Fulton bakery offers cannabis-infused confections

FULTON – Its glistening glass display cases are full of cookies, brownies and muffins, but the baked delights for sale at Fulton’s newest downtown business are unlike those found at other bakeries.

The difference?

Each treat baked and sold at Gold Leaf Bakery and Dispensary is infused with cannabis – anywhere from 4 to 20 milligrams each – for those wishing to enjoy the legal highs of recreational marijuana use in Illinois.

Jaysen Dyal, the owner of Gold Leaf, was in Fulton on Wednesday for the grand opening of the new bakery, located next door to Krumpet’s Restaurant and Bakery in the 1000 block of Fourth Street.

Dyal, of Los Angeles, has a background in biochemistry, accounting, auditing and marketing – skill sets that set him on a path for this investment in the cannabis industry.

Fulton, with a population of 3,500, was the right place to open a cannabis bakery for a few very specific reasons, he said. He said the community’s leadership and the presence of a two-year-old dispensary in Fulton show that the area is open to the idea of a bakery selling cannabis-infused products.

Another bonus is that the business next door, Krumpet’s, is owned by his cousin, so he has family ties to the area.

“We tried to get a feel for leadership for what their thoughts were and their feedback,” he said. “We really tried to keep in mind where the community is at in terms of the feelings around cannabis.”

The idea took about a year to become a reality, leading to a soft opening in October and the grand opening last week that brought business leaders from throughout Fulton and Clinton, Iowa, to the storefront.

Customers on Wednesday were lined up at the counters checking out the menu, getting a closer look at the baked treats and drinks, and placing orders. Gold Leaf staff members behind the counter were busy answering customers’ questions, something Dyal said they have been trained to do as they guide purchasers toward appropriate products – especially those who are not familiar with cannabis’ effects.

“It’s meeting the wide range of where people are for those that just want to start out,” he said, adding that it’s about trust. “We’re not here to just push the most expensive products. Let’s have a conversation with people, find out where are they. If they’re coming in totally blind and don’t know much, don’t trick them and say, ‘You can handle 20 [milligrams].’ ”

The products come in many forms – cookies, brownies, muffins, cupcakes and scones, among others. They are baked in the on-site commercial kitchen shared with Krumpet’s, but they’re baked at night while Krumpet’s items are baked during the day.

A complete kitchen cleanup is carried out after the cannabis-infused goods are baked to ensure there is no cross-contamination with Krumpet’s menu items, Dyal said.

The business also sells topical pain-management products.

Gold Leaf’s hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. For information, call 815-208-7146.