Last updated on October 17, 2026
I’ve talked many a time of my love for New York. My four visits to the city have done nothing to quell my longing to constantly return and although I feel it’s a little too big and bustling for me to ever want to live there, I constantly find myself wanting to search for cheap flights to New York from wherever I am in the world at the time.
One thing that always amazes me about the city is how quickly it evolves and changes; something new pops up every week and old establishments get knocked down to make way for something newer and cooler.
The surge of the Cronut craze was also not lost on me. I realise that, having not been to the city in three years, there is now a totally different bakery and patisserie scene than there was when I was last there. In honour of that, I’ve done a little research on some of the best bakeries in New York and what I would inevitably order should I get to visit any of them soon.
Macarons at Maison Laduree – Maison Laduree started as a Parisian tea room and now have branches of cake shops and patisseries around the world. By far one of their most popular items are their macarons, which come in flavours such as rose petal, chocolate and coconut, strawberry candy and salted caramel. I’m not a huge macaron fan, but I’ve heard so much about the macarons from Laduree that I feel sure these ones would turn me into macaron enthusiast.
Rugelach at Zucker – A family-owned establishment, the matriarch of the family, Zohar Zohar, bakes her own brand of cookies and sticky buns (known as Roses each day). But one item on the menu that guarantees to sell out every day is her rugelach – a pastry similar in shape to a croissant, filled with dates, almonds and clove. I can almost smell them right now. Yum.
Crack Pie at Momofuku Milk Bar – After seeing copycat recipes for this all over Pinterest, I knew I would have to try some the next time I’m in NYC. The Crack Pie (so called because it’s so addictive that it’s almost like crack) features all the ingredients we love but know are really bad for us: cream, vanilla, eggs, butter and milk.
Cronut at Dominique Ansel Bakery – The Cronut itself had to be on the list. I know many bakeries around the world have tried to copy the recipe, producing their own versions of the Cronut, but this is the original and (I would imagine) best. The Cronut is a croissant-donut hybrid and the bakery features one flavour each month, ranging from rose vanilla to fig mascarpone and morello cherry with toasted almond cream.
Dark Chocolate and Fleur de Sel Diamond Cookies at Mille Feuille – Another French bakery, Mille Feuille specialises in choux pastry and wonderful tarts, including pistachio eclairs and gateau Saint-Honore. I have my eye on the dark chocolate and fleur de sel diamond cookies, though.
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookie at Levain Bakery – Levain definitely isn’t as fancy as some of the Parisian-style bakeries, but just reading their menu makes me drool. Apparently they specialise in ooey-gooey cookies,including chocolate chip walnut and dark chocolate chocolate chip (a mouthful in more than one way!)
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