On Sunday mornings at the Tuckahoe farmer's market, you can find breads and strawberries and tomatoes and even hot sorpressata. But what you'll also find is a table chock-full of brownies, muffins, cupcakes and granola made from local and seasonal ingredients by three Bronxville-based sisters. 

"We use fresh fruit in season, eggs, and dairy products from our fellow New York State vendors. Sour cherries are in season. They'll turn up in our Cherry/Almond Muffins with Streusel topping at the next market," says Jody Milano, co-owner of Big Girl Baking Company.

"Unlike others who might do 50 markets a week, we're not constricted by a production schedule that requires us to churn out the same thing every week. We do only as many markets as we can personally bake for and sell at each week. We provide freshly baked goods, using local and seasonal ingredients, made and packaged by the people standing behind the table."

Those standing behind the table are sisters Regina, Aimee, and Jody Milano, who began their Bronxville-based company three years ago. Big Girl Baking Company was named after a photo of a friend who, at the age of 1-1/2, baked her first pumpkin pie.

"Big Girl is a state of mind. It's what we want to be when we grow up," says Jody. "We began informally with no real plan, fooling around with recipes, trying things that interested us and that we thought people might like."

Today, the company creates products that use no preservatives, unbleached flour and, says Jody, much less sugar than their competitiors. Their granola, for example, is made with with no refined sugar and sweetened with honey, maple syrup, and agave nectar, in 2 flavors.

"We've also chosen to make our products petite-sized, and packed with a lot of flavor because we believe less is more," says Jody.

Prior to starting the company, all three of the Milano sisters had corporate careers in communications: Aimee worked as a telecommunications executive, Regina worked in corporate communications and public relations, and Jody worked in the realm of television and film production.

"We all were communicating, all of the time," said Jody. "We're good cooks, interested in food, eating locally, and baking for all of the family holidays. Opening the business just seemed like a natural progression for us, as we consider quality of life choices. We also liked the challenge of creating something of our own."

A big plus for the company is the fact, as a small business, it provides complete control and ownership of products, improving the quality of every baked good from start to finish.

"I liken the way we do things to that of a chef/restaurant owner who gets up each day, sees what's good at the market, sees what she feels like cooking and then cooks it.  It's one stop shopping. She who buys it, cooks it and serves it forth."

Big Girl Baking Company's owners come from a heritage of great cooks, some of which provide inspiration for many of the recipes, including one of their best sellers: their cheesecake. 

"My mother was a great cook and baked a few things exceptionally well," says Jody. "Her most famous was her cheesecake, which we've adapted to an individual size and tweaked with a bit of pecan in the crust.  It's one of our best sellers and one which Florence Fabricant singled out in a blurb she wrote about us in The New York Times.  We've adapted a number of family recipes, including our biscotti."

While the company doesn't have a store location, they currently rent a comerical kitchen in which to bake. Products can be purchased through the company website, select retail and specialty shops in lower Westchester and their cheesecakes and biscotti are sold at a few local restaurants in the area. 

But the whole line of products are predominantly featured at the local farmer's markets, an experience that helps their business in many ways.

"Selling directly to the public is very gratifying. Since we're the bakers, we get to talk about our products, answer any questions and get customer feedback. We get to do our own market research on the spot. It also affords us the opportunity to present our products in different communities. Farmer's markets are like having a store in a different community each day. It's great for exposure." Jody replied.

Thanks to customer feedback at the market's, the company has developed a line of gluten free and vegan products.

"We've become increasingly interested in gluten-free and vegan baking, partly due to customer demand and partly as a challenge to come up with alternative baked goods that not only taste good, but look appealing. We currently are offering a selection of Gluten Free cookies, Vegan Cupcakes and an amazing Gluten-Free, Nut Free Chocolate Torte that is flying off the proverbial shelves.  We plan to expand our offerings of gluten-Free/vegan offerings in the near future due to customer requests." Jody continued.

For more information about Big Girl Baking Company visit their website at  www.biggirlbaking.com or call 877.721.3644 for questions and information about shops that carry their products.