Best Bakeries: Great Lakes Baking Co.

In 1998, founder John MacMillan took a leap of faith and opened Great Lakes Baking Co. despite already having established a career as a business executive. Twenty years later, that legacy passed on to Corina Gaffney when she left behind her legal career to take over the artisan bakery when MacMillan retired in 2018. As the daughter of German immigrants, Gaffney has always had baking in her bones. “I’ve been practicing for most of my life,” she says. She also studied professionally at the King Arthur Flour Bakery in Vermont and made it to the final round of auditions for the Great American Baking Show last year. Gaffney rolls out more than 20 kinds of loaves each week, including baguettes, Kalamata olive, multigrain, oatmeal, brioche, black Russian rye and German farmer’s bread — a light and airy loaf that’s new to Gaffney’s menu. “The more often you do something, obviously, the better you get at it,” she says. “We are constantly looking to find new ways to either up the nutrition or up the loft of the bread.” 85 S. Main St., Hudson, 330-342-5878, greatlakesbakingcompany.org

Our pick: The black Russian rye loaf ($6.25) is a dense bite with a deep flavor thanks to molasses and cocoa.