Doughlicious Bakery opens doors in Warren to carry on family kolachi legacy
Doughlicious Bakery is the newest business cooking up savory bites and sweet treats in Warren.
Owner Jackie Brown, her husband Steven and her staff at Doughlicious Bakery officially opened at 1040 E Market St. in Warren.
The team has been baking since 2022, using family recipes from Brown’s great-grandparents to create staple baked goods like Kolachi walnut rolls.
Staff members are baking fresh goods in Doughlicious Bakery’s new customized kitchen with a pass-through window to watch them work their magic.
Visit Doughlicious Bakery at 1040 E Market St. in Warren and follow their social media for updates and special events like paint-and-sip nights.
Five generations of Makosky Kolachi
Kolachi is an Eastern-European style pastry filled with walnuts, apricot, poppyseed, cream cheese and fruit fillings.
They’re regularly featured on traditional Youngstown cookie tables at weddings and other special occasions.
“We started by selling our Kolachi rolls at local festivals, church and school fundraising events, business vendor shows mostly in Mahoning and Trumbull counties,” said Brown.
The legacy of home baking started decades ago with her father’s parents, John and Rose Makosky, residents of Youngstown, Campbell and Champion.
They’d make kolachi for their children, grandchildren and community members who were hungry.
“My family baked these bread rolls to eat and to share with ourselves. Any money made from selling them paid for the ability to provide holiday meals for out of town visitors and gifts for the kids and many cousins,” said Brown. “Our Makosky clan consists of over 40 local residents of the Mahoning Valley who are passionate about baking and preparing meals together. The word has spread for over five generations that our recipe is far richer in terms of taste and reference to how it is prepared.”
Kolachi takes a lot of time and physical labor to properly prepare, bake and distribute in a timely manner to maintain freshness, according to Brown.
“Over 50 years it grew into something much bigger simply by word of mouth,” said Brown. “The taste was so delicious that people told their families, neighbors, church members, etc. and that passion drove us to provide good food that fuels the body and soul. Our marketing has thus far only ever been word of mouth. I just recently started promoting on social media and it has increased our customer base tremendously.”
Building Doughlicious Bakery
Jackie and Steven Brown renovated the interior of the building to transform it into the bakery of their dreams.
Brown said she’s thankful for the resources she received as a woman-owned business, as well as support and direction from minority groups, nonprofit local organization Valley Partners and members of the city of Warren’s revitalization program.
“Everyone I’ve met and talked to have been very encouraging on the success of my business based on the location I’ve chosen and my ability to bake on a large scale,” she said. “My husband and I have worked day and night, weekends and holidays getting the building operational to be able to have the ability to serve our community meals and treats in our cafe in house, and to ship nationwide to people who can’t get a good Kolachi where they live. I hope to offer the rolls for retail to other local businesses. Several restaurants, bars, coffee shops have been carrying our nutrolls and have given us both the opportunity to bring in more funding.”
Support our journalists with a tax-deductible donation
Sign up for our Mahoning Matters newsletter
This story was originally published October 21, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Doughlicious Bakery opens doors in Warren to carry on family kolachi legacy."
