One Day Cure For My Cabin Fever: Flour Girls and Dough Boys

One day was all I got. Sigh. Snow, snow, and more snow. I am so over it. Now for the cure: Anyone want to have a girls' night? Chocolate, chick flicks, chocolate. More chocolate.

OOOO!!! Speaking of chocolate- I just remembered! I found the most divine place ever! On a recent trip to a place called American Fork I found a bakery that I INSTANTLY fell in love with. (Kelly- SO MUCH BETTER than our bakery on Main Street.) Anyway, it's called Flour Girls and Dough Boys Artisan Bakery and it's located about half a block off of Main Street American Fork near the Towne Cinemas. 35 N. Barratt Ave. (150 West)

I walked in and was hit by the overwhelminly delicious smells of fresh baked Artisan rustic breads including Sourdough, Asiago Cheese (20% cheese!), Homemade Foccacia, Baguettes, and more! I looked up to their menu to discover some of the other wonderful smells surrounding me were coming from their made-from-scratch-every-day soups and paninis. Yes indeedy! It's a bakery AND A CAFE! I turned to look at the seating and discovered a quaint little setting with around half a dozen small tables in front of a hugh window. The paint on the walls was reminiscent of a Tiffany's Co. jewellry box. Over the table were hung antique crystal chandeliers and the whole place was shiny and said come here every day for the rest of your life! Sadly, I discovered the bakery the same weekend I realized I am close to my first goal of losing 10% of my body weight [GO Weight Watchers!] but hey- what can you do? I guess the name "Dough Boys" should have tipped me off but now that I know about that place I must return. Many, many times.) The place was immaculately clean, which I appreciated, having worked in a bakery once upon a time. It seems like a lot of good hole-in-the-wall bakeries are filthy and constantly covered in a thin layer of flour dust. Not Flour Girls and Dough Boys. The brass was shiny, the glass was fingerprint-free, and there was no dust anywhere. Next time one of us passes through that region, we'll be sure to take pictures of it for you.

Now, the food. Oh, YUM! They had every sort of pastry you could think of (except donuts and really, I think donuts are far beneath them. Donuts are not even in their league). Everything is made with real butter (no margerine) and unbleached, unbromated flour. I tried a few bites of a huge gooey cinnamon roll purchased for Husband, sampled the soups (I've been craving the house specialty- Tuscan Sausage and Bean- ever since), and bought a loaf of the sourdough which I thought surpassed anything I have ever gotten in San Francisco. My favorite thing I had that day was the Coconut Oatmeal Raisin cookies. THERE. ARE. NO. WORDS. And I'm not even a raisin person! They have three kinds of brownies, chocolate-filled homemade croissants, and every other good thing you can imagine.

The new snowstorm could have totally ruined my day, but thanks to this place and their delightful name which captured my attention the first time I saw it, I didn't even miss the sun.If you pass through Utah, as I do on occasion, FIND THIS PLACE AND GO EAT THERE!
35 N. Barratt Ave. (150 West), American Fork
763-9232
Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (<- Note that, it'll save you some disappointment when you get there on a Saturday evening.)