Ruthie’s Rolling Pin has been baking Christmas cookies for a variety of customers since Thanksgiving. The owner and operator is Ruth Hietbrink of Sterling, who retired as a customer relations employee for Black Hills Energy in 2022 after a 26 year career.
“I knew I couldn’t stay at home and do nothing,” said Hietbrink. She got a job at Scott’s Place the Legacy and later took care of the plants at Tractor Supply. “My daughter, Meri [Heitbrink], knows I love to bake and cook and encouraged me to try my own business, thus ‘Ruthie’s Rolling Pin’ was born.”
The business kicked off with Hietbrink baking 12 dozen cookies. She has been putting her rolling pin to good use for about a year now.
“Meri knew exactly what I needed to do and how to go about starting my own business,” said Hietbrink who went on to earn her Cottage Bakery permit and food handler’s permit. Once these permits were obtained, then the doors opened wide with customers requesting cookie orders. For Thanksgiving on November 27, Hietbrink made cookies, cinnamon rolls, and an estimated 10 dozen dinner rolls for area customers. Hietbrink has also made several cheesecakes for a wedding. The cheesecakes were baked in small tin cups and then covered with a lid.
“I do cookies and treats of all kinds,” said Hietbrink. She added that she has learned to be creative and has added flavors such as banana foster, cranberry and pumpkin to her cookie baking list. “All you have to do is ask. Just tell me what you want and I will do it,” said Ruth.
“When I get done baking cookies, and see that the cookies look professional, it gives me such a good feeling.”
Hietbrink has baked cookies for business open houses with the names of the businesses on the cookie. She uses a printer that has food coloring as the ink. Her daughter creates the cookie design and Ruth prints the design on a sheet of vanilla fondant. “I follow all the guidelines and I always use the same recipe so the cookies are soft and chewy and I only use Watkins vanilla and tons of parchment paper,” Hietbrink said.
For her baking accessories Hietbrink usually has 25 pounds of flour, 50 pounds of sugar and she usually buys butter in four packs as she will use one pound of butter for one batch of cookies. She added that butter has become so expensive, yet she is thankful that eggs have come down in price.
Ruth recognized her mother, Marlene Straube, as a great baker who loved to make wedding cakes, cinnamon rolls and runzas. “I always stood beside her watching while she baked,” said Hietbrink. “I guess I cook a lot like my mom.”
Once the cookies are cooled, Hietbrink likes using fondant frosting flavored with almond. She seals the bottom of her cookies with a thin brush of corn syrup. Then she adds a “Ruthie’s Rolling Pin” label to the back before packaging them in cellophane.
Ruthie’s Rolling Pin has baked cookies for servicemen and women retiring from the Nebraska National Guard, the Sterling Jets’ school promotions, the Nebraska Department of the American Legion and its Auxiliary Unit, Christmas in July cookies for the women’s golf league at the Tecumseh Country Club, and Christmas cookies for Sterling area customers.
Sometimes, if she is really busy with her baking duties, her husband, Dan, and friend, Patty Harms, volunteer to help with the packaging. Dan likes to take some cookies to work so he can share them with other employees at Lincoln’s Water Department.
In addition to baking cookies for others, Ruth also likes to bake for her family during the holidays. These goodies include chocolate crinkles, star cookies, peanut butter balls, oreo balls, peanut brittle and toffee bars.
Hietbrink baked and packaged 40 dozen cookies for area customers at Thanksgiving. She also baked a variety of pies, such as sour cream raisin, pumpkin and cherry for her own family’s thanksgiving feast.
Hietbrink usually finds herself baking at least three times throughout the week. One time it took Ruth three to four days to bake and package 15 dozen cookies.
When it comes to baking flood frosting (liquid frosting in a tube) cookies, Ruth has her niece, Jenna Lempka assist her with decorating the cookies. “She’s amazing, she is like another daughter to me.”
Someday, Ruth hopes her daughters Lori and Meri will join in her cookie baking venture. However, Lori is busy with two small children and Meri is employed as the Human Resources coordinator at General Dynamics in Lincoln. She also takes care of the websites for the Nebraska Department of the American Legion and its Auxiliary.
Ruth and her siblings get together once a year for a runza baking day. They bake an estimated 10 dozen runzas to take home to share with other family members and friends.
This year the Hietbrink family plans to attend Christmas Eve services at the Hope Lutheran Church in Burr on December 24. Then they will return to Dan and Ruth’s home for a meal of oyster stew, open gifts and spend the remainder of the night playing games.
Sour Cream Blueberry Streusel Muffins
Streusel topping
3/4 c flour
5 tbsp butter
1/3 c white sugar
Muffins
1 cup sugar
1/2 c oil
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 c sour cream
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix together the streusel.
Mix together the muffin ingredients, but hold blueberries until the end and fold them in.
Bake for 15-17 minutes in muffin tins with liners.
Toffee
1 c butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Bring first four ingredients to a boil. Use a candy thermometer to check until it gets to 300 degrees.
Add vanilla.
Pour onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
*Optional - Spread 1 cup of chocolate chips on top, when they melt smooth the chocolate over the top.
*Optional - Sprinkle chopped pecans or almonds on top.
