[piano intro] - Next on "North Carolina Weekend": Join us as we taste all things sweet.

We'll visit the Appalachian Cookie Company in Boone, Strong Arm Bakery in Oxford, and Famous Bakery Company in New Bern.

Coming up next.

- [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains, across the Piedmont, to 300 miles of barrier island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[lively music] [lively music continues] [lively music continues] [lively music fades] - Welcome to "North Carolina Weekend."

I'm Deborah Holt Noel, and this week we are sampling all things sweet around the state.

Our first story takes us to Boone, where a college student was assigned to make cookies in his class at Appalachian State.

Would you believe that assignment turned into the Appalachia Cookie Company?

And producer Teresa Litschke shows us the whole country is eating them up.

[whimsical music] - [Teresa] You just never know when you're gonna come up with a great idea.

- I had to write a business plan for a class at App.

And there were a couple different ideas that I was kicking around at the time, and I thought, "There's no late night sweet option."

We used to be open until 3:00 AM.

We're not open that late anymore.

But that was kind of the concept, was like, "Let's sell cookies, let's sell 'em late, and we can deliver 'em to students when they're up late at night wanting cookies."

- Yes, we used to get them delivered all the time.

- [Teresa] The only problem with that was working so late in an out-of-the-way storefront with a handmade sign.

- The sheriff's department came by at, like, two o'clock in the morning and they started, like, asking questions that weren't just like, "Can we get some cookies?"

They wanted to know what we were doing selling cookies at two o'clock in the morning.

But they became customers pretty quick.

- [Teresa] Along with most of the general population of Boone who frequent their new location on King Street.

- I've been getting cookies from App Cookie Co since I was a student at App State over 10 years ago.

They were very popular on campus.

But now that this location is right by my office, I'm here at least once a week.

- [Teresa] Oh, that could be dangerous.

- Yeah, but so good.

[cheerful music] - [David] Throw 'em in the oven.

- [Teresa] So how does a college student majoring in marketing and management learn to make cookies?

[cheerful music] - I used to bake cookies, I guess, too, like, around the holidays with, like, my grandma and my mom and stuff.

But in terms of, like, figuring it out, we just kind of trial and errored a bunch of different things.

We made a lot of really nasty cookies before we started making the cookies that we make now.

- [Teresa] Practice does make perfect, and remembering how grandma made them certainly helps.

- So we do make everything from scratch right here in the store.

Everything comes in, raw ingredients: butter, sugar, eggs.

And everything is made by hand in the store, the whole process, - [Teresa] These cookies are big, and the variety they make is crazy.

- At any given time, we usually have between 20 and 24 flavors, I would say, but in total, hundreds probably.

- It's incredible.

I mean, there are so many different flavors.

Personally, I'm a little restricted because I can't have dairy.

But I have tasted many of them anyway, and they are always good.

[chuckles] - [Teresa] Most popular cookie?

- [David] Bestseller: chocolate chip, hands down.

- [Teresa] The classics are covered, but that's only the beginning.

- So, I mean, we make everything from the traditional chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, sugar cookies, to kind of the little bit more different like our blueberry white chocolate oatmeal, which is really popular.

We have a cheesecake cookie that's extremely popular.

- Yeah, and, like, the outside is a little crispier and then the middle is like a true cheesecake texture.

It's amazing.

- [David] We do, it's like a bacon bourbon maple syrup cookie.

And then our campfire s'mores.

It's got a graham cracker on the top and bottom and then the cookie sandwiched in between that, with a Hershey's bar and a giant marshmallow on top.

- [Teresa] They even have a cookie for those with special dietary needs.

- In fact, our gluten-free vegan Yosef, or Appalachian gold, we call it, is probably my favorite cookie.

And I'm not gluten intolerant or vegan or anything, it's just that good.

It's apple, cinnamon, chocolate, coconut, oats, and pecans.

- It's perfect.

It's not too hot.

It's cooled a little, so it's a little gooey.

The chocolate is still melty, hasn't firmed up yet.

It's sweet, but it's not overpoweringly sweet.

It's got dimension.

It's delicious.

- [Teresa] And that gooey goodness is by design.

- [David] Yeah, so we do have, like, hot, ready cookies.

We also, we typically do bake to order, and that's kind of what we're more known for, I think.

