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Food & Drink: Chef conjures vegan, gluten-free goodies

Blackbird Alchemy creator sells treats at farmers market

By Rachel Pinsky
Published: June 8, 2018, 6:02am
2 Photos
JoJo Reily, of Blackbird Alchemy, with her vegan and gluten-free cookies.
JoJo Reily, of Blackbird Alchemy, with her vegan and gluten-free cookies. Rachel Pinsky Photo Gallery

Five years ago, after surviving a harrowing health crisis, JoJo Reily abandoned her career as a Cordon Bleu-trained pastry chef. She held a variety of jobs trying to decide what she would do next. One of those jobs was working at the Nature’s Wild Harvest booth at the Vancouver Farmers Market, where she noticed a lack of vegan and gluten-free treats (she had changed her own diet in response to her health problems).

Reily decided to start Blackbird Alchemy Bakery to serve that niche. She felt confident she could come up with recipes for delicious treats but admits there was a learning process.

“I think it’s intuition, you have the training but then you need intuition. I was nailing some recipes pretty quick,” she said. “Just like regular baking, certain things have to be chilled first or when you bake them they’ll be flat. Certain things when you combine them with other things do weird things. I learned that I have to watch out with my baking powder with the oat scones because when you have baking powder, when it mixes with other things, it can have an ammonia smell.”

Reily explained the name for her bakery (Blackbird Alchemy) and the creation of its logo, “Blackbirds have always been my thing. It’s probably a spirit animal for me. And Alchemy is taking things and transforming them into something new so it all fit together. I painted my sign and just started painting on that and it all just came out.”

She stocks muffins (like chocolate decadence, banana chocolate chip, apple cinnamon streusel), scones (like cranberry orange), tartlettes, and cookies (like double chocolate chip, chocolate peppermint, cherry chocolate coconut, walnut chocolate chip, peanut butter, almond jam-filled thumbprint, lemon crinkle, hazelnut tea cookies, and coconut macaroons) at her Vancouver Farmers Market booth. You can also find her treats at Wattle Tree Place.

I tried one of Blackbird Alchemy’s cranberry orange scones. I like the way the coconut plays with the orange and cranberry, and the soft, yielding texture reminded me of the wet sand used to build castles on the beach.

I also tried several of Reily’s cookies (coconut macaroons, peanut butter, almond thumbprints with raspberry jam, chocolate peppermint, double chocolate chip, and lemon crinkle). The cookies were chewy, rich and flavorful. My favorites were the minty chocolate peppermint and the citrus-kissed lemon crinkle.

As I was eating the cookies, I thought to myself — I bet no one would know these are vegan and gluten-free. So, I tried a little experiment. I set the remaining cookies in a box on the counter and left them out when my kids (who are extremely picky about their sweets) returned from school. They found the cookies, ate them, and then — silence. The silence was broken five minutes later when the supply started to dwindle. My daughter, Kate, said, “The macaroons are so good! Don’t eat the last one — it’s for me!”

According to Reily, she sells out every weekend at the Vancouver Farmers Market. Hungry gluten-free vegans come from all over (including Central Oregon) to buy her treats. Despite her success and interest by others to help her expand, Reily is not changing her business model (she is the only employee). She likes to make everything herself and she values the interactions she has with her customers at the farmers market.

“To be able to make a living and serve my community is pretty awesome,” she said. “Every day of the weekend, when I am at the farmers market, people are so grateful and I don’t want to lose that.”


Rachel Pinsky can be reached by email at couveeats@gmail.com. You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @couveeats.

If You Go

You can find Blackbird Alchemy’s treats at:

 Wattle Tree Place, 306 E. 16th St., Vancouver, 360-389-3116, www.wattletreeplace.com

 Vancouver Farmers Market, Esther Short Park, Vancouver, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, 360-737-8298, www.vancouverfarmersmarket.com

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