PITTSBURGH — John Bundy has a golden touch when it comes to selling people on a product.

At age 13, he was helping his father, David, sell Corvettes at the family auto business in Glenwillard, Pennsylvania. By the time he was of driving age at Moon Area High School, he was taking customers out on test drives and closing deals.

“I got a $100 commission on every car I sold,” Bundy, now 50 and a McCandless father of four, recalls with a laugh. “I had to make them look perfect on the lot so I could sell one to every person who came in.”

Still, he needed to earn a college degree before he was allowed to work for Bundy Baking Solutions, an arm of the commercial baking pan manufacturing company his grandfather John founded in 1959 with his brother, Russell.

He chose to study education at Carlow University and after graduating in 1998 worked in the company’s real estate division for the next decade before switching to the manufacturing side of the business when the housing market crashed.

It was there that Bundy really spread his wings — and made baking safer and easier for home bakers across the globe.

In 2008, his cousins Stacey Barcia and Michelle Marino happened to read an article about dough makers in an in-flight magazine while they were traveling on an airplane. The family business, based in Crescent, had grown to become the world’s largest manufacturer of pans for professional and industrial bakers, thanks to its specialized coatings and designs.

But they’d never explored selling their pans to consumers for use at home.

“And they thought, ‘Can’t we do this, too?’” Bundy recalls.

So the sisters brought the idea back to the company’s Premier Pan division, which specializes in large commercial cookware, and soon Bundy was brought onboard to explore how the company might modify its bakeware — designed for very large, high-volume industrial ovens — to fit into a home oven.

It took only about three months to get the company they named USA Pan up and running in the retail sector with a smaller, consumer-friendly product, Bundy says.

“We started in January and were getting sales by March,” he says.

They started with eight pans, including three that are among the most basic essentials for home bakers — an 8-by-8-inch pan for brownies, a 9-by-13-inch rectangular cake pan and a rimmed half-sheet.

One of the first baking-related companies to take a chance on the new products was King Arthur Flour. Before long, Sur La Table, Crate and Barrel, OXO and Williams Sonoma followed with private label pans stamped with their logos, and the brand is extremely popular with a variety of independent mom-and-pop shops, as well.

The choices have grown as the company has expanded its reach under Bundy’s direction. Today, USA Pan counts more than 500 American-made products under its own name and for private labels and sells millions of them each year worldwide.

What that means in everyday life is that if you know someone who’s serious about baking, there’s a good chance his or her pantry or kitchen cabinet holds at least one piece — and probably many more — of USA Pan’s bakeware.

They cost a little (and sometimes a lot) more than bakeware at a big box store or discount retailers. But every baker knows a good pan can make all the difference. We want Bundt and pound cakes that release without sticking when turned upside down, and cookies that slide right off the pan, right?

USA Pan delivers, consistently earning high marks not just from consumer publications but also cooking magazine test kitchens.

To give customers a break, every so often the company holds a seconds sale staffed by Moon Area High School students at its facility at 33 McGovern Blvd. in Crescent, with a portion of proceeds going to various school organizations.

“People come from as far away as Illinois, West Virginia and Canada,” says Bundy, and some even camp out the night before at the store starting at midnight. “It’s just one big happy community event, with people shaking hands and telling jokes for hours.”

USA Pan is always among the busiest booths at trade shows and fairs, and offers discounted prices at events hosted by Facebook’s Wedding Table Cookie Community, such as its upcoming Cookie Table University in Cecil, Washington County, on April 19.

Bundy attributes the retail company’s success to the same factors that has made its commercial bakeware such a runaway success over the past half-century: the quality of the pan materials and the proprietary silicone-based coating that makes it so wonderfully nonstick.

Each pan is made with professional-grade, heavy-gauge aluminized steel with a slightly corrugated surface design that allows hot air to circulate under the food, promoting even browning. (No soggy bottoms!) And the clear AMERICOAT coating, which is derived from naturally occurring minerals, is both nontoxic and eco-friendly.

Cheap baking pans, conversely, are typically made with lightweight aluminum, which is prone to warping and uneven heating. And they’re sometimes coated in toxic chemicals that can be harmful to your health.

“The really big thing [about USA Pan] is the coating,” says David Bundy, which is safe for dishwashers (but better for handwashing). “It makes all the difference in the pan.”

In addition, many consumers love the fact the company is family-owned and -operated, with American-made products.

