A Centre County baker is fulfilling a dream with new venture. She says it’s just the start

After launching her small business this spring and sharing her baked goods across Centre County, Nut Tree Bakery owner Lisa Nussbaum said she’s fulfilling a longtime dream.

“I did a lot of baking with my kids as they grew up. I love to cook and bake, and share that love with my kids, filling their souls and bodies. I decided, once they were building their own lives, to take (this) out into the general public and fill the souls and bellies of the people in our community,” she said.

Previously, Nussbaum owned a bagel shop outside of Philadelphia after graduating from college with a degree in education and worked in various other roles before staying at home to raise her three children. Now, though, the right connections and the right timing have come together to allow Nussbaum to realize her dream, and she founded Nut Tree Bakery earlier this year, in April 2023.

Nut Tree Bakery — “nut tree” is a play on Nussbaum’s last name and its direct translation from German — offers a range of baked goods, many gluten-free, for pick-up and delivery, as well as through Boalsburg-based Idou Coffee Co.’s coffee trailer, which appears at the State College downtown farmers market on Locust Lane every Tuesday and Friday.

“I knew I could connect with Idou’s coffee trailer and supply them with baked goods, but I also saw an opening for people who, like me, have gluten intolerances,” Nussbaum said. “I realized that there was really a want for something more than just store-bought (gluten-free) bread, something a little more artisan and something that wasn’t going to make your belly hurt. I don’t use any preservatives. I use whole grains. I use the freshest ingredients that I can.”

Beyond seeing a potential market for her products, Nussbaum’s reason for founding Nut Tree Bakery is also highly personal.

“My daughter is at Lock Haven University right now, as part of their program for students with intellectual disabilities,” she said. “There’s a real need for employment opportunities for people with mental health illnesses or intellectual disabilities, for people who fall through the cracks. I would love, at some point, when Nut Tree has a brick-and-mortar (storefront), to be able to employee those people, but, most importantly, to be able to offer my daughter employment if she should ever need it.”

For the time being, as Nussbaum works toward that brick-and-mortar storefront, she’s expanding her footprint throughout the county. She now offers care packages that parents can order for their Penn State students. She’s also slated to appear at events at A Basket Full in Boalsburg, where, if interest dictates, she may establish a “bread drop,” for convenient order pick-ups for those who live nearby. Her products will also be offered at the Idou Coffee Co. coffee trailer at every Penn State home football game throughout the fall.

“People have been really excited about the gluten-free offerings,” Nussbaum said. “I’m very particular about (them). I use recipes that are dedicated for gluten-free cooking and I mix my own gluten-free flour ... I want to offer gluten-free (items) that taste like (what) they’re supposed to be.”

However, Nut Tree Bakery is far more than just gluten-free treats. Nussbaum said she frequently sells out of her traditional sour dough, and seasonal offerings, like the latest raspberry lemon scone, also perform well.

“It’s super-moist. It’s so juicy with all of the fresh raspberries. It tastes kind of like that last bit of summer, still hanging on,” Nussbaum said. “It’s almost time for fall, but everyone still wants to hang on to those summer flavors.”

At the heart of everything Nussbaum bakes, though, is community, a fact that’s made apparent in the business’s tagline.

“Nut Tree Bakery desires to plant roots in the community,” Nussbaum said. “This community has been so good to me and my family, and I want to give back to it.”

Learn more about Nut Tree Bakery on Instagram or Facebook, @nuttreebakery, or online at nuttreebakes.wixsite.com/nut-tree-bakery.