Harriet Willis, the owner of Hattie’s Bread Box Bakery in Mechanicsburg, is turning her passion into a profitable business, one sourdough loaf at a time.

‍

In an interview with The Spark, Harriet shared her recipe and techniques for sourdough bread, along with her story of starting her own micro-bakery in the wake of the global pandemic.

‍

‍

“The pandemic came along and I thought, why buy bread? I think I’ll just make bread, and from there I started to bake sourdough and I found that I really loved doing it.” Harriet said.

‍

“I think people wanted something that was comforting, and people realized that jobs weren’t necessarily that secure. I think people then look into their values, and what they really want to do. I decided I wanted to do something I was passionate about.” Said Harriet when asked about the rising trend of home bakers during lockdown.

‍

‍

It took Harriet about 18 months to open Hattie’s Bread Box Bakery, transforming her garage into her micro-bakery, collecting equipment and bakeware from secondhand shops. She spends her days baking while customers order from her online, and pick up their delicious loaves right in front of her house. In front of her garage is a fully insulated pickup station, like a bread box, hence the name.

‍

It wasn’t until she ordered her Simply Bread Oven that she was able to scale her business, and bake the sourdough bread she wanted. 

‍

“One of the things that’s unique about this oven is its extensive steam injection and stone decks. So all of the heat is in the stones and the chamber itself is really well sealed. This is the only bread oven of this size, a small micro-bakery oven, that’s made in the U.S.,” said Harriet.

‍

‍

Harriet, along with 23 other bakers, believed in the business and put deposits down, buying into Simply Bread. 

‍

Hattie’s Bread Box Bakery launched on October 1st 2022, with her bread selling out in less than 3 hours. Since her launch, Harriet hopes to reach her goal of 300 loaves a week.

‍