuits

You know, sometimes it’s the simplest snacks that we just can’t resist. Take these biscuits, for instance—they’re like little clouds of joy! Tender, buttery, and just the right amount of puff, they’re crafted from freshly milled soft white wheat flour straight from Michigan’s finest farmers. 

Rolling out the biscuits

Cutting them into squares

This flour swap gives them a texture so dreamy, you’d think they were auditioning for a baking competition. When blended with other ingredients, it creates a light and airy crumb that’s practically begging to be stuffed with deliciousness. For shortcake biscuits, crank up the buttermilk and leavening just a notch, making them the ultimate sidekick for fresh fruit, whipped cream, or whatever filling your heart desires. So, pardon us while we grab one (or 2) and prepare for a biscuit adventure!

Michigan wheat bread

We start with freshly milled, Michigan-grown, stone-ground, high-extraction, hard red spring wheat flour from a miller in Traverse City. Warm water, buttermilk, and honey go into the flour, sea salt and yeast mixture with toasted sunflower seeds to make a very flavorful loaf where you can taste the grain, with the added bonus of a tender and moist crumb.

Dumping out the proofed dough

Creating the loaves

We wrapped up the class with our recipes, the wisdom to recreate our masterpieces at home, and a treasure trove of goodies: 2 loaves of Michigan Wheat Bread and a dozen each of Soft White Wheat Biscuits and Funky Chunky Cookies. I might be a newbie in home milling, but I’ve got a whole new understanding now—Jo Anne, on the other hand, is basically a grain whisperer!

Tasting the finished products

Jo Anne’s baked goods from today. 

Just before we headed out, we were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the bakery where all those delectable goodies come to life. They whip up thousands of bread delights daily—talk about a dough-mazing operation! I know! That was bad. 

Big mixers in the pastry area

They bake 22/7 leaving only 2 hours during the wee hours of the morning for the cleaning crew to come in. 

The giant stone mill

Now this is a mixer. 

What a baking bonanza we've had! We've consumed enough calories to fuel a small rocket, so should we hunt for dinner before retreating to our cozy quarters? I think not! We're exhausted and ready to hit the snooze button on this day. Besides, we’ll be back tomorrow to tackle some British baked goods—because who needs dinner when you have more bread in your future, and we can always have another one of those ginger cookies if we get hungry? Instead, we decide to grab a small salad and sandwich to take back to the room. 

My beet and feta salad. I don’t have a photo of Jo Anne’s sandwich. 

Food for Thought:

Baking is all about adding ingredients, one at a time, to create the finished product. Each ingredient builds on the last, much like the incredible history of God’s faithfulness in our lives. When we're focused on the first ingredient, it’s hard to see the beauty of the final piece, just as it can be tough to recognize God’s provision during our toughest trials.

Jehovah Jireh, meaning "The Lord will provide" or "The Lord will see to it." We see it in Genesis 22. This is where God asks Abraham to sacrifice his most cherished blessing—his son—and then surprises him with an unforgettable mountain-top experience of divine provision! 

We grew up singing Jehovah Jireh. We know it means God provides. But the Hebrew word behind it, what it actually says about how and why God provides, should change everything about the way we pray when we're in need.

Genesis 22:14. “And Abraham called the name of the place, the Lord will provide, as it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” Abraham called the name of the place, "the Lord will provide," named on the other side of the hardest morning he had ever lived. 

I visualize it in my head since I don't have art supplies in my hand. God has asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, the child he waited a hundred years for, the one through whom every promise God ever made was supposed to come. Abraham does not argue. He does not delay. Scripture says he rose early in the morning, 3 days of walking with his son, knowing what waited at the top of the mountain. He builds the altar. He binds his son. He raises the knife. The angel of the Lord stops him. And Abraham looks up and there is a ram already caught in a thicket, already waiting. And he names the place Jehovah Jireh.

The Hebrew word behind Jireh, the word we translate as provide, is not a word about giving. It is the word raah, which literally means to see. Jehovah Jireh is not the God who just gives things. It is the Lord who sees and therefore provides. What does that mean for us?

Maybe you have been praying about a situation that is not moving. And somewhere along the way, the praying started to feel pointless. Not because you stopped believing, but because it started to feel like God just had not noticed yet. Maybe it is a door you have been standing at for months knocking and nothing has opened, a relationship with no path forward, a health situation with no clear answer, something you have carried so long you are not even sure how to describe it anymore.

Raah, to see, changes everything. Because if provision flows from seeing, then God is not waiting for your prayer to alert him to your need. He is not looking down at your life and only now becoming aware of what you are carrying. He saw it before you named it, before the situation even developed into what it is right now.

The ram was already provided before Abraham arrived at the mountain. Not placed there when the knife was raised. Not scrambled together at the last second. Already there. Already waiting before the hardest moment had even begun. Your provision is not waiting on God to notice your need. He noticed it before you were even aware that you had it.

Jehovah Jireh is already at work in what you are carrying. Not because you finally prayed the right prayer, not because you believed hard enough, but because he sees completely already. Jehovah Jireh has already seen what I am carrying today. Not a summary of it, all of it, every dimension, every ingredient. I have not even told anyone else about the fear underneath the need, the exhaustion of carrying this longer than I expected, the quiet doubt that has started to creep in, the one that says, "maybe this time provision is not coming."

He saw all of it before I brought it to him, before I even knew how to name it. So today, I am not coming to inform Him. I am coming to trust Him. Like Abraham who kept walking up that mountain, not knowing what was waiting at the top, I choose to keep walking, trusting that what my moment requires, He has already prepared before I arrived, before the hardest moment began. He is Jehovah Jireh. He sees, and because He sees, I can trust in His provision.