Brandywine Bakery

Amanda Hale is the founder and head baker at Brandywine Bakery, a home-based bakery in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Baking has been apart of Amanda's life for as long as she can remember. Growing up, she loved helping her mom make cookies and brownies for birthdays and bake sales. Her favorite part of baking with her mom was when they made pecan pies... for the holidays. Freshly harvested pecans will never be forgotten. Her love for sourdough baking began in 2016. After a hiatus from bread due to lack of minimally processed loaves, she was inspired by Michael Pollan's third episode of Cooked, titled "Air". Initially, She was attracted to the idea of sourdough bread making because of the pure ingredients water, flour, air, and a touch of salt. She stayed for the process. Sourdough bread-making definitely requires patience and a present mind. If you've heard anything about making sourdough from a starter then you probably know that discarded starter can add up quickly. Previously a problem but now a solution, discarded starter is used in our bakery to create some of our most delicious treats! As we grow and change, so does our mission: Brandywine Bakery strives to create consistently delicious, conscious, and innovative food as well as foster a welcoming environment through transparency and meaningful community engagement.Read More