McKees Rocks-based Five Generation Bakers, which opened in 2009 and makes Jenny Lee’s famed Cinnamon Swirl Bread and other products, is among the many local bakers who use Bundy’s commercial bakeware and swear by it. Owner Scott Baker is also a devotee of its retail pans.

“I feel comfortable baking and cooking for my family at home with them because I know there’s no Teflon, and know the product won’t release any toxins,” he says.

Baker, who has known John Bundy since childhood, said the baking company’s relationship with the Bundys stretches all the way back to the 1950s when his grandfather and bakery founder Paul Baker was one of Russell Bundy’s first customers. So when his old friend approached him two years ago about collaborating by bundling Jenny Lee’s mixes with pan sales, he quickly agreed. The partnership kicked off in January 2025 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Baker family baking in Pittsburgh.

Upon ordering, online customer can choose from four Jenny Lee boxes mixes as a free gift: yellow birthday cake, chocolate chip cookies, blueberry muffins or sweet dough, which is made with the same formula as its famed cinnamon swirl bread.

“I can’t tell you how many times people ask for the recipes, and this allowed me to offer old Jenny Lee favorites,” says Baker, who spent a year testing and retesting the mixes with Tasty Blend Foods in Fraziers Bottom, West Virginia, until they were just right.

What makes Bundy so effective in his job, Baker says, is that he knows the product so well and believes in it.

Second-generation businesses often fail when the third generation takes the reins because their visions are different. “But John picked it up and ran with it,” he says, when he opened the market for direct to consumer. “He’s not just a good salesman. He’s a good businessman.”

“It’s easy to tell people we have the best pans on the market,” says David Bundy. “We use the best materials. ... With proper use and care, it’s a lifetime pan.”

Bundy Chocolate Chip Cookies

PG tested

John Bundy brags these are the best chocolate chip cookies you’ll ever taste. Three cookies later, I have to agree. Crispy around the edges but still slightly gooey in the middle, they’re a perfect mix of butter, salt, chocolate and sugar.

I let the batter chill overnight in the fridge after being portioned, and used a mix of chopped bittersweet chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips.

1 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons water

2½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1½ teaspoons salt

9 ounces chopped chocolate, equal parts semisweet and bittersweet

Flaky sea salt, for topping

Melt butter over low heat in small pan until just melted — do not overcook it!

In large bowl, mix melted butter thoroughly with white and brown sugars.

Mix in egg, followed by vanilla and water. Add dry ingredients into butter mixture and mix until just incorporated — do not overmix!

Chop chocolate bars into uneven pieces, then stir into cookie dough. Let sit for 10 minutes before scooping.

Scoop dough into 3-tablespoon balls and place onto a USA Pan sheet pan. Refrigerate for a minimum of 24 hours or up to 3 days. (You can bake immediately, however they develop a better depth of flavor if refrigerated.)

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the cookie dough balls for about 12 minutes. (My cookies took about 14 minutes.) When finished, top each cookie with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, and allow to cool on pan for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Cool to room temperature, then enjoy!

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

— Nikki Bundy, McCandless

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

PG tested

These lemon-kissed cupcakes are the perfect way to welcome spring and would make a lovely Easter dessert. They are light, bright and not too sweet.

For cupcakes

1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup sour cream

½ cup whole milk

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided

¾ cup blueberries (we used fresh, but if you use frozen, do not thaw)

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon lemon extract, optional

1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

For frosting

½ cup softened unsalted butter

8 ounces softened cream cheese

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon lemon extract, optional

½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1¾ cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the sour cream, milk and 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice and stir to combine.

Place blueberries in a small bowl and toss with remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour to the blueberries and lemon juice. Set aside.

In a large bowl of a stand mixer, or using your handheld mixer, cream together the butter and granulated sugar until well combined. Add in the lemon extract, if using.

Add in egg and egg yolk and mix. With mixer on low, add in the ½ of the flour mixture, alternating with the sour cream mixture. Mix until just combined.

Next, stir in blueberry mixture. Scoop batter into your cupcake pan. Fill the wells ¾ full. Bake for 16-20 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

When cool enough to handle, remove from pan to cooling rack to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make frosting. In a mixing bowl, mix together the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Reduce speed to low and add in confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice.

Add in extracts and beat until smooth. You can add more sugar or add in a little milk to achieve desired consistency.

Spread or pipe frosting onto cooled cupcake. Garnish with additional blueberries or lemon zest, if desired.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

— usapan.com

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