Old-Fashioned Origins

Although the company Baker Mills was started in 1994, its origins go back long before.

When our mother grew up in northern Utah, her father, Wallace Christofferson, would cook up a batch of hearty whole-wheat “hot cakes” for breakfasts. Grandpa’s “hot cakes” were thick and fluffy, made by whipping up some egg whites, and folding them into a bubbly batter. The bubbles were a result of adding baking soda and vinegar to the batter-an old-fashioned way of making the recipe fluffier.

Hot Cakes Tradition

Fortunately, after Mother got married, she kept Grandpa’s “hot cakes” tradition alive and well, nothing varying from the old-fashioned recipe. Waking up to the familiar aroma of sizzling “hot cakes” in the morning was a comfortable way to ease out of deep sleep.

Then one summer day in 1982, Mom decided she would mix up the dry ingredients of Grandpa’s “hot cakes” recipe and sell them to our neighborhood in brown paper lunch sacks. On the outside of each sack were the mixing and cooking instructions that she had carefully handwritten.

Once the sacks were all filled with ingredients, Mom loaded up her eight-year-old son Joel and sent him off to sell them to the neighborhood. In no time, Joel returned home having sold each mix.

Although the neighbors requested more of the mix, Mom decided her venture was a little premature and returned to raising her five children. However, over the next 12 years, the thoughts of selling her mixes never left her mind.

Baker Mills

Finally in the summer of 1994 it was time once again to renew her business. So Mom urged one of her sons, Jon, to start up her company again. By that time, Mom had even come up with a company name-Baker Mills, the maiden names of her mother and grandmother.

During the summer of 1994, Jon started putting the company together. In order to make Grandpa’s recipe an “add water only” mix, it had to be modified. He began this process by studying all about food ingredients at the library, testing batch after batch in his kitchen, enlisting the graphic art help of his elementary school friend Todd Schofield, and consulting with older brother, Tim, as well as many food experts. At last Kodiak Cakes, “Frontier Flapjack and Waffle Mix,” was ready for market. Today Baker Mills continues as a family business with all of our products staying true to our commitment to use only the finest and most wholesome ingredients available.