Vegan bakery opening in Atlantic Highlands with cookies that are out of this world

Molasses cookies topped with crystallized sugar and decadent fruit tarts dripping with amaretto pastry cream are just a couple of the confections to discover at Wild in the Treats bakery in Atlantic Highlands. And they're all vegan.

If you're not, don't let that scare you away because if no one told this nonvegan reporter, I wouldn't have known the difference.

Tony Panzica has been a vegan for more than three decades and has worked in the food service industry for two, perfecting his craft, and mastering both vegan and non-vegan recipes. This is the first business he's owned.

"I finally had the opportunity to do something for myself," said Panzica, who has worked for more than 20 years as a baker, chef and manager at health food stores, such as Healthfair Natural Food Market in Little Silver, Dean's Market (now operating as Green's Natural Foods) in Ocean Township and Shrewsbury, and Nature's Corner Natural Market in West Long Branch and Spring Lake (now closed).

While he was grateful for the experience, from manning juice bars to supervising, and cooking non-vegan meals to pushing out 80 pies a night during the holidays, he wanted more creative freedom.

"Very little of the things I made were from my own recipes, I was just provided with them," he said, including meals that weren't vegan. But after leaving Nature's Corner last year, he realized he missed baking and wanted to experiment in it again.

"It was time to start my own place," he said. "I wanted to do something I really believe in, something I care about, somewhere I call the shots."

Concocting things like warm and sticky cinnamon rolls, chocolate stout bundt cake with Irish whisky ganache and Jasmine green tea whoopie pies, Panzica's bakery has become a sanctum of flavors.

"The word 'wild,' in the name, it's not just a word," he said. "A lot of the things I'm going to make will have creative flavors, like vegan cheesecake with pineapple habanero topping."

"I'll always have things like chocolate chip cookies and brownies, but I'm going to have some flavor variations you've never seen too ... [from] Christmas brownies with crushed candy canes, to raspberry peppercorn scones," he said.

Panzica was born in Brooklyn and moved to Belford at 5. He's now lived in Atlantic Highlands for 22 years and is eager to become part of the business community, and maybe see some familiar faces.

While he will be accepting catering orders soon, he plans on spending these opening weeks getting familiar with customers and settling into a routine.

He's hoping to be ready for larger orders by the holidays, when he can make bulk amounts of Christmas cookies.

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"I love baking cookies, I feel like I have more creativity," he said. "You can change the flavors, the mix-ins, do cut-outs and get creative with different shapes and decorations, different icings."

After all those years working in health food stores, it's no surprise Panzica values wholesome ingredients.

"Everything is vegan and all-natural; I'm never going to use artificial colors, flavors or preservatives," he said. "I'm trying to avoid genetically modified ingredients as much as possible, and a lot of ingredients I use are organic."

He also values environmentally sound ingredients.

"There are a lot of environmental issues that guided me towards veganism too, [just] as much as animal welfare issues," he said. "I really do care about the impact the foods we eat and grow have on the planet."

Panzica's veganism journey started during his college years, but his childhood shaped his mindset.

"I've always loved animals, but I never really understood what was going on, what we were doing to them," he said. "When I grew up, I learned about how we experiment on them, about the fur industry.

"And the more I learned about factory farming, the more guilty I felt eating meat."

This lifestyle change was also inspired by friends in an animal rights group he joined in college, when he wasn't a vegetarian yet. Despite this, they welcomed him with open arms, and he plans to do the same at the bakery.

"There are still a lot of people who don't understand veganism, and as I test out my recipes, I try to get it to people who have no real experience with vegan food," he said. "If they like it, then I know I'm doing it right."

With egg and dairy substitutes like JUST Egg, oat milk, flax seed, coconut milk and more, Panzica can create treats "just as tasty, moist and delicious" as traditional baked goods.

"I'm not the kind of person who lectures or tells you, 'You shouldn't be eating that,' I just want to let my food speak for itself," he said. "It could be just as good if not better than what you're used to."

Undercooked meat and less-than-appetizing meal options at his college's dining hall also played a role in this transition, relying mostly on pizza for his basic food groups. Eventually, he began cooking for himself and realizing the true potential of vegetarian and vegan food.

"I learned more about the environmental impact, how much water was going into raising livestock, the land being used and trees cut down for pastures," he said. "I realized I had to do more, so over the next few years, I stopped cooking with dairy and eggs."

Seeing an increase in vegan eateries has impressed Panzica but left him remembering a time when no ingredients were vegan, and even lard-free cookies were hard to come by.

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"People have become more open to veganism. In the past, some people would hear the word vegan and kind of recoil," he said. "Now people are more accepting of it, and they're willing to give it a try."

He knew he needed to get in on the rising local scene.

"I've been a vegan for 31 years and a vegetarian for four years [longer than] that," Panzica said. "I've been vegan longer than some of the people who own these new places have been alive... I [knew] I really should be doing this."

His only hurdle is finding staff. He is still interviewing and looking for applicants to contact him via Instagram direct message at @wildinthetreats, or email at wildinthetreats@gmail.com.

He plans to open in the coming weeks.

Go: 183 First Ave., Atlantic Highlands; Follow @wildinthetreats on Instagram.

Gabriela L. Laracca joined the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey in 2021 and eagerly brings her passion for cuisine and culture to our readers. Send restaurant tips to glaracca@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Vegan bakery NJ: Wild in the Treats opening in Atlantic Highlands