Sweet Treats for Summertime

Three NoMi shops serving up drool-worthy confections

By Alexandra Dailey | Aug. 12, 2023

We all scream for ice cream, fall in line for fudge, and even queue up for chocolate (we see you, Kilwins), but we are also quite barmy for baked goods. Cookies, donuts, European pastries—we love them all. So in the spirit of our Ingredients Issue, here are three bakeries whose delicious delectables are tempting our taste buds.

Le Macaron – Traverse City

A family-owned franchise, Le Macaron in Traverse City opened this spring as one of more than 55 locations belonging to Le Macaron French Pastries, a company that aims to provide an authentic taste of France. Franchisees Will and Bobbi Blanton are passionate about providing the local community with European goodies such as eclairs, napoleons, fine chocolates, and of course, macarons of all flavors. Their French chefs use natural flavors, make their macarons gluten free, and pride themselves on freshness and quality. Le Macaron Traverse City manager Kendra Stuck shared some additional insight into the popular francophile bakery.

What’s the bestselling treat on your menu?
The main feature of our menu is our signature, handmade, authentic French macarons. We handcraft these delicacies using only the finest ingredients and without any preservatives. … The first bite is a surprise that most Americans have never tasted before. The second bite is the flavor. The third bite is the pleasure…all adding up to create a mouthful of heaven!

What’s a creative menu item that more folks should try?
Black currants, aka cassis, usually found in Europe and Asia, are dark purple or black and have a glossy sheen. Our blue gluten- and dairy-free cassis macaron’s main ingredients are confectioners sugar, almonds, egg whites, black currant, pectin, and tartar cream. If you’re a fan of blackberry jam, look no further!

Tell us about something special your store does.
We’ll host your perfect party at our shop! Parties and events include but are not limited to children’s birthdays, graduation, anniversaries, tea parties, company celebrations, fundraising events, weddings, and baby showers, just to name a few. Our friendly staff is prepped and ready to help you pull off a great event. We offer catering and special orders for any size of event, private or come one and all.

What’s a fun fact that will blow our mind?
Our head chef, Didier Saba, makes 20,000 to 22,000 macarons a day and manages his team of 22 pastry chefs at the confectionery who help him.

lemacarontc.com // 332 E. Front Street, Traverse City

Jojo’s Cookie Co. – Petoskey

“Smiles from Scratch” is the goal of Jojo’s Cookie Co., owned and operated by Jordyn and Colin Wilson. What began as a pandemic baking hobby for Jordyn quickly morphed into a cookie-making business in 2021. At first, the couple ran the business out of their Saginaw home kitchen, but in 2022, her baked goods with crisp, golden edges and gooey, underbaked centers found a Petoskey-based home. And due to their business’ growth, the Wilsons have just announced the opening of their Traverse City location. With her passion and creativity for cookies, Jordyn is constantly developing new featured monthly flavors and providing northern Michigan with sweet treats made from scratch with love.

What’s the bestselling treat on your menu?
Chocolate Chip is the best selling [cookie]—it’s a classic, and you can’t go wrong! When buying for others, it’s always the easy option.

What’s a creative menu item that more folks should try?
An unusual menu flavor is Kitchen Sink, which includes caramel and chocolate chips in the dough, then is topped with potato chips and pretzels. It’s the best combination of salty and sweet! 

What’s something special your store does?
We cater all [kinds of] events and ship nationwide. We also handle corporate gifting.

What’s a fun fact/number that will blow our mind?
We put approximately 17,000 chocolate chips in one batch of dough! 

jojoscookiecompany.com // 2611 Charlevoix Avenue, Petoskey; 113 Park St., Traverse City

Barb’s Bakery of Northport – Northport

A popular morning meet-up spot and home to good old-fashioned donuts, Barb’s Bakery has been a staple of the Northport community for decades, and now, it’s under new management. In the summer of 2021, Margo and David Millard purchased the bakery from Barb and Jerry Holcomb in order to keep the bakery’s small-town tradition alive and operating for locals and tourists alike. Having grown up in Northport, David felt a special connection to the establishment, so when it came up for sale, he and Margo made the jump into the realm of business owners. David, Margo, and David’s brother Tyler (who serves as head baker) all closely trained with Barb to maintain the bakery’s integrity. This month marks the Millards’ second anniversary of owning Barb’s Bakery, and Margo happily provided some behind-the-scenes details.

What’s the bestselling treat on your menu?
Our world-famous cinnamon twists are definitely the fan favorite! We have a unique blend of spices and other special ingredients we use for this flaky cinnamon pastry. They dip great in coffee, and I love to buy a few extra to bring home and warm up and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

What’s a creative menu item that more folks should try?
We just brought cherry pies back to our menu. They have a streusel crumble crust and are Grandma’s own recipe. We’ll be adding more pie varieties later this season!

Tell us about something special your store does.
We’ve started to take event and catering orders and are in the process of building our website to accommodate larger orders, as well as pre-orders for pies around different holidays. Follow our social media accounts to keep an eye out for this launch.

What’s a fun fact that will blow our mind?
We made over 450 trays of cinnamon twists last year. There are about 45 twists in a tray, so that's over 20,000 twists in 2022!

@barbsbakerynp // 122 Mill Street, Northport