How it works...
Leaven Heaven is a cottage home bakery, meaning we don't own a brick and mortar building to sell from, and do all our baking out of our home. As such, our products are prepared in a kitchen not subject to inspection by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. We maintain all production in accordance with Missouri Cottage Food Law.
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We only sell direct to consumers via online orders with porch pickup, direct hand-to-hand delivery, or via local farmer's markets or special events (check out our home page for our local event schedule). We do not ship our products via mail, nor do we sell outside of the State of Missouri.​
Because we often get asked by new customers what we did to become a cottage home bakery...We are registered as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) and carry home-based business insurance. We hold a Missouri Merchant Business License (posted in our front window for your viewing pleasure) and carry all the licensing and registration needed to run a micro-bakery from home in St. Charles County and the City of O'Fallon. If you want to open a cottage home business for yourself, start with your closest locality's business office and work your way up to the state level so you have all licenses and registrations needed to be legal. Everyone was very friendly through the process. Each level will typically give you the contact info for the next level up if you just ask.
Whether you register your business at the Federal level to get issued an Employer Identification Number (EIN) is completely optional if you are a single member LLC and don't have employees. Multi-member LLCs or anyone who pays even one person, must have an EIN. There are indeed other situations where an EIN is required. Contact your attorney or tax accountant for assistance with proper federal registration - by no means should you believe some lady on a website - meaning me. ​
Our Payment Process
We accept payment in multiple ways:
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To pay at pickup, Cash, Venmo, and physical Credit Card swiping is available.
Select "Cash Payment" at checkout for any of these payment methods.
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Cash and Venmo are the two payment methods that don't charge us a fee. Paying with these two methods is like giving us a little tip!
​PayPal Online payments, and any major credit cards that can be processed via PayPal, can be processed at checkout by selecting PayPal as your payment option.​
Our Pickup Process
We offer a contactless pickup process. When you receive your text or email notifying you that your order is ready for pickup, make your way to our address at 1285 Pinehurst Club Ct, O Fallon, MO 63366. On our porch is a cabinet that will contain your order with your name on it, the total due, if any, a red cash lockbox for cash payments, and QR codes for payment via PayPal or Venmo at pickup (for those who didn't pre-pay). We do have cameras for your safety, and we will typically be home if you have any questions, so just ring the bell if you'd like to chat or need your credit card swiped!
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Note: during extreme cold or heat conditions, we may ask you to ring the bell to collect your order to keep the product from freezing or baking in the elements, especially if your order contains chocolate.
Our Baking Process
​It typically takes from 2-3 days from the point of order before your bread is ready for pickup/delivery. That is due to the process for making sourdough products. Good homemade bread takes time to cold ferment in the fridge for a couple days prior to baking to get that perfect sourdough tang. A typical cycle for a single loaf of bread looks like this:
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1. The night before, feed the sourdough starter
2. The next morning, mix dough and wait 1 hour
3. Stretch and fold the dough every 30 min for the next 2 hours
4. Let it sit covered for another 3-5 hours to rise
5. Pre-shape the dough and let it sit for 30 minutes
6. Final shape the dough and put it in the fridge for 2 days
7. Bake the bread & let it cool 4-6 hours before packaging.
When you take sourdough bread out of the oven, the residual heat inside continues to redistribute and evaporates excess moisture. This process is known as carryover cooking. The internal structure of the bread, or its crumb, is still setting as steam escapes. Packaging and cutting too soon prevents this process from finishing properly, and you're left with a gummy texture. This is the main reason if you visit us at a morning market, the bake date on the bread will show as the day prior (we sleep during the carryover baking process). For customers who porch pickup, we bake in the early morning, and you pick up in the late afternoon to allow for this process to complete.
Our Recipes
Our recipes are a combination of our own creations with a little of those out there in the world that know how to make good sourdough. For our sourdough sweet treats, we convert traditional icings, glazes and such to shelf-stable versions to remain in compliance with cottage food safety standards. If you would like to know the ingredients of any of our recipes prior to ordering, just send your request via our contact form we'll be happy to send you the list. Additionally, our ingredients, along with any potential allergens are listed on the labels of all of our products. We do not use any preservatives in our recipes, so consumption or freezing within 3 days of purchase is recommended.
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Gluten Free: We do not bake gluten-free. Baking gluten-free sourdough presents some unique challenges. Without gluten to provide structure and elasticity, gluten-free doughs tend to be denser and less pliable than traditional doughs. It can make getting a good rise and a light, airy crumb harder. There are specialists in this area, it's just not us. Sourdough is naturally lower in gluten than other types of bread though, so if you aren't gluten intolerant, i.e. have celiac disease, and just trying to limit gluten in your diet, it's often a good alternative to other breads. Checkout our Benefits of Sourdough page for more details.
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Organic: Although we try to use mostly organic products, we don't guarantee our bakery items are all organic. Some organic ingredients can be price-prohibitive for us and our customers, for example, organic salt vs traditional sea salt can have a difference upward of $8-$10. Our most popular question is what kind of flour we use. For our main white flour, we special order King Arthur Special Patent flour which IS organic and is never bleached or bromated. King Arthur Special Patent Flour is milled from the center of the wheat kernel, resulting in low ash and higher protein content. We use King Arthur organic whole wheat flour when a recipe calls for wheat and King Arthur and Bob's Red Mill organic rye flour in our rye breads. For our sweet recipes that call for all-purpose flour, we use Kirkland Signature or King Arthur Organic Unbleached All-Purpose Flour.
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Vegan: We do have a few products which are vegan such as our original artisan sourdough. Look for the vegan symbol next to the item you're interested in.
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Dairy: Any items that include milk, are prepared with 2% lactose-free milk. We do have some ingredients that include cream, cheese and butter, such as cheesy breads, scones, and cookies which are not lactose free. Our scones are made with Fat Free Half-and-Half, but it is not lactose-free. Look for the dairy symbol on the browse and order page if you are lactose-fee before ordering. Note: we do not use pre-shredded cheese in any of our products. We hand shred our cheeses on-site to avoid adding anti-caking agents like potato starch, powdered cellulose, and sometimes even wood pulp to our bread.
For a list of cheeses that are lower in lactose than other cheese products, generally considered safe for lactose intolerant individuals, refer to this helpful article by Tasting Table, prior to ordering, which includes links to the NIH.
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Nuts and Seeds: For those with extreme peanut allergies, it's important to note that we DO have & prepare peanut products in our home. When we include tree nuts or seeds in an item, we do note it online and on our packaging. Look for the nut or seed symbol on the browse and order page if you have a nut or seed allergy before ordering.
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Jams and Jellies: Okay, this is where we cheat a little bit...we make bread and sweet treats, but we don't can our own jams and jellies...I mean we might one day, but for now I'm afraid to mention it in the house for fear of baking mutiny. We do however only purchase organic products for filling our scones, cookies and such. The full ingredients list from the container of the jam or jelly is always listed on our label so you know what you're getting in it.
​If you have any questions about any of our processes not listed here, feel free to call or use our contact form anytime!