Montclair Baker Is Taking Cookies to the Next Level with Fresh-Milled Grains

Karen Merz believes a warm cookie can teach kids where their food comes from.

In a rented Jersey City kitchen, the Montclair mom puts that idea into practice, preparing orders for Next Level Grains, the small e-commerce bakery she runs alongside her career in marketing. Through fresh-milled cookies and baking kits, Merz hopes to introduce New Jersey families to grains in their whole…