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 MoreMiss Zumstein Bakery & Coffee Shop
5027 NE 42nd Ave – Portland
$1.25
A classic coconut macaroon. No flour – only coconut, egg whites, sugar…vanilla?
Read MoreDulceria Leal
Juarez 262 – Puerto Vallarta
9 pesos (apx 70¢ US)
Cookie options are pretty grim in Puerto Valarta. As I’ve mentioned before, while Mexico is certainly capable of great dessert feats (tres leches cake, flan, amazing handmade popsicles [paletas] using a staggering variety of flavors and ingredients), cookies are, while indeed in abundance, not awesome. Much less than awesome, in fact. But I am not writing today to dwell on the negative; for more on the dire state of Mexican cookies, read THIS.
Read MoreAlma Chocolate
140 NE 28th Ave – Portland
$1
Alma Chocolate, a tiny shop in Northeast Portland, is known mainly for their signature (edible) gold leaf-painted molded chocolate icons, bon bons, barks, toffees and cocoa-dusted candied nuts. The array of unexpected confections, all made from one deep, dark single-origin chocolate or another, is stunning. But what I want to tell you about is the shop’s more off-the-radar (at least to me) bakery items.
I seem to forget about Alma as a bakery, per se, but the fact is that they are kickin’ out some of Portland’s better cookies, brownies and cake. And this, natch, is what I want to tell you about – a cookie.
Read MoreRed Fox Bakery
328 NE Evans St, McMinnville, OR
$1.75
My nephew, Ben (age eight) and I took a little day trip to McMinnville last week to visit the Evergreen Air and Space Museum (home of the famous Spruce Goose). After the hour-long drive, we wanted bit of lunch before embarking on our (much more compelling than I had been expecting) tour. Even though the museum proved to be very worthwhile, I was, frankly, more excited about revisiting Red Fox Bakery* than I was at the prospect of seeing vintage airplanes.
(*Not to be confused with Redd Foxx. Sadly, Fred Sanford is not the proprieter of this business.)
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