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Satisfy your sweet tooth at these Westchester bakeries that serve up delicious treats for any occasion.
With additional reporting by Katie Cristiano
Cinnamon rolls, blueberry coffee cakes, and chocolate ganache cakes are just a few treats that these Westchester bakeries offer. Specializing in satisfying your sweet tooth, the top bakeries in the county have something for everyone.
Baked by Susan
379 South Riverside Ave, Croton-On-Hudson; 914.862.0874
Growing up, Susan O’Keefe never had a Twinkie — or a Ring Ding or any other uber-processed snack cake.
“To this day, I still haven’t,” says the owner of the from-scratch bakery Baked by Susan, which she opened in 2010. Not only are all the ingredients fresh and real, but Susan’s bakery is also filled with vintage baking instruments, such as the gigantic oven and the retro mixer, which are still in full use today. “I come from a generational baking family, and we always had a homemade dessert.”
Baking since she was eight, O’Keefe recalls her mother’s lemon-nut bread and brownies and her Grandma Susie’s yeast donuts. “I bake the way your grandparents and great grandparents would have,” she says, “no processed ingredients or cheap shortenings. My pies sell for $33.12, and at ShopRite you can get a pie for $1.99. But what do you think goes into a $1.99 pie?”
O’Keefe’s forte are her crusts — whether cradling sugared, heat-scorched local fruits or creamy custards, they are glorious masterworks. Besides the shop, her products are sold at nine Whole Foods, six Gourmet Garages, Mrs. Green’s, both Black Cow locations, Hilltop Hanover Farm, and a few DeCicco’s.
Don’t Miss: Double-Crust Apple Pie, Blueberry Crumb Cake, Cinnamon Rolls
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Beascakes Bakery
575 N Main St, Armonk; 914.273.3612
Locals know that the fresh-baked goods at Beascakes Bakery sell fast. But, happily, it’s impossible to miss out on their number-one item: a gooey, warm-from-the-oven, “three-napkin” chocolate-chunk cookie.
Homey, satisfying, and prepared onsite from simple, quality ingredients, offerings include blueberry coffee cakes, fudge brownies, donuts, a host of cream pies, and cupcakes. The team goes the extra-mile to make their specialty goods.
Gorgeous specialty cakes that taste as good as they look are sought after, too. But the top three bestsellers? Chocolate-chunk cookies, chocolate-chunk cookies, and chocolate-chunk cookies.
Don’t Miss: Chocolate-Chunk Cookies, Donuts (Iced and Jelly), Fresh Fruit Tart
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By the Way Bakery
574 Warburton Ave, Hastings-on-Hudson; 914.478.0555
Burnt out from her job as an intellectual property lawyer at Bloomberg and wanting to do something community driven, Hastings resident Helene Godin opened kosher, gluten-free, and dairy-free By the Way Bakery in 2011.
She doesn’t adhere personally to any of the aforementioned dietary restrictions but explains: “I love the idea of inclusion and wanted to cast as wide a net as possible and bring people to Hastings.”
The counter is overflowing with baskets of crunchy-outside, moist-inside almond cookies, towering stacks of chocolate chip cookies (her top seller), lemony teacakes, and muffins replete with plump fruit.
In five years, the business has grown from one bakery with three employees to five locations and a 7,200-sq-ft Pleasantville commissary kitchen with 45 employees; her treats are also sold in 12 Whole Foods Markets.
All the recipes are Godin’s; a five-day baking boot camp at the Natural Gourmet Institute in Manhattan is the extent of her formal culinary training. “I really learned to bake by using my research skills as a lawyer — how often does a person go to the 30th Google search screen? — and making things over and over until I got them right,” she says.
Don’t Miss: Brownies, Blueberry Coffee Cake, Almond Cookies
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Chantilly Patisserie
135 Parkway Rd, Bronxville; 914.771.9400
The main ingredient in Chantilly Patisserie’s world-class croissants isn’t the slow-churned Plugrá butter or fine-milled flour; it’s the pride baker Mariana Delgado Gambini takes in making them. Her Bronxville bakery (owned with sister, Maria, and mother, Mirta) offers truly spectacular croissants, making the shop “a destination for people around here.”