So you order your cookies, hang out, wait 15, 20 minutes, and then you get hot, fresh-baked cookies straight out of the oven.

- [Teresa] Never fear.

If you can't make it to Boone, their cookies can make it to you.

- We ship nationwide.

We routinely ship to the West Coast, Hawaii.

- [Teresa] Not bad for a class assignment gone extremely well.

- My thought has always been like, "I'll try this out, and if it doesn't work out I'll get a real job."

And 13 years later, we're still making cookies.

[cheerful music] - App Cookie Co is located at 1087 West King Street in Boone, and they're open daily.

For more information, give them a call at 828-355-4448 or log onto their website appcookieco.com.

Producer Seraphim Smith loves artisan bread and is really good at sniffing out the next amazing loaf.

Let's find out why multi-generational Greek restaurant and bake shop Famous Bakery Company, in New Bern, is the talk of the town.

[light dramatic music] - [Seraphim] Bread is my thing.

I love baking it, I love learning about it, and I especially love visiting wonderful bakeries like this one: Famous Restaurant and Baking Company.

I'm learning about their origin story and how they make their bread.

- I took a bread class at King Arthur in Vermont.

My intention was just to go take a class to learn a little bit more about pizza dough.

And then I was very blessed where I ran into Jeffrey Hammelman, who's master baker, one of the few master bakers in the country, and came back and was like, "Oh, we're gonna build a bakery."

And it was supposed to be this tiny little artisan bread bakery.

- [Seraphim] But this is no little bakery.

Along with pastries, they make around 160 loaves daily.

- We're an overnight production.

The bakery is 24 hours a day.

Our bread bakers come in the evening and then the regular pastry chefs are here during the day and the cake decorators.

And we have been so blessed with pastry chefs.

And they've all been with us, our bread bakers, our croissant makers, they've all been with us from the start.

- [Seraphim] While we're on a roll, let's check out how a baguette is formed.

A true baguette has tapered ends and it rests in a flowered fabric called a couche.

The couche gently supports its form while it rises.

[bouncy music] A razor is used to score the bread, which allows it to vent steam and CO2 and rise in a controlled way when baking.

And it makes a pretty loaf.

A single dough can be made into many shapes.

Any way you slice it, Famous makes beautiful bread.

How long does it take to make sourdough?

- It takes 48 hours to make and then it sits in the fridge and the flavors settle in.

It makes it what it is: sourdough.

[cheerful music] - [Seraphim] And this bread is used in the restaurant.

- My husband started the restaurant in 1983.

He was only 17 at the time.

He ended up bringing his parents down here and then building the store.

And we've done everything really, really slowly.

I mean, it takes a long time to make a loaf of bread.

Can't compromise the bread or, you know, the starters, or just all of it.

[cheerful music] - I've been coming here for over 30 years.

Never had anything here that wasn't delicious.

- I got the pepper steak sub.

- There you go, sir.

- Awesome.

Thank you.

- Sure, thank you.

- I can already feel that this bread has a lovely crunch to it.

You make it next door?

- It's nice and crispy.

Yes We started a steak sub that's called pepper steak that's basically a signature sandwich.

And to this day, we sell a ton of it, close to 500 pounds a week.

- [Georgia] We always try to improve things.

So if we get a better quality item, you know, like a better tomato paste or a better tomato sauce, or something, we'll definitely go that route.

Anything we can do to improve it.

- And people leave New Bern a lot and then they come home, you know, or visiting or anything else, they come and they're like, you know, "Famous is still Famous."

- Yeah.

- And that's- - Which is a great compliment, yeah, to hear that.

[lively music] We have a lot of customers that drive from an hour away to get a loaf bread.

You definitely have give them the best products that you can.

We do a lot of dessert tables.

So we'll do a lot of our regular sized desserts and just mini versions, like eclairs, cannolis, mini cream puffs, lemon bars, key lime bars, and it gives people, like, a variety.

Our cookies actually have become one of our biggest sellers in the bakery.

We make thousands for the holidays.

It's a big, huge, huge seller.

And I would say our number one selling pie is our sweet potato pie, and we use North Carolina sweet potatoes.

And there's nothing better than roasting a North Carolina sweet potato and putting it in a pie shell.

[lively music] - I love just about everything, but the cheesecake's definitely my favorite.

