TOWNSEND -- A good bakery can be hard to find.

Particularly when you drive Montana backroads.

But those who travel highways 287 and 12 through Broadwater County won't be disappointed.

A cup of joe and a warm doughnut lure many a traveler and Townsend resident through the door of the cozy Mountie Moose Bakery at 109 Broadway.

Inside, one's eyes are riveted by the delectable delicacies lying in a long, gleaming, glass case that rests along one side of the log-cabin shop.

Many a morning there is a crowd of half-awake customers chatting at the tables, sipping lattes and indulging in doughnuts.

So many choices beckon: turnovers, bagels, pumpkin bars, along with blueberry and pumpkin pies, carrot cake, French bread, chocolate-chip cookies and brownies.

For those who want a break from sweets, Mountie Moose serves breakfast sandwiches, burritos or biscuits and gravy and a lunch menu.

"It's a lot of work," says owner Angie Wintrow. "But we have way more fun than we should. We all get along," she says of her small staff.

They also have earned a lot of happy customers in the three years since the business opened its doors.

"We get a lot of praise. We get tons and tons of compliments," says Wintrow.

She's also been known to go more than the extra mile to serve happy customers.

Take a recent Saturday night, when she drove over the icy and wind-swept route to White Sulphur Springs, bearing a multi-tiered wedding cake.

"I'm more comfortable knowing I'm the one who stacked it and it looked gorgeous when I left," she says of her in-person delivery service.

"Baking was just something I always liked to do," says Wintrow. "It was always the fun part of growing up -- baking with grandma and my aunts. This is what I wanted to do."

And she's pleasantly surprised to find herself running her business in Townsend.

Townsend -- once a vacation spot for Wintrow and her husband -- is now the place they call home.

Word of the little, downtown bakery has begun to spread.

Customers, even during a recession, come from near and far -- Bozeman, Big Sky and Helena n in search of doughnuts, pastries and bread fresh from the oven.

Reporter Marga Lincoln: 447-4074 or marga.lincoln@helenair.com