Apple Annie’s Bake Shop at 837 S. Kerr Ave. has doubled its recipe.

In a project that took many months to complete, the bakery has now expanded into adjacent space and renovated the additional square footage to make its operations both broader and more efficient, according to spokeswoman Krissy Mingia.
 
The addition “gives us more space for products and a dedicated wedding consultation area, which we have not had before, where families can come in and do a tasting,” she said. Shelves and display cases for baked goods and confections run the expanded width of the shop.
 
Not only can Apple Annie’s now serve local customers better, but it can strengthen its shipping capabilities to customers elsewhere, according to Mingia.
 
“We have a new deep freeze, expanding significantly on what we can ship. We’ve refined our prototype and custom-designed our [shipping] packaging,” she added.
 
Prior to the pandemic, Apple Annie’s owner Rob Cooley was looking at ways to ship some of his sweet treats across the country, but COVID-related restrictions made a business-model pivot necessary, he said last fall.
 
Over the past two years, the Apple Annie’s staff has done testing to see what products freeze and ship best and in what sorts of containers. They have replicated shipping times and conditions and used digital thermometers to make sure the pastries were at their optimal temperatures when they were “delivered.”
 
“We have cheesecakes and birthday cakes that can be shipped across the country,” Mingia said.
 
The new space has upped the Annie in terms of the bakery’s offerings to area restaurants.
 
“We do a ton of commercial baking and now we can expand what we offer,” Mingia said. “We have a great new break room where employees can get off their feet. And now we have three doors [into the retail space], which is great for people picking up pre-paid holiday orders.”
 
Mingia said the remodeling work, done by Pine Valley Construction, was complex because many of the furnishings, like the cases, were custom made and some of the materials were in limited supply.
 
Apple Annie’s has a second location in The Forum on Military Cutoff Road.