Jaarsma Bakery

Jaarsma Bakery is a bakery in Pella, Iowa, located at 727 Franklin St. It holds a rating of 4.80 from customer reviews. The bakery offers Dutch pastries and a full line of home-style baking, with featured products including Almond Banket, Almond Butter Cake, Dutch Letters, St. Nick Cookies, Puff Pillows, Butter Danish, Dutch Apple Bread, and pastry assortments. Orders can be picked up in Pella or Oskaloosa, delivered locally in either town, or shipped across the United States. A second location operates at 201 A Ave. E in Oskaloosa.

The bakery has been offering Dutch treats since 1898, when it was founded by Harmon Jaarsma, who brought his recipes from Holland as an immigrant. Harmon baked in two wood-fired brick ovens, loading bread first, then buns, Dutch Letters, cookies, and rusks as the ovens cooled, and the bakery also served as a coffee shop and the family's living quarters. Dutch Letters were originally made only as a special treat for Sinterklaas Day on December 6th and are typically shaped into an "S" for Sinterklaas. Harmon's son Frank learned the trade from his father and moved the bakery to its present location on Pella's town square in 1948, working alongside his sons Howard and Ralph. A fire destroyed the bakery in 1973, and Howard and Ralph rebuilt it on the same site. Family baking has been passed down for four generations, and the bakery is now owned and operated by Harmon's great-great-granddaughter Lisa and her husband Carl Larson.

The bakery sits on Franklin Street in downtown Pella, steps from the Civil War Monument and the Tulip Toren. Central Park is about a tenth of a mile away, as are the Klokkenspel, the Pella Post Office, and the Pella Opera House.

Four generations of family baking and a 4.80 customer rating reflect what visitors to downtown Pella have found at Jaarsma Bakery since 1898.