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For Father-Son Duo, Bakery's Mission For Those With Special Needs Is Personal

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- As you prepare your favorite Thanksgiving dishes, we know for many of you that includes pies and cookies ginger snaps, sugar cookies, cornbread -- it all sounds nice this time of year, especially for one family of professional bakers.

This week's Minnesotans to Meet started High Five Bakery out of their Minneapolis home. Bill Koch and his son Frankie are busy baking too, and with every dozen comes a special surprise. A high-five is served up with every order, and a visit to the Koch household is pretty much guaranteed to include a high-five.

Bonding over baking has become a year around recipe for Bill Koch and his son Frankie.

"We started baking things around Christmastime a few years ago and thought it would help as a way for him to see things," Bill Koch said.

Frankie is a senior at Southwest High School. His favorite cookies are frosted sugar cookies. Bill said those usually go fast. Frankie's iPad helps him share stories of trips to his classmates at school and also making sure he doesn't forget any ingredients.

"I think the really cool thing is Frankie can learn the sequence of events and every time he gets a little more independent," Bill said.

This baker has improved so much so that his dad thought starting High Five Bakery out of their home was the perfect recipe for success.

"The high-fives started a few years ago, and the fist bumps came out of nowhere too," Bill said. "We will give everyone a high-five when they pick it up."

Bill says the high-fives are Frankie's way of being social. Orange is his favorite color, which is why the logo, donated time by a friend of Bill's, made it all the more special.

Their first taste test was a holiday bazaar at their church.

"We had giant ginger cookies, chocolate chip cookies, frosted sugar cookies in shape of Minnesota," Bill said.

The father-son team sold out -- a sure sign of a salute to the cooks. Bill hopes this is the beginning of something even bigger, as his 18 year-old son prepares for his next chapter after high school.

"I think in a 'unicorn, lollipop,' world someday, it would be really cool to have a brick-and-mortar store that employed special needs adults," Bill said.

They are taking orders now. For the rest of the month, 10 percent off the proceeds are going to the Courage Center. For this month, they are making skillet cornbread with Rosemary for $12.50 and a dozen ginger snap cookies for $9.

Since they are a "cottage food" business, they can't sell outside of the state.

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