Colorado Students Enjoy Scratch Baked Foods

Students in Cherry Creek School District 5 (Colorado) enjoy sandwiches on fresh bread, granola in their parfaits and dinner rolls with their salad made fresh from scratch by members of the nutrition team. For more than five decades, the district southeast of Denver has been making in-house baked goods to serve students. The bakers make everything from whole wheat bread and streusel breakfast bread to cinnamon rolls, cornbread and crumble topping for fresh apple crisp.  Through the years, recipes have been adjusted and new items have been added to the menu.

“All of the products produced by the bakery meet nutrition standards. For example, all of the breads are made with whole wheat flour,” said Kim Kilgore RD, SNS, Director of Food and Nutrition Services for Cherry Creek Schools.  Over the summer, recipes were tested so all the breads can be made egg- and dairy-free.  

Since the start of the 2023 school year, the bakery has produced more than 3,200 loaves of wheat bread. The bread is baked, sliced and packaged to freeze until is needed in the menu rotation.  Cherry Creek School District has a central warehouse that delivers the in-house baked goods to all of its 68 schools. 

The district is proud of its team and opens its doors to the community twice a year to show off the bakery operation. During National School Lunch Week in October and in March during National School Breakfast Week, they offer tours of the warehouse and freezers. The bakery hosts activity centers for students and a chance for parents to speak to a dietitian and get samples of baked goods served with the school meals.

Community outreach continues throughout the school year. According to Kilgore, twice a month members of the bakery team do taste tests of different recipes in schools to hear what the students like and want to see offered on menus.  

“It is great for the team members to get feedback and to see the benefits of their labor,” said Kilgore. “One of my favorites is our Cowboy Bread, which is basically a cinnamon streusel coffee cake.”

More than half of the students in the Cherry Creek School District eat lunch at school each day. Starting in the school year 2023-2024, all meals are provided free for students in Colorado under the voter-approved Healthy School Meals for All Program.

A planned expansion of its warehouse will allow the Cherry Creek team to increase the number of menu items they make to include whole wheat hamburgers and hot dog buns. In the future, the district hopes to be able to provide its baked goods to some nearby school districts as well.