As we begin another year around the sun, health and wellness are top of mind. While you can certainly find fun ways to stay active in St. Louis, we also think you deserve to indulge – for your mental health, of course.
At the best bakeries in St. Louis, sweet treats trigger happiness. Here are our favorites as well as our go-to orders.
Diana’s Bakery
Flip For MoreDiana’s Bakery
Named after owner Ana Vazquez’s daughter, Diana’s Bakery offers more than 100 Mexican treats, including conchas (sweet bread made with buttery brioche-like dough and a streusel topping). On weekends, the Cherokee Street bakery also sells handmade tamales!
Gooey Louie
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You can’t leave St. Louis until you’ve sunk your teeth into a piece of rich, moist, tender gooey butter cake. At Gooey Louie, butter makes its way into every part of the cake – the crust, the cake and the “goo” – and you can snag individual servings to take home to friends!
Jilly’s Cupcake Bar & Café
Flip For MoreJilly’s Cupcake Bar & Café
Easy to eat on the go, cupcakes are the perfect sweet treat for your STL trip. At Jilly’s, the Bee Sting steals the show. Imagine fluffy vanilla cake filled with honeyed lemon curd and topped with lemon cream cheese frosting, white chocolate bark, slivered almonds and a sugar bee.
“[Gooey butter cake] isn’t fancy; it’s comfort food at its finest. That’s our specialty.”
– Debbie Stieferman, founder of Gooey Louie
Knead Bakehouse + Provisions
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Start your day at Knead with a medley of sourdough brioche donuts in flavors such as maple-brown sugar, orange-cardamom-sugar and Mexican hot chocolate – plus, cinnamon rolls, jumbo chocolate chip cookies and sourdough kolaches – at one of the best bakeries in St. Louis.
La Pâtisserie Chouquette
Flip For MoreLa Pâtisserie Chouquette
The Darkness epitomizes pastry chef Simone Faure’s impeccable handiwork. Not to be confused with a basic chocolate croissant, it’s comprised of flaky chocolate dough, two chocolate batons, rich chocolate drizzle and pink Himalayan sea salt.
Made.by Lia
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At her cozy scratch bakery in Old Town Florissant, Lia Weber makes guests feel at home with scrumptious pastries for all preferences. Bestsellers include gigantic chocolate chip cookies with flaky salt, gluten-free lemon-blueberry scones and Weber’s original take on gooey butter cake.
“I like to think of [a visit to La Pâtisserie Chouquette] as a regular dose of therapy.”
– Simone Faure, owner of La Pâtisserie Chouquette
Nathaniel Reid Bakery
Flip For MoreNathaniel Reid Bakery
Apple pie croissants, cranberry-orange financiers, Sicilian pistachio macarons, Madagascar vanilla bean panna cotta, strawberry-passionfruit pavlova – the baked goods from James Beard Foundation semifinalist Nathaniel Reid are almost too pretty to eat. Almost.
Park Avenue Coffee
Flip For MorePark Avenue Coffee
Curb your caffeine craving and satisfy your sweet tooth with one stop at Park Avenue Coffee. The local haunt makes more than 70 flavors of gooey butter cake from scratch – think turtle, triple chocolate, white chocolate-raspberry and Mom’s Traditional, where it all began.
Pharaoh’s Donuts
Flip For MorePharaoh’s Donuts
Straight from the fryer, the handcrafted, old-school favorites at Pharaoh’s Donuts range from glazed twists to blueberry cake and chocolate-iced Long Johns to strawberry-filled Bismarks. To each, Syeeda Aziz-Morris, the second-generation owner, adds a sprinkle of love.
Want a taste of St. Louis at home? Many of these local baked goods can be shipped nationwide! If you’re hoping to ship something nonperishable, order a box – or two – of Ann & Allen Baking Co. gooey butter cake mix to make gooey butter cake any time.
SweetArt Bakeshop + Café
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Specializing in plant-based cuisine, chef Reine Keis also has a deep-seated passion for dessert. Dig into her creations – think fresh cinnamon rolls, chai-spiced snickerdoodles, banana pudding cupcakes and hummingbird cake – at SweetArt, where love and magic mix.
The Blue Owl
Flip For MoreThe Blue Owl
An institution in historic Kimmswick, The Blue Owl has consistently drawn national attention for its Levee High Apple Pie. The staggeringly tall pie is stuffed with approximately 18 Granny Smith apples, coated in caramel and sprinkled with pecans. Can you finish it in one sitting?
Vitale’s Bakery
Flip For MoreVitale’s Bakery
Embodying the legacy of Vitale’s Bakery, the ricotta puffs resemble a harmonious marriage between a cannolo and a donut. If you’re more of a traditionalist, savor classic Sicilian cannoli alongside stacked sandwiches on crusty Italian bread at this institution on The Hill.
