The Amish of Hazard (sort of) - Part II: Scotcheroo

By Kevin Williams

Miller's Amish Bakery's scotcheroo...

So, shortly after leaving the Amish Grille, I get back on the tiny country highway bound for Whitesburg, near the Virginia border.  But I decide I should fill up first, so I pulled into a Double Kwik, a chain of Kentucky convenience stores.  And what do I see by the register?  A rack of “Amish baked goods.”  So I snapped a few photos and bought a “scotcheroo”.   I wasn’t happy with myself for buying the Scotcheroo, because I was already failing miserably at eating healthy while traveling.  But the whole idea of Amish in the area intrigued me.  As I got back in my car to drive while munching my Scotcheroo I looked closely at the label and it said it was made by “Miller’s Amish Bakery and Catering” in “Lost Creek, Kentucky.”   I pulled over into a Family Dollar parking lot in Scuddy, Kentucky and studied my map.  Lost Creek was about an hour in the opposite direction in which I was headed.  I studied my map again and tried every which way to see if I could wedge a visit to Lost Creek into my schedule that day before dark settled in and eventually determined there simply was no way I could do it.  So I finished my Scotcheroo and finally this week got around to calling the phone number on the package.

I spoke with a very nice man named Tom Miller who owns the bakery.  He’s a Mennonite minister who runs the bakery with his wife.  Miller and his wife have lived in Lost Creek for over 50 years and they are Plain, part of the conservative Mennonite conference but they are not, as I surmised they might be, Beachy Amish.  The Amish recipes they use come from his Mom’s background, which is why they market themselves as an Amish bakery and catering company.

“Next time you’re down here you really ought to come visit this holl’er,” Miller says, describing a county that his home to several Mennonite churches including his, Cane Creek Mennonite Church.

So, there you have it.  Not quite Amish, but interesting nonetheless.     The closest Amish to southeast Kenutcky then would be across the border near Bland, Virginia.  The closest Amish in Kentucky to the Hazard area would be the Mays Lick settlement.  Southeast Kentucky is just a tough place to farm because of its rocky soil and hilly topography, so I continue to think the region will not experience a lot of Amish residents in the near future.

You can look for Miller's products in stores throughout SE Kentucky (Tom Miller said they make everything in a bakery beside their home).  But if you'd like to make your own scotcheroo, here is the recipe:

The Amish of Hazard (sort of) - Part II: Scotcheroo

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Serves: 2 dozen bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 6 cups Kellogg's® Cocoa Krispies® cereal
• OR
• or 6 cups Kellogg's® Rice Krispies® cereal
• 1 package (6 oz., 1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 1 cup butterscotch chips

Instructions

1. Place corn syrup and sugar into 3-quart saucepan.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in peanut butter.
4. Mix well.
5. Add KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal.
6. Stir until well coated.
7. Press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray.
8. Set aside.
9. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in 1-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.
10. Spread evenly over cereal mixture.
11. Let stand until firm.
12. Cut into 2 x 1-inch bars when cool.

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