BELLEFONTE, Pa. (WTAJ) –Two sisters can be typically found hard at work, in their home bakery in Bellefonte, crafting a unique set of sweets.

Sweets they say, that is near and dear to their family.

“Food has always been a way that we connected, with our grandmothers and our heritage, so it’s always been a dream to open a cafe or bakery, we just didn’t think it would actually happen,” said Leah Mehm, co-owner of Marie Lane Bakery.

Mya Swires and Leah Mehm began Marie Lane Bakery last October, with Keto-based recipes as their main ingredients.

They were inspired to bake at an early age by their grandmothers, but health concerns put their baking dreams in jeopardy.

“I was diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic when I was 28, and went about 10 years until 2017, and they found out I was not Type 2 diabetic, I was Type 1 and I have an autoimmune diabetes,” said Mya Swires, also co-owner of the Marie Lane Bakery.

“I was diagnosed in my 20’s with Hashimoto’s disease, which is an autoimmune condition with the Thyroid and I’m currently in the process of being diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, which is another autoimmune condition,” Leah continued.

Despite these challenges, Mya and Leah made the decision of changing the way they consume sweets, using plant based ingredients, sweetener instead of sugar, as well as gluten free products.

They say the response to their sweets has been overwhleming, even with the pandemic affecting their operation.

“We’re at three different locations, the Brew Coffee and Tap in Tyrone, The Cakery in Downtown Bellefonte, and Maine Bay and Berry in Lemont and State College,” Mya continued.

“We’ve had a crowd that has been really really accepted, we’ve honestly been very lucky the folks that visit the cafe in Tyrone, “The Brew Crew”, we call them our Keto crew.”

And they hope to inspire and feed people who encounter smiliar struggles.

“We’re happy just to share our products with people who have the same struggles that we do, and even if you don’t, even if you just want something that is not as much sugar, or something that is low carb, or something that is Gluten Free, we’re trying to have all of those elements into one and it still be delicious, and I feel it’s still a treat for you.”

Mya and Leah say they can ship baked goods all over the United States. To find out more about their sweets, you can visit their website.