Former mechanic becomes full-time baker in Keota

Jenny Schneider bought the building now home to Prairie Flower Bakery “on a whim” about six years ago. Initially intended as a passion project she’d delve into after retirement, the endeavor became a full-time career when her previous employer of 22 years was forced to shut its doors in 2023.

Schneider said she couldn’t imagine working for anyone else, so she worked for herself.

“Four or five months in, I was still working part-time, and I thought, ‘If I’m going to do this, I better take it and run with it,’” she said. “Once I started to see what I could do here, I got real passionate about it.”

Her experience as a mechanic still comes in handy from time to time, when mixers and ovens break down. Otherwise, her work days as a baker look pretty different from her previous job.

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For one thing, they start at about 2:30 a.m., when she arrives the shop to start making the day’s food from scratch. For another, there’s a lot more customer-facing time, starting when the door opens at 7 a.m.

“When little kids come in and they’re getting excited because they see all kinds of treats, that gets me,” Schneider said. “The people that come in, they give me such kind compliments, and that helps keep me going.”

Schneider said she wanted to run a bakery because of her fond memories making cookies, cakes and pastries with her grandmother, whose handwritten recipe book is stored at the back of the shop. It’s not opened as often these days, as Schneider says she’s memorized the most-used instructions. The same is true for a variety of other recipes she’s found on Pinterest.

That’s not to say the work is easy. And community members’ warm reception of Prairie Flower Bakery didn’t make the days any less exhausting as Schneider got the business off the ground: making one batch of chocolate chip cookies is a fun afternoon. Making five batches, alongside five batches of doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, sandwiches and scones, is hard work.

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“The volume is a lot, there were many times I would just go home and cry,” she said. “I would be so exhausted and so overwhelmed, and think, ‘I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life,’ but thank goodness the people and support I’ve gotten from Keota has been unreal. They’ve allowed me to make mistakes.”

Asked what kept her going through that challenging first year, Schneider said she had to dig deep.

To do that, she thought of her granddaughters.

“Their faith in me, that’s the big thing,” she said. “That it’s possible, I want them to see that. I don’t want my granddaughters to be afraid to try things, even if they fail, even if they mess up.”

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The business has expanded beyond baked goods over the months, also selling pizzas and lunch specials every day. All the food is made from scratch, and when it’s gone, it’s gone — some dishes, like beef and noodles, or tater tot casserole, have sold out in 30 minutes or less.

The hard work that goes into every good sold is not only a major selling point for Prairie Flower Bakery, it’s a point of personal pride.

“As soon as anybody comes in, they can see what I’m doing back there,” she said. “It’s real. Go back to your memory of your grandma’s kitchen, you saw the dishes, you saw the whole process. And more than that, I wanted people to see that it is scratch, I’m not buying the premade cookie pucks or the mixes, I want it to be as real as it possibly could.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com