Bluebird Bakers
2390 NW Thurman – Portland
$2
Man, have I been on some kind of an almond jag lately. I made marzipan for the first time a couple of weeks ago (so much easier than I realized). I also bought a Bakeshop almond croissant at Extracto Coffeehouse last week, and anyone who knows me knows that this is far off of my beaten pastry path. Not sure what’s happening in my head and mouth, but something in there is telling me it needs to eat almond paste.
Read MoreBushel & Peck Bakeshop
3907 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd – Portland
$1.50
I said there would be more soon from Bushel & Peck. I wasn’t lying.
This one: a chocolate crinkle. But like the ginger molasses with sesame from the same bakery, it’s a classic with a twist that takes it from (sort of) ubiquitous to fairly unique. The orange (zest, I’m presuming) is a great addition to an already delicious cookie
Read MoreTwo Tarts Bakery
2309 NW Kearney Street – Portland
75¢/each
I’ve had it in mind to talk about Two Tarts for ages. I’ve been enjoying them ever since they first started plying their tiny wares 3-4 years ago at The Portland Farmers’ Market. They’ve since opened a small retail shop on NW 23rd Avenue, and continue to sell at the market, as well.
The problem is this: if I am to tell you about about Two Tarts, I am required to talk about not less than 10 different cookies at once. And it turns out that as much as I love to talk about cookies, I’m pretty lazy. So I’m compromising and talking about only three different Two Tarts cookies. It’s a start.
Read MorePix Patisserie
3901 N. Williams- Portland
3402 SE Division – Portland
$2
NOTE: Passover-friendly No flour, no leavening. Contains only almond flour, egg whites, sugar, butter, flavoring.
I hate to begin on a negative note, but I feel the need to preface this review with this piece of information: I don’t like Pix very much. I’ve tasted many desserts from this much raved-about Portland dessert mecca over the past several years that have been either stale or tasted like refrigerator (or both), or were just simply not delicious. (Don’t even get me started on the piece of crap “ghetto cake” (their words, not mine) that my friends and I picked up on New Year’s Eve. Unless you really want to hear about it, in which case I’ll happily explain.
Read MoreProof Bakery
3156 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles (Atwater Village)
$2
Before visiting L.A. recently, I had read that a brand new bakery called Proof (opened in December ’10) was making a cookie called a zimsterne. I’d somehow never heard of these, which is surprising because it is a cookie that is completely after my own heart. I have a soft spot for anything almond – particularly almond paste, marzipan or almond flour – the latter being a key player in the zimsterne. Also, I love cinnamon. I was sold – enough so to make the somewhat out-of-the-way drive (from where I was) to Atwater Village (not far from Silverlake).
Read More