Great Harvest Bakery Comes to Charleston!

Last week I made it over to the Belle Hall Shopping Plaza to check out the newest addition: Great Harvest Bread Company! Finally, Mt. Pleasant has a healthy bakery! Great Harvest focuses on 5 ingredients to perfect their bread:

1. Fresh-ground whole wheat flour
2. Filtered water
3. Fresh yeast
4. A pinch of salt
5. Something sweet (usually a local honey)

They do not use preservatives or additives either! Their whole wheat comes from Montana, but is ground fresh in store daily. The whole wheat comes from family farms, which means Great Harvest supports local crops. 

When I walked in, I had to smile at two familiar smells: fresh paint + fresh bread. Not usually smelled together, these two scents definitely brought a smile to my face. I was greeted by two friendly employees who immediately offered me samples of today's products. They had several different things shoppers could try: a couple of their daily breads, two different types of scones, a muffin, and and a huge assortment of dips, jams, oils, and nut butters! This was perhaps more exciting than the fresh smells!

First I tried a sliced of the Apple Crunch Bread with Naturally Nutty Honey Roasted Cinnamon Peanut Butter one half and Butter Toffee Peanut Butter on the other half. I was so excited to see the Naturally Nutty butters in their store! I was really impressed with the bread, and loooveddd my half with the cinnamon peanut butter. 

Next I tried a small slice of the Cinnamon Chip bread with whipped honey. This was ridiculously good. Both breads were so soft, had plenty of flavor and the ingredients were mixed well throughout. I also tried a bite of a Berry Cream Cheese Scone and had to feel my pulse to make sure I hadn't just checked in at Heaven. Nope, still alive. 

Here are some pics of the inside of the store:

Fresh breads that change daily. Pick up a schedule in the store!

Cookies, muffins, bars, scones, and cakes:

Sodas, teas, and local coffee:

Apparently each bakery's owner has some control on the products they offer. They call this a "Freedom Franchise" because "each owner has the freedom and flexibility to make their bakery a one-of-a-kind neighborhood destination." In the Mt. Pleasant bakery, they sell some exciting goodies:

Naturally Nutty butters, Great Harvest jams, oils, and whipped honey:

Soup and chili mixes:

On my first visit, I bought a loaf of the Nine Grain bread. It's a really light, whole-wheat bread with a hint of honey. It's so good that I've eaten a piece at least once a day with honey, peanut butter, avocado butter -- anything really! A few days later I couldn't stop thinking about that whipped honey, and ended up going back for that. Two days after that I was back for a Carrot Cake muffin! If you live in the Charleston area, you must must must check this place out. And be sure to sample at least a couple different breads, a scone or muffin, and the whipped honey!!