Hill Country Bakeries

In the springtime, the Texas Hill Country is rich with the perfume of multicolored wildflowers. When the warm days of summer arrive, nothing smells sweeter than the suntan oil and outdoor barbecue aromas which fill city parks and neighborhood backyards. By fall, the scents of the Hill Country have changed to smoky campfires, the tang of ripening fruit, and coffee brewed in Friday night football concession stands.

But on cool winter days, there’s no smell like homemade baked goods. The heady smells of yeast-laden dough rising into warm loaves of rye, pumpernickel, French and wheat bread fill the chilly air evoking cozy though of friends, family, and home. It’s a time when every child’s “visions of sugarplums,” not to mention strudel and springerle come true.

Fortunately for residents and visitors of the Hill Country, there are many bakeries ready to supply fresh-out-of-the-oven goodies using recipes which have been carefully handed down from generation to generation.

Round Rock Donuts

One of the best of the Hill County bakeries is the Lone Star Bakery, located in the town of Round Rock, best known as the place where outlaw Sam Bass allegedly his some of his treasure and ultimately met his death in a shootout. If there is a hidden treasure in this town, it lies at 106 W. Liberty, where Jan and Dale Cohrs began work while most of the population is still fast asleep. The bakery, which has been in operation since 1924, is best known for its doughnuts, an egg base creation made from scratch and deep fried. These Round Rock doughnuts were named “best doughnuts in Texas” by Texas Monthly in 1976 and 1983, and it is not a praise given without good reason. The doughnuts are large and heavy, a rich amber color and drizzled with a heavenly glaze of melted sugar.

The doughnut may be the Lone Star Bakery’s main draw, but it’s certainly not their only product. Equally as luscious are the sweet rolls and kolaches, as well as the Swedish rye bread. A variety of pies, Including pumpkin, cherry and peach are made daily. One of the bakery’s most popular cookies is the tea cake “just like grandma used to make.” This same tea cake recipe is also used by the Cohrs for Christmas sugar cookies. Most of the bakery’s products are based on simple recipes, like homemade food. “We’re looking for consistent quality,” says Dale Cohrs, who along with his wife Jan, does much of the actual baking.

“We wanted to come back home,” says Dale about his return to Texas after owning two bakeries in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “We like the Hill Country.”

As you might expect, winter is their busiest time of the year, as they make extra of the usual fare and begin production of some Christmas specialties. Coffee cake, hand-cut Christmas, cookies, pumpkin bread and rum pound cake are holiday favorites with the locals, so much so that often on Christmas Eve people are lined up out the door!

Fredericksburg Bakery

At about the same time the Cohrs were buying the Lone Star Bakery, eighty miles down the road Michael and Patsy Penick were acquiring the Fredericksburg Bakery, which has been in existence since 1917. The two-story stone building took its place at 141 E Main Street in 1889 when it was built by Louis Pries. Priess operated it as a feed and general merchandise store until 1917. That’s when the Stuckey family converted it to a bakery and began producing a wide variety of German baked goods. When the Penicks took over the operation an extensive remodeling of the structure was done, revealing the wooden floor and interior stone walls. Today the building stands preserved as one of the most charming of Fredericksburg’s businesses. Antique quilts and period tables and chairs take visitors back to the days of early Fredericksburg.

The selection of goods is enormous here; the indecisive could spend hours looking through the glass cases at row after row of apple strudel coffeecake, doughnuts, éclairs, turnovers, and other mouth watering delights. One of Fredericksburg Bakery’s best sellers is the Sweet German Pretzel, featuring twisted apple turnover dough with praline filling baked in the shape of a pretzel.

Besides the huge assortment of sweet goods, the bakery also makes several varieties of breads fresh daily. “Oldtimers of Fredericksburg and tourists buy our bread,” says Michael Penick. One look at the bakery cases and visitors wonder why they ever bought the mass-produced breads of the grocery stores. Pumpernickel, whole wheat, rye, white and French loaves are all best sellers, along with one of the newest additions to the bakery’s fare, the six-grain bread. This is an all natural bread, with no sugar or shortening added. Compared to conventional loaves, which weigh about a pound, this bread weighs in at two pounds per loaf. The bakery also offers German sausage links wrapped in either pumpernickel or white bread, the perfect answer to breakfast on the run.

At Christmas, demand runs toward sweet goods, and the Fredericksburg Bakery adds several items to satisfy any sweet tooth. The German pfeffemuss cookie, a spicy pepper cookie, is popular, along with the licoricey anise cookie (Michael’s personal favorite); fruit cakes and date cakes. Around Christmas, the Penicks also add color to some of the usual items with cherries and other goodies.

Dietz Bakery, Fredericksburg

Down the street from the Penick’s Fredericksburg Bakery is the Dietz Bakery, owned by Michael Penick’s former schoolmate Don Dietz and his wife Marcia. The Dietz Bakery has been baking bread for Fredericks burg’s residents since the early 1920’s, when Don Dietz grandfather’s brother-in-law owned the establishment. Dietz’ grandfather bought the business soon after, and eventually the bakery was passed down to his father and then to Don. Indeed, Don is accustomed to the difficult hours a baker maintains; he began wrapping bread in the store at the age of eight.

To this day, that bread is still the biggest attraction of Dietz’. The attractive storefront, filled with country kitchen accessories and antique display cases, is permeated with the heavenly scents of bread warm from the oven. “We are a bread bakery primarily,” says Marcia Dietz, “but we make a delicious fruit cake.” Don bakes five kinds of bread daily, all made without preservatives. White, rye, pumpernickel, whole wheat and French are available, with white bread being the biggest seller.

In addition to the breads, Dietz Bakery produces doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, sand tarts and fruit cakes, their Christmas specialty.

Naegelin's Bakery, New Braunfels

Another favorite Hill Country bakery is Naegelin’s Bakery in New Braunfels, owned by Wilburn Granzin. Naegelin’s has operated on the same spot since 1868. The original building is gone now, replaced by the current structure in 1942. The store’s specialty is apple strudel, a two-foot long creation that is certain to make any pastry lover’s mouth water. The bakery makes several dozen of the strudels daily, and seem to always have requests for more.

To much of the world, Christmas means a time of family get-togethers, shared meals and exchanged presents. Fortunately for Hill Country residents and lucky visitors, these pleasures are made even more special by the addition of holiday treats, fresh from the ovens of bakeries like these.