By Bobbie Langston

Three days. That’s how long it takes Kaycee Dillon to make a single croissant at Texas Bakehouse in Nacogdoches.

Day one begins with a poolish – a preferment mixed eight to twelve hours ahead to start building depth of flavor. Day two is when the dough is mixed and left to rest overnight, developing slowly and naturally. Day three is where the magic happens. High-quality European butter is laminated into the dough, creating about twenty-seven delicate layers. The dough is rolled, shaped, chilled, then proofed overnight again. By early morning, the croissants go into a very hot oven and come out golden and layered.

All of that, for something that might be eaten in a matter of minutes.

“But that time – it matters,” Kaycee says. “You can taste it.”

From Austin Kitchens to a 10-Foot U-Haul

Kaycee didn’t come up through culinary school. Her training happened in Austin, where she moved through high-end restaurants and kitchens, learning wherever she could – often without pay, just to gain experience and absorb knowledge. She didn’t have a college education, and for a while that made the future feel uncertain. The food industry became her classroom.

“The people I worked with – chefs, bakers, coworkers – left a lasting imprint on how I approach food today,” she says. “Their influence shows up in everything I make, not just for the bakery, but for the people I love.”

By 2020, the world felt like it was shifting beneath everyone. The pandemic changed not just routines, but the way people lived and saw their futures. Kaycee felt it deeply – and the fast-paced, high-pressure restaurant industry in Austin was burning her out. So she did something equal parts terrifying and necessary. She quit her job, broke her lease, packed everything she owned into a 10-foot U-Haul, and left the city with her best friend Aida – her dog – riding shotgun.

She took a job as a ranch hand in Brenham, working on a regenerative pasture poultry and beef ranch. It was completely unfamiliar territory, and that was the point. “A part of me needed to know,” she says. “How strong am I, really?”

The work was demanding in ways she hadn’t experienced – long days shaped by weather, animals, machinery, and the limits of her own body. The answer came quietly and steadily: she was much stronger than she thought.

Baking, Rediscovered

In the small ranch hand cottage where she lived, in the fleeting pockets of free time she could find, Kaycee started baking again. At first it was for small reasons – dewberry season, birthdays, holidays, the simple excitement of a new ingredient. But the more she baked, the more she realized how much she had missed it.

Out there, away from the noise of the city, things came into focus. She wasn’t just baking to pass the time. She was reconnecting with something that felt essential – a deep joy not only in the process, but in what it gave to others. There’s something special, she says, about offering someone a pastry made with intention. Watching it warm them, comfort them, slow them down even just for a moment.

That’s where Texas Bakehouse truly began – in a small ranch hand cottage in rural Texas, where she had the space to listen to herself and understand what mattered.

Coming Home to the Pines

When her time on the ranch ended, East Texas felt like the natural next step. Her mother, Suzan, lived in Lufkin, and Kaycee had spent many summers growing up in Nacogdoches with her aunt and cousins. She had always loved this part of the state – the pine trees, the way they scent the air, the wildflowers and open pastures. There’s a rhythm here, she says, that feels grounded and real.

She moved to Nacogdoches in February 2021 and got to work. By April, she was selling a small menu of pastries at the Nacogdoches Farmers Market. It started simply – just four items – but people showed up. They tasted, they came back, they told their friends. “That kind of support is something I wasn’t expecting,” she says, “but am deeply grateful for.”

Being part of the Nacogdoches community has reinforced that belief in ways she didn’t expect. There’s a genuine sense of care here, she says – people who take the time to connect, to support one another, to show up. “That kind of environment allows something like Texas Bakehouse to exist, and more importantly, grow. I truly don’t think I could have come this far without the support of our community.”

Real Butter, Real Time, Nothing Wasted

Kaycee’s almond croissant is her personal favorite. It’s made from butter croissants that didn’t sell the day before – soaked in a house-made vanilla brandy syrup, filled with frangipane, and baked again. “Nothing is ever wasted,” she says. “Everything transformed. There’s a kind of honesty in that process that feels important to me.”

Making food this way isn’t the easiest or cheapest path – especially right now. Ingredient costs continue to rise. Speed and convenience often take priority over quality. Many foods, she says, have quietly drifted further away from what they once were. Corners get cut. Shortcuts become standard. And over time, people forget what something is supposed to taste like.

At Texas Bakehouse, Kaycee has chosen to go the other direction, even when it’s harder. Real butter. Quality flour. The time things require. Those choices affect pricing, they affect production, and they sometimes mean making difficult decisions. But she believes people can taste the difference. More than that, she believes they can feel it.

Wholesale, A Husband, and What’s Next

These days, Texas Bakehouse has shifted to wholesale. Kaycee no longer sells at the farmers market, but it’s exciting, she says, to see the bakery reach people in new ways. You can currently find Texas Bakehouse pastries at Dilly Dally Coffee Shop and the Granary Health Food Grocery Store in Nacogdoches, with high hopes of expanding into surrounding towns like Tyler, Lufkin, and Livingston in the very near future.

Looking ahead, Kaycee and her husband Austin – owner of Counter Coulter Farms – are building not just businesses, but a life together, one they hope will soon include a child. Occasionally she bakes with Austin’s grass-fed beef, and his beef can also be found at the Granary. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the world right now, she says, and building something meaningful inside that uncertainty isn’t always easy. But it feels worth it.

A Kind of Vote

If there’s one thing Kaycee has learned through all of it, she says, it’s that where you spend your money matters more than people often realize.

“Every purchase is a kind of vote – for quality or convenience, for care or shortcuts, for something made with intention or something made to simply get by. When you choose to buy from local makers, farmers, and small businesses, you’re doing more than supporting a product. You’re supporting a person, a family, a set of values, and a way of doing things that prioritizes integrity over efficiency.”

Texas Bakehouse exists, she says, because people chose to support it. “Every time someone buys a pastry, they’re not just buying something to eat. They’re helping keep something honest alive. They’re choosing quality, connection, and community in a small but meaningful way. I will be forever humbled by their belief in my dream.”

Find Texas Bakehouse

Texas Bakehouse pastries are available at Dilly Dally Coffee Shop and the Granary Health Food Grocery Store in Nacogdoches.