On weekend mornings, the front yard of one Central Plano brick home brings smells of browned butter, warm berries and tangy sourdough. Neighbors — who hail from beyond the Pittman Estates borders and into the far reaches of DFW — follow the scent to a small shelf by the door, where handwritten bags of home-baked goodies await them, signed Hinckley House Bakery.
“My house always smells so good on Saturdays and Sundays,” Hinckley House Bakery owner Michelle Hinckley laughs. “It’s the best.”
The self-taught baker grew up helping feed five younger siblings.
“I honestly can’t remember a time I wasn’t baking,” she says.
Last year, after getting diagnosed with ADHD, Michelle felt like she could finally take on products that required more attention. So, naturally, she jumped into a self-taught baker’s nightmare: baking sourdough bread.
“Sourdough is the angsty teenager of the bread bin,” she says. “You have to baby it.”
Once she felt like she had it down, she began working with add-ins and making other baked goods out of the sourdough. Soon, she had far too much for her family to eat, and started giving it out to friends, family and her 11-year-old Arya’s classmates.
And when even that was not enough, she started selling loaves online. What began as five loaves in October has now turned into weekly pre-orders with weekend pick-up slots, pop-ups at a senior living facility and seasonal menu offerings.
“Bread you get from the store is not the same as bread you get at home,” she says. “People who’ve tried it say, ‘This is amazing.’ You get big pockets of air, a crusty outside, and it just feels like real bread.”
Sourdough bread ($12/loaf), browned butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies ($3 each) and berry lemonade sugar cookies ($5 each) are current menu favorites. Specialty sourdough loaves rotate, with current favorites including jalapeno-cheddar, feta-pesto and blueberry-goat-cheese.
The jalapeno-cheddar is a favorite of Arya, now 11, who has dubbed herself the official taste tester of each batch and new creation.
“Every time you bake something new, I’m excited to see what it is,” she tells her mom.
Michelle likens the process to chemistry, teaching Arya how to experiment while still staying within the parameters of a recipe. Arya is hoping to try out some of her more outside-the-box ideas, like jalapeno cookies, though that might still be under debate.
Recently, Michelle participated in a farmers market at Avenida, a senior living community in Carrollton. Though not aiming to get into the farmers market game, Michelle hopes to keep working with the community and others in the future with sourdough classes for seniors and baking camps for children during the summer.
For those hoping to check out the baked goods for themselves, orders open online each Monday and close when capacity is reached.
To the Hinckleys, the benefits of homemade bread are immeasurable. While it’s not gluten-free, it’s easier on a gluten-sensitive stomach. There are no unknown preservatives or dyes. And scratch-cooking brings the community in.
“It’s a present you make,” Michelle says. “You put in the care and the time. It’s a gift that means something.”
