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Freedom Feature: Timothy & Lisa Mourer “The Happy Mixer”

October 19, 2017 by Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine 32 Comments

Connecting the celiac disease and food allergy/intolerance community together by sharing our stories to food freedom. From our beginning struggles to striving after a diagnosis, we can all relate and help each other out by sharing what we’ve learned and our unique personal journeys.

The Freedom Feature | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Sharing our stories to food allergy freedom

We are back with this month’s Freedom Feature and I am so excited to share this one with you! We have Timothy and his wife Lisa from The Happy Mixer, a fantastic (sorta local to me; over the boarder in PA!) gluten-fee bakery! They JUST expanded and opened some new location this month, so it has been a whirlwind for them, but they were still more than happy to share their story with you. They will always be hosting a giveaway for you gluten-free foodies to receive a package of their delicious goodies! Without further ado, here is Timothy answering questions about The Happy Mixer!

Freedom Feature: Timothy and Lisa Mourer "The Happy Mixer" | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Connecting the celiac disease and food allergy/intolerance community together by sharing our stories to food freedom. #glutenfree

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tell us a little bit about you and your background.

I acquired an interest for baking as a child helping my mom bake at home in the kitchen. In college, I got a job as a cleaner after hours at a local bakery. Every night I went in after hours to deep clean the entire store. It definitely was hard work, but it just pushed me to work harder, and eventually I worked my way up the ladder and ended up becoming the owner of a new location of their bakery. When I found out I needed to be gluten-free in 2009, the idea of a “Gluten Free Bakery” became a goal of mine. In 2012, I sold my traditional bakery back to the family I grew up working for. I then spent the next year and a half testing hundreds of recipes, and finally perfected a deliciously gluten-free line of baked goods. Finally, in December of 2013, we opened “The Happy Mixer”!

tell us more about your gluten-free journey leading to the creation of The Happy Mixer.

In my mid twenties, I constantly felt exhausted and my immune system was very poor. I finally decided to see a nutritionist to see what was going on, and she told me that I had a sensitivity to gluten. It was such a shock and hard to manage at first. Pretty much everything I ate was full of gluten, especially all the items at the bakery I owned at the time. I missed being able to eat all of the delicious baked goods I was used to, so I decided I wanted to open a gluten free bakery. I wanted to create a place where people could come and get the traditional bakery experience, but make them safe for people with gluten issues.

Freedom Feature: Timothy and Lisa Mourer "The Happy Mixer" | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Connecting the celiac disease and food allergy/intolerance community together by sharing our stories to food freedom. #glutenfree

what’s the background of The Happy Mixer? what’s your mission?

We are The Happy Mixer! The Happy Mixer is my wife, featured in the logo.  While testing recipes, she was always eager to help!  With little baking experience, she chose to stay in her comfort zone, which apparently was mixing the dry ingredients I had already scaled up.  She would smile ear to ear while she whisked those dry ingredients into the perfect blend!  I would playfully call her my “Happy Mixer”! When it came time to give the bakery a name, I knew it had to be The Happy Mixer.  Seeing her smile in the logo is always a reminder to me of just how much we love what we do, and what baking is truly all about…Family, Friends, and Fun! Our mission is to provide people with the traditional bakery experience, in a totally safe, gluten free environment. All of our products are 100% gluten-free and delicious!

how are your products made? what safety precautions do you take?

All of our products are 100% gluten free. We do not allow any gluten in the facility, and that includes employees’ food/snacks as well. We take all necessary precautions to prevent any sort of cross-contamination, and the best way to do that is to prohibit gluten from the building. Our delicious line of goodies include a wide variety of items, such as donuts, muffins, cookies, cakes, brownies, pies, and even breads! We are very accommodating with other allergies/sensitivities as well, and have many items that are dairy, egg, and/or soy free. We even have several vegan options as well!

Freedom Feature: Timothy and Lisa Mourer "The Happy Mixer" | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Connecting the celiac disease and food allergy/intolerance community together by sharing our stories to food freedom. #glutenfree

what does a day-in-the-life look like at the bakery?

A day in the life of the bakery starts bright and early at 3am. We come in and bake everything from scratch each day. Once our doors open at 7, customers are greeted with the scent of freshly baked breads, warm chocolate chip cookies, and bright smiles from our employees. We always make sure our products are fresh and tasty, and refill the case throughout the day. We are open 7 days a week year round, closing for just a couple days per year.

you recently expanded with new locations! you must be so proud of that! tell us a little about that process and decision.

We are so proud of our new locations! We just had a soft opening at our New Hope location, and Newtown will be opening very soon. Our New Hope shop is located in Ferry Market, on Main Street. We have a stand inside and offer pre-packaged items baked fresh in our Chalfont location. This ensures all of the items are baked and packaged in a 100% gluten free environment. Our Newtown location will be a full store where we bake on premises, like our Chalfont location. We have come such a long way in the nearly four years we’ve been open. We decided that we wanted to expand and bring our delicious treats to even more of the gluten free community! We felt Newtown and New Hope were perfect locations to set up new shops. The process of opening new locations is very intense and can be quite overwhelming at times. It will all be worth it though when we see the smiles in our beautiful new shops. Seeing how excited our customers get over our products is the ultimate reward!

what are your top selling products and fan favorites?

