Theresa Langen, of Columbia Gorge Bakery, displays a tray of gluten free bread on August 9, 2022. Bread took a lot of experimentation to perfect, she says.
After recruiting a following of local customers, Columbia Gorge Bakery opened in Bingen, Washington in a former restaurant just off SR 14 in 2015, providing a variety of high-quality baked goods to customers from around the northwest.
After recruiting a following of local customers, Columbia Gorge Bakery opened in Bingen, Washington in a former restaurant just off SR 14 in 2015, providing a variety of high-quality baked goods to customers from around the northwest.
Pastries and berries wait on a counter in Columbia Gorge Bakery on August 9, 2022. The bakery sources many of its ingredients from local growers.
Flora Gibson photo
Industrial-sized mixers are needed to create the complex flour blends that replace gluten in Columbia Gorge Bakery in Bingen.
Flora Gibson photo
Theresa Langen, of Columbia Gorge Bakery, displays a tray of gluten free bread on August 9, 2022. Bread took a lot of experimentation to perfect, she says.
Flora Gibson photo
Cake and pie expert Sutton Lowry prepares dough in Columbia Gorge Bakery, August 9, 2022.
Flora Gibson photo
Resident cake and pie expert Sutton Lowry prepares dough, while Theresa Langen works nearby at Columbia Gorge Bakery, August 9, 2022.
Flora Gibson photo
Resident cake and pie expert Sutton Lowry prepares dough in Columbia Gorge Bakery, August 9, 2022. Flora Gibson photo
Flora Gibson photo
Resident cake and pie expert Sutton Lowry prepares dough in Columbia Gorge Bakery, August 9, 2022.
Flora Gibson photo
Columbia Gorge Bakery sells a number of items for customers to take home and cook themselves. August 9, 2022.
Flora Gibson photo
Theresa Langen displays a tray of the gluten-free cookies and donuts her business, Columbia Gorge Bakery, sells on August 9, 2022.
Flora Gibson photo
After recruiting a following of local customers, Columbia Gorge Bakery opened in Bingen, Washington in a former restaurant just off SR 14 in 2015, providing a variety of high-quality baked goods to customers from around the northwest.
Flora Gibson photo
After recruiting a following of local customers, Columbia Gorge Bakery opened in Bingen, Washington in a former restaurant just off SR 14 in 2015, providing a variety of high-quality baked goods to customers from around the northwest.
When lifelong baker Theresa Langen learned she needed to eat gluten free, she struggled to find quality baked goods that she could still eat. So she created her own suite of high-quality gluten free recipes, and that success grew into a popular bakery that serves customers, gluten free and not, all across the Gorge.
Langen is the founder of the completely gluten free Columbia Gorge Bakery in Bingen, whose high standards and gluten free products have earned her a far-flung following, even during COVID-19.
When Langen’s allergy to gluten became debilitating in 2006, she went gluten free. When she discovered how few quality gluten-free products available in the Gorge, she began experimenting with her own recipes, then selling them. Her goal was that “it doesn’t have to taste gluten free!”
At first, Langen sold her products in a coffee shop and at the local Farmer’s Market, and the business grew by word of mouth. “People started asking for my stuff,” she said. Soon she was selling to local restaurants and other venues.
Before Langen acquired the former restaurant in Bingen which is now Columbia Gorge Bakery, she had to rent a commercial kitchen. Every time she cooked, she had to clean the kitchen, bring in her materials, cook, clean everything again and finally transfer everything back.
Then Langen bought Columbia Gorge Bakery in Bingen in 2014, acquiring at a stroke both retail outlet and kitchen. At first, in 2015, the bakery was open for two days a week. Then, they went up to five days a week; then six; then, finally, seven.
Langen is especially proud of the bread. “We’ve worked really hard to get some bread I felt we could put our name behind,” she said. The technical challenges were enormous: Gluten is a protein, and if you take it out of a product and don’t adequately replace it, you end up with “a flat, hard product,” Langen said.
Gluten is also what holds the bread up, after yeast produces CO2 bubbles, and it attracts and holds moisture. To replace gluten, Langen and her bakers have to custom-blend a myriad of flours and starches in huge commercial mixers. They must also add something to hold moisture, such as xanthan gum. Langen’s background in biology and chemistry came in handy, along with her time working for a couple of different food companies. “In the beginning, not knowing if something will work is very scary,” said Langen, but in time, trial and error resulted in a number of successful recipes.
Most gluten free loaves are small. Langen’s kitchen makes large, high-quality loaves.
These high standards have translated to commercial success when tourists and local regulars alike return for more, creating a loyal following up and down the west coast and Columbia Gorge.
“People always ask us … They’re from Texas. They’re from North Carolina. Can we ship? Unfortunately, our product is so perishable, we can’t ship. If it takes longer than two days, it doesn’t work.” The bakery does not have a hazardous waste permit , which would allow them to ship on CO2. Gluten free pastry has a lower shelf-life than gluten, so everything must be cooked fresh each day. “That really limits us,” admitted Langen, who hopes to expand retail to another outlet in the future.
The bakery was even one of the few businesses lucky enough to be able to profit during COVID-19, due to the drive-in window, which they were able to keep open. Providing gluten-free products, even through a pandemic, was important to Langen, who saw it as a medical need, she says.
“The biggest joy that I’ve gotten in this experience is getting people who have to be gluten free, some joy back into their lives. And we get a lot of people who are not gluten free by choice, but by necessity,” she added. Celiac disease, or severe allergy to gluten affects about two million Americans and can cause severe illness, according to the Center for Disease Control. Gluten intolerance, which causes a less severe reaction, can also require switching to a gluten free diet.
“Because I do have food intolerances, I understand a lot about them,” Langen said, and the bakery also caters to allergies other than gluten, such as to dairy or eggs.
Langen runs the bakery and develops recipes with the assistance of her husband and an able staff.
“My staff are my tasters,” Langen said. “None of them are gluten free. If they like something, I think it’s ready to be sold.”
With this quality control, Langen has perfected and sold recipes for everything from biscuits and pizza to cookies and pies, with hamburger buns and sandwiches being among the most popular products.
Cupcakes are also a favorite. Says Langen happily, “Every Friday here is cupcake Friday!”
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