Wholesale & Farmer’s Markets: Become A Vendor
If you own, or frequent, a small downtown market or your local friendly Farmer’s Market, recommend Johnny & Elle Handmade Artisan Bakery & Spices. We ship nationwide, & all of our recipes are our own. Johnny & Elle hand make each item, from scratch, to be the best version of that item that it can be. Our specialty: a beautiful balance of sweetness, earthiness, decadence with a contrasted crisp exterior & chewy interior textures.
Our items are artisan made in a commercial kitchen small town Americana Woodstock, Illinois. We use Raw Honey, Pure Cane Sugar, Whole Wheat Flour and Unbleached Flour, Mediterranean Sea Salt, Rich Butter, & the best outcome each of our products can have. We use our experience in catering, cooking from scratch, & being boldly unique to create some of the best products possible.
If you want to inquire about carrying Johnny & Elle Artisan Handmade submit your information here.
FAQs
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Send us an email JohnnyAndElles@gmail.com
Text us your late night thoughts (815) 669-0351
We hand make each and every order and ship multiple days each week. Expect a 4-8 day lead time for orders.
What about allergens?
If you are Celiac, or allergic to nuts, I encourage you to take caution when ordering. Though each batch of cookies, toffee, brownies, et cetera…. are made by hand, in cleaned cookware, we operate in a small space full of different nut types, flour types, and allergens in general that are not separated. We recommend going to a specialty bakery that specializes in gluten free, nut free, dairy free, et cetera….
Do you use organic ingredients?
The short answer is, sometimes. It’s not our mission to use organic, or even the most expensive ingredients, but to use the best combinations of ingredients. We use Ghirardelli chocolate in particular because of its quality, consistent traits. We use multiple sugars and sweeteners, flours, butters, and even vanillas based on which brands and quality traits suit the end product the best. Some say Johnny has a natural talent of utilizing the right combinations and ratios of ingredients to make the end product the most significantly and uniquely made products.
How did you make the Maurice Lenell Pinwheel Cookies Recipe?
Johnny made a couple of versions of ‘copycat’ recipes online, but they were not close, not even a little bit, to what the Maurice Lenell Pinwheel Cookies were. They were good for cookies in general, but this passion project in particular is one that Johnny had been thinking about for almost two decades. So Johnny really started from scratch, although he now had information on what ‘not to do’ when making Maurice Lenell Pinwheel Cookies version. The process that Johnny came up with is incredibly labor intensive, but that might by why Johnny & Elle’s Handmade Kitchen got closest to the original cookies than anyone else. One difference that can be noted is that Johnny & Elle decided to use natural color sugar crystals (which are very, very, very limited in options) to coat the cookie dough, where Maurice Lenell almost certainly used regular dyed sanding sugar. We made the decision to make a cleaner product, and though the end product is near identical to what Johnny remembers growing up, the added ‘pops of sugar’ crystal texture to our Maurice Lenell Pinwheel Cookies version.
What makes your handmade products better than the others?
Johnny & Elle are born naturals at flavor combinations, textural balances, and creating unique products; because of this they don’t follow classical guidelines, weren’t classically trained, and don’t live in a box of ‘must’ or ‘have to’ thoughts. This freedom to explore, without worry of how we will be perceived, without structural societal restrictions, without the arrogance of perfection… these are the things that make Johnny & Elle’s Artisan Handmade unique, so you know when you trust us with your support, we will deliver something you can’t get anywhere else.
Why all the “Chicago” connections?
Johnny’s claim to fame is creating an award winning giardiniera and condiment company, “Chicago Johnny’s Co.” He also spent over a decade researching Chicago style pizza making at home. Johnny authored “The Chicago Pizza Cookbook” available on Amazon here. Johnny has been featured on ABC’s Windy City Live and WGN Morning News. Elle grew up working in restaurants, born in Chicagoland, took a slight early 20’s detour to Florida to have some very bad pizza and sandwiches, and ended up back in Chicagoland.
How do you develop your unique recipes?
Most recipes are created with a spreadsheet, note taking, and an open cabinet of ingredients. Sometimes we’ll look at basic ratios of sugar to flour, or salt content, or something along those lines. However, almost all of it is trial and error. Make a small batch, try it, really sit on it for a few hours, maybe some days. Take some notes on our thoughts, then try to develop contrast of flavors or textures, or fortification of flavors or textures… should we go savory, should we go sweet, what is the best flour combination for depth of flavor… would this benefit from a different fat type…. So the short answer is, experience and a natural understanding of balance of flavor.
Do you wholesale your gourmet bakery goods and spice blends?
Do you do custom orders or party & wedding favors?
Absolutely we do. This is done on a case by case basis so we have to write up invoices for orders. Contact us if you are interested in party or wedding favors from Johnny & Elle’s.