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Heidi Keel does not consider herself a health nut. She simply wants people to feel better. She started making alternative baked goods for her family and discovered a market for cookies and bread made without wheat flower. From there she spotted an opportunity and is launching a niche product line business.
Keel’s Simply Goodness cookies and breads are available at select supermarkets. She makes appearances at public markets selling gluten-free cookies, brownies and bread, and will bake special orders for customers.
Renting kitchen space from Bare Essentials Café, Keel is operating a business within a business. Although the two are not related, she does display some of her products on the café counter.
With a culinary education and matching background, Keel found herself faced with having a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old, both with gluten intolerances. “I had to put them on a gluten-free diet,” she said. “When I did that, their behavior completely turned around. The hyper-activity went from way up here to manageable.”
Keel said that once she wanted to get her children accustomed to a gluten-free diet, the challenge was coming up with things they would eat.
With research, experimentation and trial and error, she was able to produce goods that her children accepted. The more she learned about people with dietary restrictions, the more she decided there was a market for her products.
“It took seven years to figure it out,” Keel said. “I use a white rice flour, brown rice flour and garbanzo bean flour. I mix all that up and have a few secret ingredients in there.”
This health-oriented baker said the problem most people have with alternative goods is related to texture. She contends she has found ways to make her products less gritty and more appealing to the consumer.
“When I first started, everything was hard and sandy because of the brown rice,” Keel said. “What you are taking out is the gluten and that is what gives that spongy texture in bread dough. So you have to add the garbanzo bean and white rice flour in just the right amounts to mimic wheat. My goal has been to make products that the kids would eat that are good for them.”
Keel said successful alternative baking means doing little things like adding applesauce to cakes to add moistness.
“Some people don’t want wheat flour,” Keel said. “Some people don’t want tapioca starch. They just want brown rice flour.”
Keel bakes on average 25 hours a week, puts in another 15 hours researching and testing recipes, and then has to market her goods.
Keel said many digestive and anxiety problems are gluten-related. “A lot of people find if they cut the gluten out, they can get off of medications,” she said. “There are a lot of benefits.”
Cookies with organic brown rice and organic oatmeal lead Keel’s product line. Herbs are used to reduce sugar glucose factors. Gluten-free bread made by Keel, she boasts, is similar to regular bread. She is also experimenting with artesian breads.
Keel’s products carry a premium price, but her client base is willing to pay for the highest gluten-free quality available. She said they feel better because of it.
Heidi Keel demonstrates that she can make cookies, breads and other treats that are healthy, satisfying and possess taste appeal. She sells her Simply Goodness cookies through area grocery stores and hopes someday to launch a major commercial product line.
