How it started

As a nutrition major at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, I had learned the health risks of consuming excess sugar. I had also observed that most people (including myself) weren’t going to give up dessert. To balance my dream of having a bakery with my desire to help people find improved health, I chose a unique Honors Thesis— to create a cookbook for healthier baked goods made with beans. Thus the Hidden Bean Cookbook was born.

Thus, I spent a memorable senior year researching the science of beans and experimenting with favorite family recipes to incorporate beans, typically substituting beans for some combination of flour, eggs, and oil. Many recipes morphed into being gluten-free, dairy-free, or vegan, and though this was not the original intent, I found a passion for providing delicious alternatives for people with dietary restrictions.

Following college, I moved to Boston and became a Registered Dietitian, beginning my career working with patients in the hospital. But the bean baking continued. I would spend my free time creating more recipes and bringing them to friends and coworkers for feedback.

Then, because I’d always dreamed of living on a farm in Vermont, I soon found myself leaving the hospital to do just that. I spent a year and a half farming and baking at Earth Sky Time (if you ever find yourself near Manchester, Vermont- go visit and try their amazing bread, hummus, veggies, etc!). Aside from feeding a big farm crew anytime I wanted to bake, I started selling bean treats at some of their summer concerts. This showed me I had a market for bean cakes, bean cookies, whoopie pies, etc… and was really the gateway between my Boston dietitian life and my life as a local bean baker for the Brattleboro area.

While it’s not a full-fledged farm (yet), I now live on a homestead in Guilford, VT and bake in a sunny commercial kitchen that my partner and I converted from a 2-season porch. I have a big garden for some ingredients (organically grown veggies for quiche, zucchini for breads, pumpkin and berries for breads and pies, et), and 13 happy chickens for eggs. I continue developing original recipes with beans, now all gluten-free and dairy-free (and mostly vegan). All goodies are made with the not-so-secret ingredients of love and happiness. Enjoy!

-Kelsey Baumgarten, Hidden Bean Bakeshop