SANTA ROSA BEACH — Gwynn Baker does what some would consider impossible: She makes gluten-free and vegan baked goods that rival items made with wheat, eggs and butter.
Baker’s business, La Loba’s Bakery, serves an assortment of specialty diet items made fresh daily.
Baker, who previously worked as a dietician and in various jobs in the restaurant business, has been making granola and whole-grain bread as a business in Santa Rosa Beach since the 1990s.
“We’ve evolved to what we are now based on what the local clientele has asked for,” she said.
The business originally started in the lower floor of her and her husband Alan Armer’s duplex on Sugar Drive, where they mostly sold wholesale.
Following that, La Loba’s moved to various locations in Santa Rosa Beach and Freeport before settling in its current home in the Blue Mountain Beach High Point shopping center four years ago.
The bakery’s menu has expanded to include several granolas, cookies, scones, cakes, muffins, brownies and takeout lunches.
Baker said the store has always focused on using all-natural and organic ingredients. She buys the ingredients locally, which she said sets La Loba’s apart.
“Other than being all-natural organic products, our claim to fame is that we make everything home-made and fresh from scratch every day; no mixes for anything,” Baker said.
La Loba’s menu features three granolas, including a gluten-free granola, which it also sells and ships on its website at www.lalobasbakery.com.
The bakery serves nothing with artificial colors or preservatives, hydrogenated fats, high fructose corn syrup or ingredients Baker considers to be chemical or non-food substances.
Aside from the sweet treats, the bakery also offers carryout lunches such as organic beans with brown basmati rice, beans and rice with steamed greens, steamed organic greens and salads.
Desserts include cream cheese brownies, cinnamon rolls with creamy vanilla frosting and toasted pecans, banana chocolate chip bread, chocolate puddle cookies, key lime pie and round layer cakes.
Baker said she is sensitive to food allergies and the need for gluten-free products. Although she said she is not certified to be gluten-free, her customers have not had any problems, including those highly allergic to gluten.
She added that many of the gluten-free items are also vegan, soy-free and nut-free.
“Developing the gluten-free recipes was an interesting experience,” she said. “There really are a lot of people that need this stuff.”
Baker said she and her daughter experimented with the recipes for about a year. Baker’s grandchild requires gluten-free food, so she said her daughter was instrumental in the development.