Lynne Brege had a personal business selling her homemade candies until last December, when The Next Page Bookstore & More hired her as its head baker.

The 58-year-old Adams County resident says, “They tried me out, liked what I was coming up with and they hired me.”

Brege started with family recipes, such as her grandmother’s molasses cookies, when she began baking for the Decatur store, and she now makes muffins, cookies, bars and scones.

“It depends on the customers that come in,” she says. “It’s generally something sweet, something that goes with coffee.”

When it comes to picking a favorite cookbook, Brege says she doesn’t have one.

“I have favorite recipes, but I don’t think a favorite cookbook. I go to a website, www.allrecipes.com,” she says.

Brege says she also gets a few recipes from her church’s cookbook, St. Paul Lutheran, Preble, where her husband Daniel is pastor.

“I’m not a cookbook collector. I have quite a few that I haven’t opened for years. Twenty. I think the most I have is 20,” she says, adding, “When it comes to the meat and potatoes part, I don’t use a recipe. I shoot from the hip. Since it’s just the two of us, recipes make too much.”

Brege says her favorite hobbies are, “Baking, candy making and sewing.”

“I love sweets,” says the petite mother of seven, “We had desserts as a regular basis. Now I can make them and leave them (at Next Page), and I don’t worry about eating them.”

Q. What’s your go-to meal?

A. If I have peppers on hand, stir fry. Chicken stir fry.

Q. What’s your favorite cooking utensil?

A. Spatulas or rubber-scraper things or wooden spoons.

Q. What one word would describe your cooking style?

A. Kind of a little of this or a little of that. Sometimes I follow a recipe; other times it’s a little of this or a little of that. One time I needed sour cream and didn’t have it, so I used mayonnaise. It worked.

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins

Filling:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1 tablespoon sugar

Muffins:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons pumpkin spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup canola oil

24 pecan halves (optional)

For the filling: In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg and sugar until smooth; set aside.

For the muffins: In a large bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Divide half of the batter among 24 greased or paper-lined muffin cups. Drop filling by teaspoonfuls over batter. Top with remaining batter. Place a pecan on each muffin if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Makes 2 dozen muffins.

Molasses Cookies

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup walnuts, raisins or both

Melt shortening in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat; let cool. Add sugar, molasses and egg; beat well. Sift together flour, soda, spices and salt. Add to first mixture. Mix well and chill. Form into balls (about golf-ball size) and roll in granulated sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to wire rack after 1 to 2 minutes to cool completely.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen 4-inch cookies.

Cream-Filled Cupcakes

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1/3 cup baking cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, water and vanilla. Beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 15 cupcakes.

Filling:

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup shortening (can use all butter)

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

In a mixing bowl, combine butter, shortening, confectioners’ sugar, milk, vanilla and salt; beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Insert a very small tip into a pastry or plastic bag; fill with cream filling. Insert the tip down into the cupcake and fill until the cream comes to the top of the cupcake.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup cocoa

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream together and mix on high speed of mixer for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.