- Giving desserts is actually, it's so rewarding, like, when you gift it, 'cause people are just always happy to eat it, you know?

It's something that they'll just smile.

[lively music] - Famous Baking Company is at 2208 Neuse Boulevard in New Bern, and they're open daily.

Their restaurant is right next door.

For more information, give them a call at 252-635-0079 or go online to famousrestaurant.com.

The recent passing of Bobby Nivens, longtime owner of Britt's Donut Shop, sent us back to our vault to bring you the story of this iconic destination at Carolina Beach.

[lively music] [cutter thudding] - [Bryan] Keeping it simple sure keeps the crowds coming.

No frills, no fruity fillings, no swipes of the plastic, it's cash only, and no coffee with Italian names.

[patron laughs] Your pure coffee is poured into plain styrofoam cups.

Here at Britt's Donuts in Carolina Beach, your eyes won't glaze over by all the choices on the menu.

You have one choice: glazed.

How sweet it is.

- You don't have to make any decisions.

All week we have to make decisions.

Come to Britt's and it's whole milk only and one kinda donut.

- [Bryan] That one kind of donut is 90 cents.

It's bronzed by a deep fryer and lathered in icing: hot, drippy icing.

It's a donut that lacks symmetry.

Yes, it's round, but it's not perfectly round.

It has wrinkles and bulges.

It has, you might say, personality, one that gets you eager to break bread.

- That's what makes them good, when you... There is- - They're soft.

- Nothing like it.

They're soft, yeah.

- They're soft, they're sweet, and they're warm.

- I'm a resident here, and I try to come here to the donut shop at least six times a year.

- [Bryan] That's all, just six?

- Well if I come here anymore, I probably wouldn't fit through the doors.

- [Bryan] The dual garage doors open at Britt's Donuts every march through October.

The single item prepped in the kitchen has fed multitudes since 1939 when Harvey Britt flung open the doors and began rolling in the dough.

- And we have a real good product, we think.

- [Bryan] The present day proprietor, Bobby Nivens, speaks with the simplicity of his product, no need in laying it on thick by dressing up his words.

[cutter thudding] Like his donuts, less is more.

And it works for you?

- It sure does.

Been mighty fortunate.

- [Bryan] Here's what he means.

It's a Saturday morning on the Carolina Beach Boardwalk.

Summer is so close you can taste it.

And his crowds are like the surf, they come in big waves.

You think a trip to Carolina Beach is complete without Britt's Donut?

- Well, I hope Britt's Donuts is included in that trip.

We're glad people enjoy 'em.

- [Bryan] Mr.

Nivens worked at Britt's as a teenager in the '50s.

When he was in his mid 30s, he decided to buy the place.

It was 1974.

Harvey Britt had just passed away.

This business, beloved by beachgoers, had to live on, it just had to.

And that one kind of donut still had to be one of a kind.

- It's sort of a secret family recipe.

- [Bryan] So you're not gonna share it with us now, huh?

- I can't do that.

[Bryan and Bobby laugh] Paid too much for it.

- [Bryan] He has work to keep the place and, above all, the product the same as it always was.

He kept the name Britt's, kept the old rolling pin Mr.

Britt used.

That's not to say he hasn't thought about diversifying his donuts.

- I have, over the years, back when I was younger, but those thoughts went away.

So we're happy, we're satisfied.

- [Bryan] Besides, as much as the crowds clamor for his tried and true, when would he have the time to roll out a fancier form of donut?

He's never wanted to make the store bigger either and he's never wanted to open other stores.

That connection he and his wife have with their regular patrons is something they can sink their teeth into.

They look forward to seeing the same vacationers year after year after year.

- This is a part of our life at Kure Beach.

- It is a part of our life.

This is... I don't think people come to see us.

People come to see Britt's and eat their donuts.

- [Bryan] Paul and Deb Fagan are among those you'll see at the counter most any weekend.

- [Paul] We come as often as we can.

- [Bryan] Uh-huh.

- It's beautiful part of our tradition.

- Couple two, three, four times a weekend.

Five, six, seven, eight.

- A couple two, three, four times a weekend?

- Five, six, seven, eight.

[patrons laughing] - [Bryan] Maybe there is too much of a good thing.

Ask six-year-old Nash Clegg of Cary, who's here with his dad Steven for the weekend.

