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San Francisco’s Latest Bakery For Nostalgia-Impressed, Foodie-Influenced Bakes

Flour & Branch’s stuffed cookies.

Flour & Branch

After Lauren Arnsdorff, Owner of Flour & Branch, was laid off from her corporate job at eBay, she decided to turn her childhood dream of opening up a bakery into reality. Inspired by her childhood memories and nostalgia, Arnsdorff prides herself on creating indulgent treats made with love, grown-up sensibilities, refined techniques, and the highest quality of ingredients.

Flour & Branch was launched in back in October 2020, but as with most businesses during the pandemic, this bakery went on a rollercoaster of a ride in efforts to open the doors of its first-ever storefront.

Three months after Flour & Branch launched its website, they began to sell their goodies on Goldbelly, Feastin and local delivery channels. By the first year, they had been featured in publications that include Food Network Online and on Rachael Ray’s television program. Fast forward a few years — which included a full remodel, jumping through lots of pandemic hoops and more — and Flour & Branch has a brick and mortar location.

Located on 3rd street in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, Flour & Branch is a charming bakery and cafe that also features a curated selection of gifts.

The always-freshly baked selection of goodies ranges from stuffed, over-the-top cookies like the Nutty Butter with white chocolate, macadamia nuts, and peanut butter; and artisanal “mallows” — decadent marshmallow treats filled with Fruity Pebbles, Captain Crunch, and whole mini marshmallows — to their famous Mashugana Stuffed French Toast made with cream-marinaded chocolate babka and challah bread, stuffed with peanut butter chips and cookie butter; and a selection of incredibly flaky French pastries like the twice-baked frangipane croissant.

Fruity Pebble Mallow.

Flour & Branch

We chatted with Lauren Arnsdorff, Owner of Flour & Branch on her new storefront and journey to opening its doors. Here’s what she had to say.

Talk a little about your background and what got you into baking. How long has it been your passion?

My career background is actually in sales, marketing, loyalty programs, and financial services but I always loved baking. When I was a kid I remember waking up early to watch the Food Network so I could copy down the recipes and practice. About 15 years ago I convinced myself I would make the best cookie (to my standards) and since then, I’ve created literally hundreds of cookie recipes and other bakes.

What was the catalyst in your decision to open Flour and Branch?

I opened Flour & Branch in October 2020, but at the start of 2020 I was overseeing all marketing for eBay’s financial services products full time. I was actually laid off from eBay in January 2020, and by that time I had already been taking private bakery orders and would spend my early mornings, nights, and weekends baking.

It had been an aspiration to open the bakery by the end of 2020, so when I was laid off, it felt a bit like a sign from the universe that I was meant to “go for it”. It felt like a now or never moment, and my husband was and has been fully supportive no matter how hard it felt.

Flour & Branch

Flour & Branch

What has the process been like to open it up?

I filed for Flour & Branch’s LLC in January 2020, so as I was building my business I had to pretty much constantly pivot to adjust to the growing pandemic. By October 2020 I began operating Flour & Branch in a commercial catering kitchen which was only about 200 total square feet. Flour & Branch operated out of that space for about a year before beginnings of renovations to our storefront in October 2021.

Flour & Branch began shipping via our website, along with local delivery and pickup within the San Francisco Bay Area, and then expanded onto Goldbelly shortly after. We almost immediately grew out of the space we were in, but it took my husband and I almost a full year before we found our storefront at 493 3rd, SF.

Flour & Branch opened our storefront in December 2021, after facing major issues with broken ovens (literally all our ovens), mixers, plumbing, refrigeration, staffing, supply chain, and permitting with the city and state. I actually set up the space almost entirely on my own, so in many ways it truly feels like I’ve clawed my way here. We’ve just overcome so much to get to this point, and it’s been so incredible to hear our customers tell us how happy they are to have our bakery in their neighborhood.

What is the inspiration behind your menu of baked goods? What are your favorite flavors to bake with?

Because food is my love language and such an integral component of special moments and holidays, my favorite baked goods to enjoy and give to others are those influenced by nostalgia. When designing the menu, I started with the cookies, one by one, and literally just played with flavors and textures I loved the most.

The bakes had to feel refined, but also familiar, they had to be made with the very best ingredients (like Kerrygold butter, organic, etc.), and they had to look and feel like an amazing gift — whether to yourself or others. You’ll find nostalgic flavors (like PB&J), but elevated and more crave-worthy. Once I had cookies set, I brought on products I love to enjoy myself and couldn’t necessarily find elsewhere, along with stellar pastries. I love to combine unexpected but familiar flavors.

What are your most popular items? Talk about your famous French Toast — how did you come up with something so deliciously over the top?

Our Stuffed French Toast is definitely popular with our customers, as are our soft baked cookies. Our most loved cookies are the Chipper, Salty Sombitch, and Stuffy cookies (stuffed cookies). My mom and one of my favorite brunch spots in San Diego served this souffle french toast that I loved, so I started making my own french toast souffle casserole every Christmas and during hosted brunches. I knew early on that a version of the french toast souffle casserole would be a perfect fit for the menu’s theme, but stuffing the french toast really hit the standard.

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