All of our customers have their favorites, but we definitely have some best sellers. One would be our peanut butter delight. It is our moist vanilla cake, with a layer of our creamy peanut butter, and a smooth layer of chocolate on top. It is a chocolate and peanut butter lover’s dream come true! Another best seller would be our kiffles. They are a flaky pastry dough cookie hand rolled by our bakers and filled with premium jams. They come in either raspberry, apricot, or strawberry flavors. Once you take a bite of one, you won’t be able to stop eating them, they are literally addictive! Finally, our donuts are truly a fan favorite. We offer them in a variety of flavors, such as cinnamon crumb, chocolate iced, vanilla iced, jelly, and my personal favorite, cream filled. We take a donut, cut it down the middle, and fill it with our rich vanilla cream. We then toss it in fluffy powdered sugar. It is impossible to take a bite without cream inside, exactly the way it should be!

Freedom Feature: Timothy and Lisa Mourer "The Happy Mixer" | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Connecting the celiac disease and food allergy/intolerance community together by sharing our stories to food freedom. #glutenfree

what’s the most difficult thing about running a gluten-free business? the most rewarding?

I think the hardest thing about owning a gluten free business would be attracting people who do not have issues with gluten and overcoming the expensive ingredients. Expensive ingredients lead to naturally higher prices than a traditional bakery, which makes it difficult to compete. The main ingredient, gluten free flour, can cost up to 8x as much as traditional flour. There is also a stigma surrounding food labeled “gluten free” and when we first opened, we struggled to attract non-gluten free people. As we became more well known, they tried our products and loved them! The most rewarding thing about running a gluten free bakery is just seeing the impact it has on people’s lives. Little kids who never had a real gluten free birthday cake before, or a woman who hasn’t had a donut in over 10 years; those happy faces and touching stories are what makes owning the bakery so rewarding.

what are your hopes for the future? for The Happy Mixer and the gluten-free/food allergy community as a whole?

I have many hopes for the future. The biggest one is to continue to bring our safe and delicious treats to those who need it most. Right now, we are focused on opening our Newtown location and increasing awareness about both of our new shops. As for the gluten free/food allergy community, I’d like to see people have more knowledge of celiac disease/gluten sensitivities, and the gluten free lifestyle in general. It is so important for people, especially restaurant/food business owners that serve gluten free options, to understand what gluten is and how it affects the body of someone who has an issue with it. With many businesses trying to accommodate gluten free requests, cross-contamination is still a big issue. Hopefully, awareness and respect for the gluten free community will continue to rise.

what advice would you give someone wanting to start their own gluten-free business/bakery?

If I were to give advice to someone wanting to start their own gluten free business/bakery, I would give them the same advice I would give anyone wanting to open their own business. Owning your own business can be a big undertaking, but sharing something you are passionate about with others is truly an irreplaceable feeling!


Now for the giveaway! The Happy Mixer will send one of you lucky readers a shipment of over $50 of their gluten-free goodies! To enter, use the Rafflecopter widget below. US addresses only please! I will notify the winner 1 week from today (October 26th)!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to follow along with Timothy and Lisa at The Happy Mixer on their website and Facebook! Thank you, Timothy and Lisa! I am so excited to follow along on your expanding business and journey of gluten-free goodness!

So tell me:

+ What Happy Mixer products do you want to try?

———————————————-

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Filed Under: Freedom Feature Tagged With: Baked Goods, Celiac, Celiac Disease, Food Allergies, Freedom Feature, Giveaway, Gluten-Free, Gluten-Free Living, Lisa Mourer, The Happy Mixer, Timothy Mourer, Wheat-Free

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Comments

  1. darla says

    October 25, 2017 at 11:07 pm

    the kiffles look great

    Reply
  2. amanda whitley says

    October 25, 2017 at 7:19 pm

    i have my eyes on the Chocolate Cupcakes with Espresso Icing

    Reply
  3. Kimmy Ripley says

    October 25, 2017 at 4:05 pm

    Yummy yummy in the tummy… those vegan treats look fabulous!

    Reply
  4. Stephanie Grant says

    October 25, 2017 at 3:38 pm

    I really want to try their Peanut Butter Delights.

    Reply
  5. Chloe says

    October 22, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    The peanut butter would be my first choice

    Reply
  6. Elise Cohen Ho says

    October 22, 2017 at 1:21 pm

    The PB and Chocolate sounds divine. I would love to win this contest and have some fun new goodies at our Thanksgiving feast that my nephew could enjoy. Maybe if I win o I will really surprise him and send the entire gift to his house. That woudl be really cool. Anyway, the bakery sounds great and I certainly understand the struggle of getting people over the stigma and also battling those prices.

