Salt & Straw

The Best Artisan Desserts in LA

Los Angeles has some of the best sweet treats in the country, and with warm weather year round, you’ll never run out of reasons to eat ice cream. From macaron ice cream sandwiches to maple bacon donuts to homemade pop tarts, you can find it in LA and it’s guaranteed delicious.

You couldn’t taste all the delicious sweet treats in LA even if you tried, but you may as well! Here are a few to get you started.

Ice Cream – Salt and Straw

This small batch, artisanal sweet cream shop on Abbott Kinney is always packed, no matter the weather or time of day.

Drool over flavor combinations like their cult favorite, honey lavender, for which they steep two pounds of lavender flowers in honey and cream, bringing out a deep, almost smoky lavender color and then add a sweet touch of honey.

Salt & Straw
Image courtesy of Salt & Straw

For the more adventurous, try black olive brittle and goat cheese. They create a sticky olive candy using diverse olive oils and combine it with a “funky” goat cheese ice cream.

Salt & Straw
Image courtesy of Salt & Straw

 

Donuts – Sidecar Doughnuts

No matter your pleasure, sweet or savory, you can get your fix at Sidecar Doughnuts in Santa Monica. These donuts are made fresh all day every day and, without the use of preservatives, they’re recommended to be consumed within an hour of purchasing.

They feature flavors like huckleberry, with a berry pink icing and bits of berry baked inside the warm dough. Another favorite is maple bacon, a gooey donut covered in maple icing with chunks of candied bacon on top.

As an extra treat, you can see the chefs pouring the glaze and frying the donuts right in front of you.

 

Cookies – Milkjar Cookies

In addition to being an absolutely adorable venue, with cookies served on pretty china and drinks in mason jars with paper straws, this place has some of the best cookies in LA.

Milkjar Cookies
Image courtesy of Milkjar Cookies

Banana split, birthday cookie, mint chocolate, white chocolate chip macadamia, lemon blueberry; whatever you pick, you really can’t go wrong. Every cookie has a nice, crispy crunch on the outside but is warm and soft inside like a cookie should be.

Milkjar Cookies
Image courtesy of Milkjar Cookies

Wash your tasty morsel down with a big glass of milk or go all out and add ice cream.

 

Cakes & Pies – Cake Monkey Bakery

This place will bring you back to your childhood, serving up adult versions of ding dongs and whoopie pies and other confections. Their pies are delicious as well and come in single serving flavors such as cider roasted apple pie in a double cheddar crust. Yum!

Image courtesy of Cake Monkey
Image courtesy of Cake Monkey

Try some of the retro treats like their homemade Poptarts, filled with your choice of brown sugar cinnamon, blueberry crumble, apple, or chocolate almond.

Be sure not to miss the cult favorite; the summer Camp Chocolate Chip Cookie, which is made with caramelized Rice Krispies and marshmallow. Delish!

cake monkey
Image courtesy of Cake Monkey

 

Cupcakes – Sprinkles Cupcakes

This place is practically an LA landmark and often has a line out the door. The cupcakes are made fresh daily and have the perfect frosting to cake ratio, with neither being too sweet but just sweet enough.

sprinkles cupcakes
Image courtesy of Sprinkles Cupcakes

The cupcakes are rich in flavor, hitting the sweet spot after eating just one. Sprinkles offers classic flavors like chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet, but if you’re feeling a little more adventurous you can find your perfect cupcake in flavors like green tea with lavender frosting, ginger lemon, or vanilla peppermint. Get your dog a pupcake too!

 

Ice Cream Sandwiches – Milk

Milk takes ice cream sandwiches to the next level, and stuffs homemade ice cream between their giant macarons and dips them in melted chocolate and toppings.

The macarons give the ice cream sandwich a satisfying crunch, with a chewy bite inside. The ice cream is served at the perfect level of “meltiness” so that it doesn’t get all over your hands and isn’t too cold to taste.

Strawberry shortcake bar from Milk
Strawberry shortcake bar from Milk | Image via L.A. Foodie on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Explore flavors like thai tea, coffee toffee, fruity pebbles, strawberry with white chocolate, or matcha green tea macaron ice cream sandwiches. Milk has other goodies, but this is what they’re known for and best at.

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Rocky Road ice cream sandwich from MILK | Image via Larry on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)