Erik Jacobs for the Boston Globe
Baked goods by Something Sweet Without Wheat in Woburn, Mass.
Sandy Federico and Christine Penney have always baked for their families, but revised their recipes to suit their loved ones’ and Penney’s food sensitivities. Experiments with rice milk and bean flours led the Stoneham sisters to start Something Sweet Without Wheat, a Woburn bakery with products free of gluten, wheat, nuts, and (mostly) dairy. The 2-year-old business began in their homes; they sold confections wholesale and at a farmers’ market. Last spring, they expanded to a commercial kitchen in Woburn, and before last Thanksgiving, opened the bakery to retail customers. Their first order of business was churning out 500 pies. “We love all the excitement,” says Penney. Popular offerings include whoopie pies ($4 for two), half and full loaves of bread ($4 and $8), and their signature lemon drop cookies (95 cents each, $9.99
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a dozen). Although they say the bakery keeps them plenty busy, Federico and Penney juggle other professions: Federico
is a night nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital and Penney is a hairdresser. Something Sweet Without Wheat, 19 Sixth Road, Woburn, 781-281-2003, www.somethingsweetwithout
wheat.com. SARAH MUPO