Can dessert-lovers, gluten-free folks, and superfood fans find common ground? Teena North of Power Yummies thinks they can. Power Yummies focuses on high-quality gluten and nut free desserts that are packed with superfoods. Her desserts are healthy and full of nutrients, but first and foremost, they’re delicious!

Teena started Power Yummies in 2016 as a stay-at-home mom who had recently been diagnosed with a gluten sensitivity. Her daughter was attending a nut-free preschool and Teena was trying to find ways to share desserts, and maybe get some health benefits at the same time.

It took a lot of experimentation and trial and error to get to the Power Yummies menu that you can find at farmers markets today. Teena is incredibly particular about the flavors and tastes of each Power Yummies treat, and won’t bring any new flavors to market until she is 100% satisfied with how it tastes.

The menu is also influenced by Teena’s own palate, “the flavor combinations comes from a lot of memory, and nostalgia like ‘oh, I want to taste this right now,’” she says. “It's always just a whim. It's like art to me.”

Power Yummies began with Teena’s daughter in mind, and her daughter has been involved in the creative process as well. Many of the ideas for Power Yummies treats came from characters that Teena and her daughter created with the baked goods in mind. Her broccoli brownie came from a character called B-squared that she and her daughter came up with.

Teena’s daughter is also involved in the product development for Power Yummies. “She is my cheap taste tester,” Teena laughs. There are certain veggies that her daughter hates, so when she can make a treat using the ingredients that her daughter dislikes and still get a compliment on the taste, she knows she’s on the right track.

“She's like, ‘I can taste cauliflower’ and I know that's a negative. Because she's like, ‘No, it's still good.’ But I know it's not good enough. If your first thought is cauliflower, we're not hitting the mark. So she's pretty honest,” Teena says.

Teena’s philosophy about Power Yummies is reflected in the way she works with her daughter to integrate just a few more veggies into the treats she eats. “I always like to think of Power Yummies as the gateway food to a superfood lifestyle. Because if you're open enough to eat broccoli in your brownies, or cauliflower in your cakes, your mind can be open to also enjoying these things in other forms,” she says.

She doesn’t expect people to try one Power Yummies treat and suddenly switch to a completely different diet. She hopes that her treats will simply open people’s minds to integrating veggies and superfoods into their diets in ways they may have never considered before. “If you're trying to eat better, start with eating different,” she says.

To Teena, Power Yummies is a bakery of the future. Her tagline used to be: “a future forward bakery on a mission to redesign treats one veggie at a time.” As people are becoming more conscious of the food that they eat and what they put in their bodies, Teena will be ready to provide them with healthy treats to make the transition to a healthier lifestyle just a little easier.

You can find Teena and her sweet treats at the University District Farmers Market every Saturday from 9-2!