Anne Lindsay, 15, of South Buffalo Township, started baking sourdough last April and thinks she can change a hobby into a viable, profitable microbakery.

Anne Lindsay, 15, a freshman at Freeport High School, has a problem many business owners would love to share.

Her sourdough bread business, started in the depths of the pandemic last spring, is outgrowing her ability to bake enough loaves to keep up with demand.

Anne's sourdough business was born during the early days of the pandemic when schools, restaurants and businesses were shut down.

“I was bored out of my mind, and my grandmother sent me an article on sourdough bread,” Anne said,

She started baking sourdough loaves and rolls last April in her South Buffalo Township home.

“I fell in love with sourdough when I realized how amazing it really was,” Anne said.

“I think it is amazing to make a loaf of bread with nothing but flour, water, salt and a sourdough starter,” she said.

Pursuing her new passion, in October she started selling her bread on a scale of about two to three loaves a week.

The sourdough loaves she produces weigh a pound and a half each and can serve a family of six, she said.

In addition to the loaves, she makes rolls and has recently added sourdough soft pretzels.She enjoys working with sourdough more than regular dough.Anne said, “I find it a lot more rewarding. I've taken care of the starter like a little pet. I feed it every day.“It's a lot better for you than normal bread. Sourdough has low phytate levels. It's good for digestion. With sourdough, you're less likely to have a spike in blood sugar,” she said.And she discovered she loves sharing her bread with other people almost as much as she loves baking it.“I love the baking and the business aspect,” Anne said. “I love connecting with people, financing and curating emails (and) promotions.”She set up a website, www.bit.ly/Annemade, to sell her products and now is making 10 loaves per week.But now she finds herself at a crossroads. Her business has grown too much to be run out of her mother's kitchen using the family stove and a 5-quart mixer. Demand is outstripping production.And her mother, Virginia Lindsay, is beginning to feel crowded out of her own kitchen.“A lot of times I am, to tell you the truth,” Lindsay said. “What's hilarious is the dough becomes like crust. It's on the handle of the refrigerator and on the cabinet knobs. I haven't used the KitchenAid mixer in nine months.”To keep her sourdough sales rising, Anne's concluded she needs to expand.“My dream would be able to have an at-home fire oven and a Hobart 20-quart mixer,” Anne said. This would allow her to make eight to 12 loaves of bread in one session.Along with a commercial refrigerator to store dough, Anne would be able to move her operation to the family's garage.“We have a drive-under-the house garage,” her mother said. “It has a window we could vent the oven out. That's what we would do, convert the garage to her little microbakery.”Anne estimated she would need $5,000 to buy the equipment she needs and started a GoFundMe page March 14. She's already raised $1,800 toward her goal.Anne said she sees being able to make 20 loaves per week with the new equipment.“I want her to be doing school, not baking bread,” said Virginia Lindsay. “Let's try it with a limit of 20 or 30 loaves. It could be like an after-school job. I don't want her baking instead of studying for the math test.”“Honestly, this will be my high school job. I'll do it on the side after that,” Anne said.

Anne Lindsay, 15, of South Buffalo Township may turn the business she started during the pandemic into an after-school job.