Battle Ground’s scrumptious trifecta

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As Battle Ground continues to grow, options are increasing for a quick bite, a sweet treat and a spot to linger over a great cup of coffee and conversation. Here’s a look at three of the city’s most recent additions: 

Earthen Cup Bistro

Back in November, Battle Ground welcomed Earthen Cup Bistro. Owner, Libby Ek seized the 900 square-foot space located across from Battle Ground High School that had long been occupied by Opdahl Chiropractic.

Earthen Cup pours a full line of coffee drinks from Raven’s Brew Coffee. Bellingham’s The Spice Hut supplies their teas and spices. Breakfast sandwiches, breakfast burritos with homemade salsa, baked goods and yogurt parfaits are ideal accompaniments. Hearty sandwiches, soups and salads fill their well-stocked grab-and-go case or can be enjoyed on-site. Customers will find breads from Kalama Sourdough Bakery featured with select sandwiches.

With hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, Earthen Cup offers a breakfast hot dish in the morning, a daily soup and a hot dish lunch  special in the afternoon. Due to evening hours, a favorite lunch item — their Brisket French Dip with Brussels Slaw — can also become dinner fare.

Saturdays are made for brunch and two popular dishes at Earthen Cup are their Mini Breakfast Tacos accompanied by fruit salsa and Croissant Oven Baked French Toast topped with browned butter penuche (a rich frosting made from brown sugar, butter, milk and vanilla).

Battle Ground Sweet Shoppe

When Battle Ground Bakery put their shop up for sale, close friends Mary Anne Cheney and Katie Schoolcraft saw it as the perfect opportunity for Schoolcraft to finally showcase her pastry chef skills on a larger scale. Opting to steer clear of donuts, Battle Ground Sweet Shoppe was born and opened its doors to a steady fan base in January.

Located next to Cerveza Factory at the entrance to Old Town, it soon became clear that Sunday hours were warranted and they are now keeping Battle Ground’s collective sweet tooth satisfied in a space that over two decades ago held an ice cream parlor.

Tempting cases hold a variety of cupcakes, brioche cinnamon rolls, berry cinnamon rolls, cream cheese cinnamon rolls and hand pies. There are sweet options for scone lovers, like maple bacon, maple pecan and blueberry, as well as savory options such as cheddar and sun dried tomato and feta. Scads of cookies will change with the seasons but their current selection includes snickerdoodles, peanut butter, ginger molasses, sugar and Fleur de Sel chocolate chip cookies made with Jacobsen Salt. Decadent chocolate brownies are topped with dark chocolate ganache. The list goes on to include blueberry crumble bars, snickerdoodle cheesecake bars and more.

The Sweet Shoppe has even brought back ice cream. Seven rotating flavors sourced from Ruby Jewel out of Portland, to be precise. Fans of Whimsy Chocolates will be excited to know that they can buy these popular, locally-made chocolates here and even build a box to take home or give as gifts.

Gluten-free and vegan eaters will enjoy millionaire bars — made with a shortbread crust, coconut oil and almond butter — as well as vanilla cupcakes and a gluten-free, dairy-free sorbet from Ruby Jewel.

As a mom and grandmother respectively, Schoolcraft and Cheney are particularly excited about their kid-friendly area which features an indoor playhouse with blocks, a table, chairs and children’s reading books. A half wall performs double duty to keep kids away from the Parkway entrance door and act as bar-height seating for parents.



Even with the kid-friendly area, Battle Ground Sweet Shoppe has done a great job of breaking up their large space with cozy seating at the opposite end and plenty of bistro tables in between.

Dungeon Donuts

Donut fans, fear not. It’s Dianne Harris to the rescue. Turning a landmark circa 1928 church into a gathering place of a different kind was serendipitous for this community-minded business owner.

Shortly after Harris moved Old Town Battle Grounds from a two-story Craftsman-style home a couple blocks away to its current location in 2010, the “dungeon” (aka basement) was employed for prep work for the expanded coffee shop and deli menu.

When Harris heard that Cheney and Schoolcraft had purchased Battle Ground Bakery but were considering a change up, she reached out to confirm that donuts were not part of their business model. Similarly, Ek of Earthen Cup reached out to Harris before she opened her business.

Harris said that Old Town Battle Grounds has no interest in being a bakery but the basement of the church was underutilized and, with the loss of a true donut shop in Battle Ground, Dungeon Donuts was born.

In the roughly 300 square-foot space, customers are greeted by a life-sized version of The Blues Brothers and a Dungeon Donuts menu. The second room is where the magic happens and folks can order traditional donuts as well as drip coffee — the signature Stumptown that lured Harris into the coffee business in the first place.

On the donut roster are raised and cake donuts, filled, jelly-topped and bars. Apple fritters make a daily appearance accompanied by a rotation of peach, cherry and blueberry. Maple bacon bars feature Boar’s Head bacon. As a vegetarian herself, Harris taste tested a variety of recipes to come up with the vegan cake donut that they proudly serve.

Is a donut a donut? Harris says “no” and social media feedback would agree. Other than taking a tip from Old Town Battle Grounds — where Boar’s Head and Stumptown have always set the bar — and sourcing the highest quality ingredients they can, Dungeon Donuts’ manager was sent to a test bakery in California to try out different recipes and learn how to properly make donuts. A representative from the test kitchen then came to Dungeon Donuts for follow-up questions and training.

It turns out Harris was right. Battle Ground needed to retain a donut shop.

“It’s been a little overwhelming. We haven’t done any advertising except putting a few things out there on Facebook,” she said. “The community’s always supported me and I am very, very grateful for that.” 

Editor's note: in the days after this article went to print, Katie Schoolcraft, one of the original owners of Battle Ground Sweet Shoppe, stepped away from the businesses.