An up-before-dawn, three-day process, Mariana’s technique (perfected after years at culinary school) is admirably old-school. A machine does help roll out the finished dough, though, “or else I’d have muscles like the Hulk,” she laughs. Each bite into one of the plain or almond croissants is a momentary trip to Paris, which makes sense considering the family opened the delightful shop after visiting Europe.
The éclairs are wonders, too, and come two ways: chocolate (chocolate mousse filling and chocolate ganache on top) or with fresh whipped cream (unfrosted, filled with pastry cream, Chantilly cream, and chef’s choice of fresh fruit).
The offerings here — from tarts and cupcakes to hand-piped, gluten-free macarons — taste as good as they look. If you want a magnificent Chantilly Patisserie cake for a big occasion, order early, but chief cake decorator Maria must first approve your design.
Don’t Miss: Plain and Almond Croissants, Macarons, Custom Cakes (and Cupcakes)
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Flour Power
4668 Boston Post Rd, Pelham Manor; 914.222.0704
No matter what you treat yourself to at Flour Power, it will most certainly be made from the heart. Knowing this, it’s no surprise that this humble eatery was a Westchester Magazine editor’s pick for Best Bakery for a Dessert Table in the 2023 Best of Westchester Awards. Having met in culinary school back in 2013, BFFs Lauren and Miranda teamed up to follow their dreams and open a bakery together in their home state of New York. With a motto that goes, “Smash the pastryarchy and bake the world a better place,” it’s safe to say any of Lauren and Miranda’s treats will brighten the day. Fresh-from-the-oven offers include breakfast delights, breads, ice cream, cookies, bars, cupcakes, and more.
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Related: 5 Melty and Sweet S’mores-Themed Desserts to Try in Westchester
Galloway’s Bakery
69 Harney Rd, Scarsdale; 914.725.4074
“People who haven’t been in for a while will come in and say, ‘So happy you haven’t changed anything,’” explains Patti Galloway, who, along with her husband of 47 years, Bob, runs the cash-only “throwback” founded in 1956 (and originally located on Central Avenue in Hartsdale) by Bob’s parents, Fred and Marge Galloway. The family business is continued through another generation by Patti and Bob’s daughter, Shannon, who took over the bakery in 2017.
Only open Friday to Sunday, these pastries are truly a treat — but don’t expect any lavender-and-thyme-scented macarons or cakes with fancy-colored fondant. Instead think American-style baked goods, plain and simple: plush, powdery jelly donuts, luscious cream pies, fruit-bursting cherry and apple pies, and myriad Danish rings, melt-a-ways, and crumb cakes.
There are lots of regulars, many of whom the Galloway’s know by name. “Most of our customers are consistent with what they like and tend to buy the same items over and over,” says Patti. “I’m the same way — I hadn’t tried our coconut cream pie until last year. I didn’t think I would like it — but I did.”
Don’t Miss: Best-of-Westchester-winning Jelly Donuts, Cinnamon Raisin Buns, Apple Crumb Pie
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La Renaissance Patisserie Française
9 Harwood Ct, Scarsdale; 914.472.0702
Scarsdale’s narrow side streets feel just European enough to be home to La Renaissance Patisserie Française. Customers love the viennoiserie (croissants, pastries, and pain au chocolat) that deliver the perfect mix of crisp outer layers giving way to buttery ones inside. “Just like the croissants in France,” says bakery manager Vivienne Copeland. Be warned, though — these popular treats don’t last the morning rush.
Delicious options to enjoy with your afternoon café abound, such as chocolatey Sarah Bernhardt cookies, buttery sablé (shortbread), and gorgeous fruit tarts. But it’s the cakes that truly set the bakery apart. The most popular include the gluten-free La Renaissance — a variation of the classic French dacquoise, with layers of almond meringue, whipped cream, chocolate cream, mocha buttercream, and toasted almonds — and the indulgent chocolate ganache, which is one of those signature desserts that becomes memorable after just a few bites.