- Too much donut much doesn't make me feel so good.

[Bryan laughs] - [Bryan] But they sure taste good, don't they?

- Yeah.

Well, maybe one.

- [Bryan] He had two.

- I don't think I should have two [Bryan laughs] at the same time 'cause won't make my tummy feel so good.

- [Bryan] If you think kids these days don't have the stomach for the simple and old fashioned, if you think their world has spoiled them with too much variety, well, just look at the variety of youth at Britt's.

So, what do you think of Britt's Donuts?

- I think it's one of the best donut places I've ever eaten - [Bryan] With a new generation, Britt's Donuts is still hot and very much on a roll, and keeping it deliciously simple.

[lively music] - You can find Britt's Donut Shop at 13 Boardwalk in Carolina Beach, and they're open daily.

For more information, give them a call at 910-707-0755 or go online to brittsdonutshop.com.

When we first heard about OWL Bakery in Asheville, we wondered who it was named after.

But OWL stands for Old World Levain, and that perfectly sums up this European-inspired pastry shop and bakery.

[bouncy music] - OWL started in 2014.

I was working with someone who had a kitchen and little bake shop out of her house and a very beautiful wood-fired oven.

I took over the space and was baking pastries, my own pastries and breads.

And then in 2016, we opened our first brick-and-mortar in West Asheville on Haywood Road.

Since then, we have opened a second location here in North Asheville and we're just about to open this expansion of that space, which will be a cake shop.

[bouncy music] OWL stands for Old World Levain, which was the name of the first bread that I developed for the bakery, and it simply means a rustic hearth loaf that is naturally leavened.

Mini breads that you find are leavened with commercial yeast.

With sourdough cultures, it's simply flour and water developed into a culture where there are wild yeast present.

And so that's what we use to leaven our bread.

[bouncy music] - We first met Susannah when she was providing pastries for one of the local coffee shops.

And then she opened up her OWL West and we became regulars there.

I mean, we love the bread.

The bread is just superb, you know, the country sourdough, the baguette, the croissants.

We just got back from France and we, these are the best croissants.

[lively music] - We purchase local produce.

We also work with four local mills.

So our flour is 100% percent organic.

Our country loaf, for instance, is our daily rustic hearth loaf that we make.

It's very crusty.

It has a moist, open crumb.

And in that loaf, we use flour from all four of the mills that we purchase from.

[lively music] Some of the breads that feature inclusions and specifically local grains.

So one of our breads features a Rouge de Bordeaux, which is a variety of wheat that's grown by one of our local farmers and millers.

We also have some perennial favorites like our porridge loaf, which incorporates cooked oats, barley, and buckwheat.

With our pastries, we feature local ingredients.

And we're often changing our pastries seasonally, so the menu is in constant rotation.

We have a very inspired team, and they're always coming up with really beautiful, interesting, unique combinations.

[bright music] - It's on par with the great bakeries of Europe, but there's still something distinctly Asheville about it.

It's a real foodie town and the expectations here, I think, are high.

And OWL just always lives up with... You know, everything here is great.

The bread, the daily bread is amazing.

And this is like, you know, we live right up the street, so to be able to just come through here on my way to work or on the weekend, it becomes a really wonderful gathering place.

There's just nothing not to like.

[bright music] - I think they're a real treasure for our community.

It's a friendly, welcoming place, and it's got great bread and pastry, so I'm so glad.

It's one of the reasons why we moved to Asheville, was because of the independent food scene.

And I think Susannah and OWL really represent that.

[bright music] - I would love for any visitor coming to OWL to really fully experience the intention that we put behind everything, from the space to the ingredients that we choose, to the textures and flavors and aesthetic appeal of all of our products.

We also have a full beverage program.

We make everything, everything in house.

We just really want people to feel both delighted and surprised by what we do and also feel very welcome and at home in our space and like they're a part of our community.

[lively music fades] - OWL Bakery has two locations: 295 Haywood Road in West Asheville and 197 Charlotte Street in North Asheville.

To find out more, visit their website at owlbakery.com.

Our final story takes us to Oxford, where before sunrise, the ovens at Strong Arm Bakery are already blazing.

What began as a backyard bread business has grown into a community hub and a regional favorite known not only for its fresh pastries and hearty breads, but also for its beloved porch drop deliveries that bring homemade comfort straight to customers' doors.