    Reply
  7. Annette says

    October 22, 2017 at 4:58 am

    I’d like to try the Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Icing.

    Reply
  8. Stephanie G says

    October 20, 2017 at 11:24 pm

    I live for Peanut Butter and chocolate

    Reply
  9. linda says

    October 20, 2017 at 4:39 pm

    I really really love peanut butter!

    Reply
  10. D at The Practice of Living as we Intend podcast says

    October 20, 2017 at 12:55 pm

    As a fellow entrepreneur, I can resonate with the heart and soul (and often blood, sweat and tears) in owning a business. What a joy that they are sharing their passion, gifts and talents with others and also teaching at the same time. Love Love Love this! All the best as your business grows Timothy and Lisa! Cheers! xo~ D

    Reply
  11. Jessica Gipson says

    October 20, 2017 at 12:17 pm

    I have my eye on the peanut butter brownie, YUM!

    Reply
  12. Carrie says

    October 20, 2017 at 10:54 am

    Love the picture of the cookies. I have never tried gluten free but have friends who have issues with gluten. Great article! Will link to my Fb page

    Reply
  13. julie says

    October 20, 2017 at 9:57 am

    i love the peanut butter so that would be the first one that i try

    Reply
  14. Sert says

    October 20, 2017 at 9:22 am

    the vegan mint cookies look so good!

    Reply
  15. Olivia says

    October 20, 2017 at 7:39 am

    I would love to try everything, especially the doughnuts. It’s been 10 years for me.

    Reply
  16. Christina A. says

    October 20, 2017 at 2:35 am

    The Vegan Mint Sandwich Cookies look heavenly!

    Reply
  17. Casey the College Celiac says

    October 19, 2017 at 11:36 pm

    They’re pumpkin muffins look AMAZING on their Facebook page! So fluffy!!

    Reply
  18. Ruksana says

    October 19, 2017 at 10:54 pm

    What a great story, thanks for sharing. Cant take my eyes off the tower stack 🙂

    Reply
  19. Sarah says

    October 19, 2017 at 10:07 pm

    Any entrepreneur story is so inspiring. I love the fresh concept of a gluten free bakery. The sweets look delicious. What a great concept.

    Reply
  20. Rachel says

    October 19, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    I have my eye on the Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Sandwich Cookies.

    Reply
  21. Jen says

    October 19, 2017 at 6:17 pm

    The Cream Cheese Brownie sounds divine! I love these gluten-free options and wish we had a bakery like this in my town. I really enjoyed this post!

    Reply
  22. Will G says

    October 19, 2017 at 4:38 pm

    The Carrot Cake Loaf with Cream Cheese Frosting sounds awesome!

    Reply
  23. Corey | The Nostalgia Diaries says

    October 19, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    I’ve found that gluten-free recipes are often even better than their gluten-laden friends 🙂 Love this idea for the bakery, and I especially love his wife is in the logo 🙂

    Reply
  24. Jenna Urben says

    October 19, 2017 at 11:39 am

    Awesome! I would love to try their Vegan Mint Sandwich Cookies 🙂

    Reply
  25. Bianca says

    October 19, 2017 at 10:45 am

    Everything just looks delectable, and the fact that they’re gluten free is amazing.

    Reply
  26. Sarah Althouse says

    October 19, 2017 at 10:45 am

    I don’t have to eat gluten free but what an awesome bakery for people whod o!!

    Reply
  27. Shannon says

    October 19, 2017 at 10:44 am

    Thanks for sharing – these all look super yummy! I definitely have my eye on the cookies and brownies. I have such a sweet tooth! These items look super yummy it’s great to have gluten-free options that taste just as good.

    Reply
  28. Stacey Roberson says

    October 19, 2017 at 10:24 am

    The Cream Cheese Brownie and Pumpkin Loaf with Cream Cheese Icing both look really good.

    Reply
  29. Katie says

    October 19, 2017 at 8:34 am

    Thank you for sharing Rebbecca, Timothy & Lisa! I wish we had gluten-free bakeries where I lived. I’ve often dreamed of opening my own, but it sounds like too much work! Haha! Wishing you all the best with your new shops 🙂

    Reply
    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      October 19, 2017 at 10:40 am

      Me dreams too 😉

      Reply
  30. Lynn Woods says

    October 19, 2017 at 8:00 am

    I’m going to be honest…I’m surprised these look so yummy! Definitely want to try these!

    Reply
    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      October 19, 2017 at 10:40 am

      Why?

      Reply

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Hey there, welcome to Strength and Sunshine! I’m Rebecca and I'm so glad you're here! This is your go-to destination for delicious, fun, and (mostly) healthy gluten-free and allergy-free recipes, tips & tricks, advice, as well as celiac and food allergy coaching services!


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Hey there, welcome to Strength and Sunshine! I’m Rebecca and I’m so glad you’re here! This is your go-to destination for delicious, fun, and (mostly) healthy gluten-free and allergy-free recipes, tips & tricks, advice, as well as celiac and food allergy coaching services!

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