Don’t Miss: La Renaissance Cake (almond layer cake), Chocolate Ganache Cake, Fruit Tarts
La Tulipe Desserts
455 Lexington Ave, Mount Kisco; 914.242.4555
Ever heard of a Kouign-amann? If not, you must discover the buttery wonders of this sweet, crusty, croissant-like cake from northern France, available at La Tulipe Desserts, a tiny gem of a bakery in Mount Kisco.
Co-owner and baking mastermind Maarten Steenman, who trained extensively throughout Europe, channels his experience into an evolving menu of traditional favorites and unique creations. Savor crisp raspberry croissants, flavorful French macarons, and delicious cinnamon pastries. His caramel cake includes layers of thin vanilla cake, sweet caramel mousse, and thinly sliced pear. Steenman adds that the bakery’s hazelnuts are from northern Italy and almonds from Spain.
All ingredients in La Tulipe’s tarts, beignets, brioches, and artistic cakes are “the highest quality,” he says. “That’s number one.” But it must be his mad skills that turn the Vermont Creamery butter into the truly transcendent Kouign-amann, or the crunchy-shelled canellé, with a flan-like interior, into caramelized perfection.
Don’t Miss: Kouign-amann, Canellé, Chocolate Extreme Cake
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Lulu Cake Boutique
40 Garth Rd, Scarsdale; 914.722.8300
“Cake is the perfect expression of food and art,” says co-owner Jay Muse, who opened Lulu Cake Boutique in 2001 and previously worked at Lespinasse and The French Laundry and trained with renowned cake-maker Colette Peters. Husband/co-owner Victor Gonzalez worked under cake-designer-to-the-stars Sylvia Weinstock. It should come as no surprise, then, that their cakes are high-style works of art and creatively flavored, e.g., the Graham Central Station with vanilla cake, graham-cracker frosting, caramel swirl, and a honeycomb sponge. There are also stellar brownies, takes on Hostess and Drake’s snack cakes, and a smattering of cookies — but cakes are the focus.
Lulu’s has even amassed a celebrity following, including Katy Perry, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon (their goodies are in the show’s green room), and Madonna. “She respects our food-forward sensibility regarding quality of ingredients,” says Muse of the Material Girl.
Those ingredients, the majority of which are organic, include Valrhona fair-trade chocolate, Meadow Butter from Hamilton, honey from a rooftop in the Bronx, pistachios from Italy, and homegrown fresh mint and basil.
They’ve been approached by TV producers including those from The Food Network about reality shows revolving around the bakery, but they declined. “We just want to concentrate on the cakes.”
Don’t Miss: Coconut Cake, French Toast Crème Brûlée Twinkie, Salted Maple and Toasted Walnut Brittle Bar
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Red Barn Bakery
4 S Astor St, Irvington; 914.231.7779
Former art major and handbag designer Randell Dodge turned an old auto-repair shop into the funky, 100-percent organic Red Barn Bakery in Irvington, creating the perfect home for her rustic, non-fussy fare.
Customers rave about her apple pie roll-ups, gluten-free berry scones, flourless chocolate cakes, and hearty breakfast cookies. All ingredients are carefully sourced (locally when possible), and the entire menu is made from scratch, using Dodge’s own recipes. She started baking at age 12, making pies after picking fruit with her mother on Long Island.
Her Italian grandmother’s recipe is responsible for the bestselling Mediterranean olive oil muffin with citrus glaze. Also in high-demand are her many gluten-free and vegan options (brownies, muffins, tarts) that please even wheat eaters.
“I don’t even make a regular [gluten] brownie anymore,” Dodge says. And her oversized macarons are pure heaven. “People have said they are better than Ladurée’s in Paris,” she notes.
Don’t Miss: Mediterranean Olive Oil Muffin, Flourless Chocolate Cake, Organic Jelly Donut Muffins
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