Lizzie's Bakery

Lizzie’s Bakery, a gourmet home-based bakery that specializes in peanut and tree nut-free baked-goods, emerged from a nut allergy. Diagnosed with a peanut and tree nut allergy at 2 years old, Caroline Weingart’s daughter, Lizzie, could not enjoy common desserts - as most contain peanut or tree nuts, putting her and others with this allergy at risk for anaphylactic shock. Since Lizzie was her first child, Caroline’s entire parenting journey included navigating this allergy.

Formerly a full-time lawyer, Caroline had also baked for her husband’s political parties before their kids were born. She continued to pursue baking as a hobby, and once her children attended Shaker Heights High School and played on the ice hockey team, the field hockey team, and the lacrosse team, all teammates became taste-testers.

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Caroline began looking through her mother’s recipes, including one her mother named “Caroline’s Favorite” - otherwise known as a ginger molasses cookie. Looking over these recipes gave Caroline an idea. She researched whether there were nut-free bakeries in Northeast Ohio and, to her surprise, there were not. From navigating Lizzie’s allergy, having her mother’s recipes, and a need for nut-free bakeries, came Lizzie’s Bakery.

Home-based for now, Caroline began Lizzie’s Bakery in her own kitchen. She enrolled in Tri-C’s Bakery and Pastry Arts program in 2021 where she worked in a commercial kitchen and trained under Maureen Leonard, the former Head of Pastry for Intercontinental Hotel. These studies came to inform her own baking: “One of the most important concepts I learned was mise en place, which teaches you how to prep all your ingredients and maintain a clean work space.”

Since graduating the program, Lizzie’s Bakery — specializing in cookies, cakes, coffee cakes, and more — has maintained a pop-up presence at North Union Farmers Markets, and other pop-ups as well. Searching for a brick and mortar, Caroline relays, “I would love to be in Shaker. I raised my family here. It’s home.” People with allergies and baked-goods lovers are the bakery’s target audience, and, when it comes to the former, Caroline loves providing an alternative to their allergy: “It’s amazing when I meet someone at these pop-ups who says, ‘I’m so glad I found you!’”A major challenge of participating in a pop-up market is predicting attendance. This resonates especially true for bakers who must guesstimate how much to bake. Another challenge, as Caroline notes, includes short shelf-life: “Bakery products have a short shelf life, but inventory also needs to meet the demand. And, specifically, when it comes to tree nut- and peanut-free baked goods, cross contamination can pose a huge issue as well.” But Caroline works to overcome these challenges because, as she advises, remembering your passion is what’s truly important: “Find out what you’re passionate about. If there’s a day where sales are slow, but I meet someone with an allergy, it drives me back to my overall mission.”

She also recommends understanding the business side of that passion – which she does by utilizing her skills as a former lawyer.

If you’ve seen Lizzie’s Bakery at a pop-up, chances are you’ve met some of Caroline’s family.   It’s very much a family-owned business in that aside from offering moral support, her husband, and children both help in other supportive ways too, like marketing or set-ups.

Lizzie’s Bakery comes from a place of love and also comes with a mission: to provide people with allergies desserts that taste amazing and offer a variety of desserts that otherwise turns people with allergies away. Lizzie’s Bakery specializes in cookies, cakes, coffee cakes, and more. Visit lizziesbakerynutfree.com or email the bakery for custom orders, including corporate logo cookies. We recommend the Ginger Molasses cookie or the S’mores Bar. You won’t be disappointed!