By Keisa Sharpe-Jefferson
The Birmingham Times
Have you ever heard of or tasted vegan cookies? Or how about a vegan cake or vegan cinnamon roll?
Birmingham native Alaynna Pruitt, 27, creator and founder of Healthy Foodie Bakery, based in Birmingham, sells a variety of treats and many of her customers say there is little to no difference in the taste of vegan desserts from traditional ones.
Veganism involves abstaining from the consumption and use of animal products, hence the mainly “plant-based” style of eating which includes mainly vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds.
Pruitt, a 2014 Ramsay High grad who grew up in the Roebuck area, started her business in 2022, to kick off the summer season with pop up events. She baked desserts such as cakes, cupcakes and other sweet treats for friends and family before, so this wasn’t quite a new venture.
What began as a hobby – she says she would bake desserts for co-workers, friends and family – has flourished growing business.
She learned to make treats after being inspired by watching one too many shows on Food Network and following some of their recipes. Not only did Pruitt enjoy baking, she developed a love for it and that was the motivation to take a job at a local bakery, she said.
She got the idea for her plant-based treats when she saw a void in the dessert marketplace for those with dietary restrictions. After graduating from Montevallo College in 2018 with a major in Communications Studies, she began working with a nonprofit. But once her term ended there, she decided to work at a local bakery 2019 -2020.
“It would always make me sad when people, who were (eating) gluten free or needed sugar free products, (would ask for items) and we didn’t have anything to offer them,” she said. “So that was the draw for me to start my business to give those people some options.”
Healthy Foodie Bakery has three top dessert items – cookies in flavors such as mint chocolate chip, cotton candy, banana pudding cheesecake), cakes (including chocolate, vanilla and lemon flavors) and sweet rolls and cinnamon rolls, Pruitt said.
She also bakes brownies and pop tarts. Her absolute favorite of all is her own Chunky Town cookie creation.
And she continues to make cakes custom order – with traditional ingredients or for those with dietary restrictions.
That means she has a dessert menu with options for customers who have no diet restrictions; vegan customers requesting desserts with no animal products (which is the greatest demand); and gluten free customers requesting desserts made without gluten, a protein found in wheat which adversely affects some.
Alternative baking products for her vegan desserts include applesauce, vegan butter, silken tofu and flax eggs.
And as for her vegan recipes, they are all Pruitt’s. Some examples include her novel cookie lineup like her Chunky Town cookie (featuring double chocolate chunks); the Cutie Patootie (sprinkle sugar cookie); the Brickhouse (an oatmeal golden raisin cookie) and Skool Days (homestyle peanut butter cookie.)
It doesn’t hurt that, while running her business, Pruitt also works part-time as a research cook for the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she does recipe development and meal preparation for different research studies.
Not only does she sell vegan foods, she also practices a mainly plant-based lifestyle.
She encourages others to strongly adopt this style of eating because of the health improvements that she has seen in her own life. “I really stress plant-based diets in general,” said Pruitt. I noticed greater focus and weight loss so I have continued.”
According to doctors, vegans, those who practice this style of eating, must monitor shortages in vital nutrients such as iron, calcium and protein. But the benefits also include diabetes management, weight loss and reduced risk of heart disease and certain cancers, doctors say.
Pruitt makes all of her orders from her home kitchen in Birmingham, which is the city she mainly services for now and says she will expand into a different location when the time is right.
She also has a passion for the food education and recipe development arm, which, simply means she enjoys creating recipes and sharing what she knows with others. She also won’t rule out partnerships with other bakeries in the future.
In the next few years, as her customer base grows, she also sees herself hosting community classes and events on baking with a specific emphasis on specialty diets.
Visit www.healthyfoodiebakery.com to place an order.
