Delightful Bites: Greene Co. Bakery Works To Fulfill Fried Pie Cravings
When David Schwartz was growing up in Indiana, he loved watching his mom make her fried apple pies.
“My first memory of eating them was when I was probably 8-10 years old,” Schwartz said. “They were delicious.”
Raised in an Amish home, Schwartz said his mom loved to bake — pies, cakes, bread. “I came from a family with 13 children — we ate a lot of pies,” he said, laughing.
Today, Schwartz carries on the family tradition with Dutch Maid Delights, a bakery specializing in fried pies located at 3790 Warrensburg Road. “I’m proud to make the pies now,” he said. “And my mom, oh, she loves them.”
Schwartz and his wife, Mary Rose, moved from Sarasota, Fla., to Greeneville in 2008. “We were doing construction there, but then the market crashed,” he recalled. “A friend suggested we move to Greene County for more work. We moved up here and we’ve been here ever since.”
Schwartz’ journey to becoming a baker started in 2019 when a friend sold him Joe’s Dutch Donuts, a popular food truck often found parked at Yoder’s Country Market in Bulls Gap.
“He did mostly donuts, but some fried pies,” Schwartz said. “He asked if we wanted to buy him out when he moved to Montana, and I said absolutely we would. He helped me get set up and started, before he moved away. We expanded the business three to four times larger than what we started with. We went from being in four locations to around 45.”
Meanwhile, Schwartz sold his business, Schwartz and Sons Construction, to his brother. “It wasn’t that hard for me to sell it, because I was looking for something different to do, and actually thought about opening a bakery several years before, then the opportunity came along,” he said.
At first, Schwartz and his wife baked and distributed the pies themselves. “Now, since we have such a large amount of pies to make, we had to hire employees to help with the day-to-day operation,” he said, adding that he has eight employees. “They all go through extensive hands-on training, so the pies turn out the same every day.”
Schwartz said he is proud of “the love our awesome employees put into making the pies.”
It definitely helps that Schwartz’ wife is a baker, whose first job was at the Black Buggy restaurant in Indiana. “Her job was to bake pies on her shift,” he said.
Today, the fried pies are made from scratch daily at their bakery, which is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Customers can select tasty treats from the display case or order pies online at dutchmaiddelights.com for pickup.
“If you want a lot of pies, like two dozen or more, you probably need to order ahead to make sure we have enough in the bakery when you come,” Schwartz said.
The fried pies – some call them turnovers – feature a flaky crust with sweet pie fillings that are deep fried then glazed with sugar. Prices range from $3-$3.50 per pie, depending on how many are purchased.
“Sugar makes the glaze shelf stable without needing to be refrigerated,” he said, adding that the glaze works best if made the day before used.
He offers 20 flavors, including local favorites apple, cherry, chocolate and peach. “Cherry is my favorite,” Schwartz said.
The Dutch Maid pies have gained popularity “because of our soft flaky crust,” he said. “When you bite into them, they just melt in your mouth. It’s a unique pie with a flaky crust that’s no longer made, and it’s a pie everyone loves.”
In addition to the bakery, the fried pies are sold at shops in multiple locations in East Tennessee, the Nashville area, North Carolina and Kentucky, he said. Local locations include: The Garden Basket at 1008 Tusculum Blvd.; Harvest Family Restaurant at 3124 W. Andrew Johnson Highway; Davy Crockett TA Travel Center at 195 Van Hill Road; Save-A-Lot Food Stores in Greeneville and Rogersville; Marathon Gas Stations in Greeneville, Afton, Mosheim and Bulls Gap; Mountain View Country Market and Bulk Foods in Chuckey; Yoder’s Country Market in Bulls Gap; and Troyer’s Mountain View Country Market in Limestone. For the complete listing of vendors, go to the website at dutchmaildelights.com/where-to-find/.
“One of our employees delivers the pies every day, Monday through Friday, with a van,” Schwartz said. “We don’t ship the pies because they’re not careful enough with our product.”
Eventually, the couple — who live in Tusculum with their children Dorene, Austin, Karena and Lily — hope to open a bakery on the 11-E Bypass in Greeneville. “And we want to expand to additional East Tennessee cities,” he said.
For more information about Dutch Maid Delights, call 423-552-7527. The bakery also can be found on Facebook and Instagram. Gift certificates are available.