HELLERTOWN, Pa – A popular bakery – known for its fresh, made-from-scratch confections – has expanded operations with a new retail location in Northampton County.

Allie’s Specialties, a gourmet dessert shop specializing in “deliciously large cakes and French pastries,” opened its first retail location Saturday at 31 Main St. of Hellertown, said employee Lindsay Lloyd.

The new bakery is located between New Star Chinese Restaurant and DiMaio Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria in The Shoppes at Hellertown.

For the past five years, Allie’s Specialties has used a Northampton facility — which is not open to the public — to make and distribute baked goods, Lloyd said.

Wholesale and online orders continue to be honored at the Hellertown location, with nationwide delivery and same-day delivery in the Lehigh Valley still available.

The Hellertown bakery is the first location of the business that the public can visit.

“We currently sell most of our baked goods to various coffee shops and similar types of venues in the Lehigh Valley area,” Lloyd said. “And we also do online sales of our cookies through our website.”

Allie’s Specialties is a family-owned business, serving a wide variety of delicacies made using decades-old recipes.

The owner’s grandparents — inspired by their home economics teacher, Allesandra — studied pastry arts and began baking professionally in France nearly 50 years ago, Lloyd said.

With the help of other family members, they went on to launch a handful of bakery businesses — under different names and with different focuses, such as bread and baguettes — over the years.

“Our family’s grandparents were inspired by this woman, Allesandra, who taught them the home-ec class,” Lloyd explained.

“She focused on baking and made some beautiful pastries where they got the baking bug. They went to pastry school abroad and developed their own variations of recipes all their lives, and we continue the 46 or so years of work.”

Over the past few years, Allie’s Specialties has built a strong local following thanks to the cakes, croissants and other treats available at top Lehigh Valley coffee shops such as Terra Cafe in Easton, Blocker’s Coffee House in Catasauqua, The Joint Coffee Co. in Whitehall Township and Gems & Joe in Allentown.

The Hellertown location offers the full menu of Allie’s Specialties, including cinnamon rolls, cookies and vinnoiseries such as croissants and pain au chocolat.

A wide variety of cookies include popular selections such as milk chocolate, double chocolate, chocolate pecan, oatmeal raisin, dark chocolate banana, and dark chocolate peanut butter.

There are also seasonal and limited-edition cookie varieties such as pumpkin chocolate and raspberry white chocolate.

“We will change our selections because we have a much larger menu than we can accommodate or show at any given time,” Lloyd said. “But we’ll always have a good mix of French pastries.”

In its first week, popular selections included pain au chocolate and traditional croissants, manager Jimmy Alotta said.

Other croissant selections, including honey, hazelnut and almond, will rotate daily.

“People can come to the bakery any day of the week and they’re almost certain to find something they didn’t see the day before,” Alotta said. “We’re also looking to introduce some savory croissants like spinach and artichoke and ham and gruyere.”

Allie’s Specialties, with the tagline “escape from the ordinary”, offers fresh daily treats such as fruit danishes, cheesecake, banana bread, chocolate imperial cake, chocolate lemon curd cruffins and various croissants including honey, matcha. and grains.

Most cookies are around $5 each, with different prices for other treats, Alotta said.

The Hellertown location, outfitted by Sean Carry Construction, features new flooring, drywall, countertops and kitchen equipment, among other upgrades.

Indoor seating is available for approximately 12 customers.

There is also a barista area with new equipment to prepare a variety of specialty coffees and teas.

Customers can enjoy craft beverages such as Americanos, cappuccinos, macchiatos and lattes with optional toppings such as caramel, lavender, mocha and white chocolate.

Alotta, who was born and raised in Allentown, moved back to the Lehigh Valley a few years ago after operating a cafe in Brooklyn from 2014 to 2020.

“We’re launching a really dynamic and comprehensive coffee menu that will focus on rotating coffees from different roasters in the Lehigh Valley region,” said Alotta.

“We’ll also feature some unique coffees from roasters around the country. I’ve been in the coffee business for 10 years and operated a coffee shop for six years, I have relationships with some really great, nationally award-winning roasters.”

Allie’s Specialties, which will also feature seasonal outdoor dining, is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The team is “super excited” to continue serving the Lehigh Valley community with the business’ first retail location, Alotta said.

“We’ll have something sweet for everyone,” Lloyd added.

“The vibe and culture we want to present with our baked goods is centered around the family values ​​of sharing and celebrating together. All items we make are shareable sizes. They were developed with the aim of helping families sit together at the table for longer, sharing together and enjoying each other’s company. So we are very excited to continue to bring people together through the unique flavors, textures and recipes that have been developed by our hardworking family over the years.”

Allie’s Specialties joins more than a dozen other Shoppes at Hellertown tenants, including Advance Auto Parts, Starbucks, True Value Hardware, Dollar General, Good Guy Vapes and Dolce Patisserie.

For the latest updates on Allie Specialties, follow the company pages on Facebook and Instagram.