About The Story

Leola Bakes was inspired by author Stephanie K. Dunlap’s beloved grandmother, Leola. A woman whose kitchen in the Bronx was filled with warmth, laughter, and the unforgettable aroma of her famous biscuits. But it wasn’t just her baking that left a mark. Stephanie was equally inspired by her grandmother’s art of exciting storytelling, the way she could turn an ordinary moment into something magical.

Growing up, Stephanie was surrounded by a large, lively family: her grandparents, their eleven children (including her mother, Barbara, the eldest), their spouses, and eighteen grandchildren who gathered almost every Sunday for dinner. Those Sundays were magical in their own way. While with the younger aunts, uncle, cousins and siblings sat encircled on the kitchen floor listening to her grandfather’s stories or the bright notes of his trumpet, Stephanie often found herself watching her grandmother. There she stood in her favorite apron, moving with quiet confidence as she baked the biscuits everyone adored.

Grandma Leola kept those biscuits warm in a special stainless‑steel pot on the kitchen counter so everyone could grab a few before heading home. To this day, Stephanie’s aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings still talk about those biscuits and the mystery behind them. No one ever knew the recipe or discovered her secret ingredient.

As a child, Stephanie also treasured the only two books her grandmother read to her, stories she loved so deeply that, as an adult, she purchased them to add to her own library. She looked forward to reading them to her son, and to the younger relatives and friends who visited her home, passing on the same joy and wonder she felt as a little girl.

These memories, the storytelling, the biscuits, the mystery, the magic became the spark for the Leola Bakes series, beginning with Leola Bakes in Paris, the first book in the collection. In the story, it’s that very secret ingredient, inspired by Grandma Leola’s own, that whisks young Leola through a magical refrigerator portal and into a world of adventure, discovery, and delicious surprises.

Now, Stephanie invites you to gather your own family and friends, roll up your sleeves, and bake the Breakfast Biscuits and Le Ola Beurre Biscuits found in her book. And just like Grandma Leola, don’t forget to add a dash of your very own secret ingredient…you never know where it might take you.

Join Leola as she travels the world, makes new friends, learns new words and cultures while reinforcing her reading, math and science skills through the art of baking. 

Leola is inspired by her mother’s love of baking and more important how the two share that love with each other by building memories and enjoying family time, through their Saturday ritual of baking the “Breakfast Biscuits”.

Leola is excited about her adventures! In her travels she has the opportunity to meet new people! She is always eager to learn new recipes from other cities or countries while having fun sharing her own recipes! 

What is a recipe?

A recipe is a list of instructions for preparing and or creating a particular baked product or dish, that includes a formula of required ingredients. Leola likes to add a secret ingredient to her recipes. 

Reading and Baking:

Learn to read while baking! Have your child choose a recipe they’d like. Let them read the recipe from start to finish first. If they don’t know how to read yet, you or someone else can read it for them. Have them respond by repeating or echoing the recipe. Have them check off each step and each added ingredient. This will help them identify and teach them new words. Leola always helped her mother in the kitchen. When she was very young, she enjoyed putting on one of her mother’s favorite apron’s. Then she would help by putting the bowls or spoons on the table or counter, when she grew tall enough to reach it. 

Math and Baking:

Ask these questions. What is the shape of the product I will bake? A square, a circle, a rectangle or a triangle? How many of my baked product will my recipe make? Six (6), twelve (12), twenty-four (24)?

When measuring the required ingredients, be sure to pour or add the exact amount into your measuring cup or measuring spoons. Leola’s Breakfast Biscuits have a round shape and her Le Ola Biscuits have a triangle shape.

Science and Baking:

Baking is a science! Whether it’s liquid or dry form, carefully measure your ingredients. The exact measurement will create the right balance for your baked product. When you’re ready, like Leola you can add your very own ‘secret ingredient’!

A child’s age will determine how much participation they can handle through the art of baking. Be creative, they can enjoy baking at almost any age!