There are many things we can inherit from our mothers. The color of our eyes, a love of silly riddles, a passion for needlepoint.
Among the many things Jen Leifheit-Little of A Little Baked Bakery in Ellijay inherited from her mother, Mary Leifheit Colson, is the belief that the gift of a batch of cookies is the best possible random act of kindness.
Until she was 7, Leifheit-Little lived in Yorkville, Illinois, where her parents met and her mom had grown up on a farm outside the town. “They had pigs and chickens and we always had fresh eggs. Fresh eggs are so important to me that I still get my eggs from Gary Johnson, a local farmer, rather than the grocery store.”
Credit: Lauren Kress
Credit: Lauren Kress
Both Elymas Olson, who raised Leifheit-Little’s mother and was called “Gramma,” and Elizabeth Leifheit, her paternal grandmother, lived in Yorkville and both were bakers. “Gramma Olson made cakes, cookies, jams and jellies. Gramma Leifheit was a pie baker. Cookies were my mom’s thing.”
Each year, the middle of October launched what the family called “cookie season.”
“This was back in the day when you could give out homemade treats for Halloween. We gave out popcorn balls and cookies we made at home. My earliest memory is of helping Gramma and mom make those popcorn balls. Eventually I graduated to helping with the cookies. Every fall, mom would make a batch of sugar cookie dough, roll it out, cut out leaf-shaped cookies, bake and then paint them. I was given the task of ‘sugar sprinkler.’ At Christmas, she would make more sugar cookies and I decorated some with my brothers, Jonathan and Jeremy. Those were the ones we got to eat. She’d decorate the rest and those were the ones pretty enough to give out as gifts.”
As she grew older, Leifheit-Little grew to be more skilled, learning the importance of having ingredients at room temperature and the best way to roll out cookie dough. She uses her mother’s rolling pin to this day.
The family left Illinois for Iowa and then ultimately arrived in Cedartown, Georgia, in 1979.
Credit: Lauren Liz Photo
Credit: Lauren Liz Photo
“When we moved to Georgia, making cookies became a kind of therapy for our family. If you feel badly, do something good for someone else. Make them some cookies. If you’re having a bad day, make some cookies. After all, how can you feel bad when you’re eating a warm chocolate chip cookie?”
Her mother’s belief that cookies could help when someone was having a hard time, needed encouragement or some kind of love is so ingrained in Leifheit-Little that even now, if someone is facing a difficulty or tragedy, she makes sure she gets fresh-baked cookies to them as quickly as possible.
Her mother’s death in 2016 was a test of the power of baking. “I couldn’t snap out of my sadness until finally I knew I had to get out of bed. I started baking cookies again and giving them away, mostly to colleagues at Kennesaw State University. Then people started asking for them and I thought maybe it would be a good idea to charge for the cookies. Then people wanted to know if I could make them a pie. I got out Gramma Leifheit’s pie crust recipe and started making pies. Then cakes.”
Credit: Jen Leitheit-Little
Credit: Jen Leitheit-Little
By 2018 she had licensed A Little Baked Bakery and opened an online store. The response was overwhelming, and Leifheit-Little, who was associate director of video production at KSU, found herself working there all day, then coming home to bake until 1 or 2 in the morning.
The next year, she, husband Tres Little and daughter Gigi moved to Ellijay. She began selling her baked treats at pop-ups and the Ellijay Farmers Market as well as online. Soon she’ll be opening a bakery in downtown Ellijay in space being developed in a building at 29 North Ave.
Credit: Jen Leitheit-Little
Credit: Jen Leitheit-Little
The love of baking is still being passed down from mother to daughter. Gigi satisfies her artistic side by helping decorate her mother’s cookies, and when she wants a batch of cookies for a band event, she’s the one making the cookies. “I am there to help but she feels really good about taking her cookies to band and saying, ‘I made these.’”
RECIPES
Jen Leifheit-Little of A Little Baked Bakery in Ellijay offers three recipes that are twists on baking she learned from her mother and grandmothers.
Credit: Jen Little
Credit: Jen Little
Pistachio Lemon Cookies
These lemon-scented sugar cookies are a variation of the cookies Jen Leifheit-Little learned to bake with her mom. With a large proportion of cornstarch in the dough, they make very tender cookies.
The dough is delicate and a bit sticky, so take care when rolling, or add a bit more flour to make a less sticky dough. These cookies also puff up quite a bit when baking, so leave plenty of room between them on the baking sheet.
— All recipes adapted from ones provided by Jen Leifheit-Little of A Little Baked Bakery.
Credit: handout
Credit: handout
Marmalade Coffee Cake
This coffee cake resembles a mashup between moist cake and citrus-flavored macaroons. If you’re a fan of sweet, chewy coconut macaroons, this is the coffee cake for you. Leifheit-Little makes the coffee cake with shortening because that’s what her grandmother did.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Rosemary and Dark Chocolate Olive Oil Bread
The use of olive oil in this batter plus the chopped rosemary turns this loaf into a sweet but savory cake perfect for snacking. We used chocolate chunks when testing the recipe. The use of parchment paper to line the loaf pan allows the cake to cook through without overcooking the sides.
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