[lively music] - Strong Arm Baking is a small bakery.

We're also a meal delivery service delivering all around the Triangle area, but also just serving our community in Oxford with fresh bread and pastries.

[light guitar music] The reason why we exist here is to serve our community.

So we're doing breakfast and lunch and occasionally popup dinners.

But what we offer most is just like the experience of coming in and feeling really welcome and comfortable.

And you can come in and stay all day and just make it your own house.

[light guitar music] We make biscuits in the morning.

We also have our croissants that we're rolling, hand rolled every day.

A lot of our menu is based around sandwiches.

We offer a blue plate special, which rotates.

We're baking the bread every day.

You know, we have these mountains of beautiful, fresh bread that's just flour, water, and salt coming out, and we're really trying to highlight that.

We also just have like a team of bread bakers that are just so talented and they're paying so much attention to, like, every second of the process.

When you're trying to work with wild yeast, being able to produce such consistent bread that's so beautiful and delicious is just so impressive to me, and our team does it every single day.

[light guitar music] For the most part, it's simple food.

We're not reinventing the wheel.

But there's a lot of care and effort to make it the best that it could possibly be.

And I think people realize that and it keeps them ordering every week, because at the end of the day, it is food that you wanna eat and it feels good.

Strong Arm started in 2014.

It was my husband and I's side hustle.

We just started by building a wood-fired oven in our backyard, and we just really wanted kind of like a creative outlet.

Around the end of 2019, we were gearing up to make this move into the building in Oxford, and we had... Kind our staff were picking up, we were really busy, and then COVID happened.

We always said we were like a jet plane ready to take off, but we didn't have the rest of the runway built.

So we were ready for action and pushing so hard, and then at that same time, everything shut down.

- Julia came up with the idea to do porch drop and have people go online and order things and we would just drop it on their porch.

And so she called me and she said, "Mom, I need you to do deliveries for Strong Arm."

And I said, "Okay, no problem," you know, not really knowing what I was getting into.

- Yay!

Oh, thank you so much.

- [Sarah] How are you this morning?

- [Customer] I'm good.

I'm good.

I'm good.

I'm good.

- Yes, yes, yes.

- Yummy, yummy.

- What we're aiming to do is bring you food that you would wanna cook for yourself if you had the time, with ingredients that you would wanna purchase for yourself if you had the time and the ability to go out to the farmer's market and shop what's absolutely best.

- Out of our cooler, we need spaghetti, banana pudding, bok choy, ramen salad, and broccoli bisque.

It is food that we loved, you know, when my my daughters were growing up.

And just to know that those same foods are being served around people's table today is a pretty delightful thing for all of us.

- We don't have to cook tonight.

- I know.

I said to Emily, "We know what they're having for supper for the next few nights, don't we?"

- Yeah, it's nice.

- Yeah.

- I could spend all my time in my weed gardens.

- Yeah, yeah.

Yep.

It's a treat to have it come to you, isn't it?

- It's wonderful, yeah.

- All right.

We're off.

- Okay.

Have a great day.

- Thank you.

Bye-bye.

- Bye.

- The people that live here are so unbelievably supportive of their small businesses.

That's what's allowed us to survive, absolutely, is people just coming in the door every day, and not just for a loaf of bread, they come in the door because they wanna see us survive.

And that's what it takes, is, like, a community commitment to help the businesses that you want to see open, and we have that in Oxford.

[light guitar music] - Strong Arm Baking Company is at 117 Main Street in Oxford, and they're open Monday through Saturday.

For more information, give them a call at 919-339-4350 or go online to strongarmbaking.com.

Well, that's it for tonight's show.

We've had a great time bringing these sweet treats to you.

And remember, if you've missed anything in tonight's show, you can always watch it again online at pbsnc.org.

And you can find all of our stories on our YouTube channel.

Have a great North Carolina weekend, everyone.

Goodnight.

[lively music] [lively music continues] [lively music continues] [lively music continues] [lively music fades] - [Announcer] Funding for "North Carolina Weekend" is provided in part by Visit NC, dedicated to highlighting our state's natural scenic beauty, unique history, and diverse cultural attractions.

From the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains, across the Piedmont, to 300 miles of barrier island beaches, you're invited to experience all the adventure and charm our state has to offer.

[gentle music]