The Best Sarasota Desserts (& Shops Nearby)
Since moving to Sarasota we’ve been searching for the best bakeries, pastry shops, ice cream shops, and more. If you’re looking to indulge in a sweet treat in Sarasota then these Sarasota desserts are absolutely delicious options! And let me just say, I think there’s something for everyone here. Of course, no list is ever complete so be sure to check back often as we add more and more places to this list of Sarasota desserts!
The Sweet Doctor
In 2011, the Stinson family opened The Sweet Doctor and first started by perfecting cake pops but then moved on to creating delicious flavors of cupcakes, cookies, macarons, and cheesecakes. As of late, they’re even dabbling in freeze-dried candy flavors! There are so many delicious things to try at The Sweet Doctor that we have yet to sample everything. But their mini cupcakes are so moist and packed with flavor. The lemon and vanilla are two that I’ve tried and loved and do yourself a favor and pick up a bag of the freeze-dried sour skittles.
Location: 7638 Lockwood Ridge Rd, Sarasota // MAP
Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 10am-2pm, Closed Sunday & Monday
Kurto’s Chimney Cakes
Kurto’s Chimney Cakes specializes in baking a delicious Hungarian pastry from a 300-year-old recipe. A recipe that is one of the most popular treats in Europe! All of the cakes are hand-rolled on a wooden cylinder one by one and then rolled in sugar. After they are baked in a special oven specifically designed for these cakes. As the dough cooks it is turned slowly so the sugar caramelizes on the cake making a slight crunch! Once fully baked the cakes are rolled into different toppings like cinnamon, almonds, coconut, and more. These cakes remind us of Baumkuchen, a German cake that is very popular in Japan.
Location: 1383 McAnsh Square, Sarasota // MAP
Hours: Tuesday-Friday 8am-2pm, Saturday 8am-4pm, Closed Sunday & Monday
OfKors Bakery
OfKors Bakery is a fabulous coffee and pastry shop in downtown Sarasota. While I usually get a pastry and a coffee at OfKors Bakery they also have sweet and savory menu items like crepes, sandwiches, stuffed croissants, bagels, and chia pudding. My favorite dessert at OfKors Bakery is the honey cake which is a traditional eastern-European cake with honey in the layers. It is subtly sweet with a punch of honey flavor and moist sponge cake. It’s a rather unique dessert that is definitely worth trying!
Location: 1359 Main St, Sarasota // MAP
Hours: Sunday 7:30am-2:30pm, Monday-Thursday 7:30am-9pm, Friday & Saturday 7:30am-10pm
Five-O Donut Co.
If there’s one donut shop that I say you HAVE to visit at least once in your life it’s Five-O Donut Co. Each day Five-O makes an incredible amount of yeast, cronuts (croissant donuts), and cake donuts of all different flavors. But our favorites are the “fancy” yeast donuts. They have some of the best fancy donuts we’ve had by a long shot. If I had to pick just a few I’d say get the cookie monster which has Oreos and cookie dough bites, peanut butter Butterfinger, and strawberry shortcake.
Location: 2241 Ringling Blvd, Sarasota // MAP (A few other locations in Sarasota)
Hours: Monday-Friday 7am-1pm, Saturday & Sunday 8am-1pm (or when sold out)
The Donut Experiment
While it may be a short distance away from Sarasota, this colorful and eccentric shop is well worth the drive to Anna Maria Island. At The Donut Experiment, you can customize your own hot, cake donut dipped in the icing of your choice and finished off with a terrific topping! I’m pretty picky about donuts, it might be because they’re one of my favorite things, but if you enjoy cake donuts I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised here not to mention the experience is fun too!
Our creations from left to right: TOP- Coconut Flaked chocolate glazed, Reese’s Pieces Chocolate glazed, Salted Caramel. BOTTOM- Oreo Crumble Chocolate glazed, Fruity Pebbles strawberry glazed, Reese’s Puff with peanut butter drizzle chocolate glazed.
Location: 210c Pine Ave, Anna Maria // MAP
Hours: 7am-1pm daily
Der Dutchman
While we love Der Dutchman’s breakfast buffet they have a number of delicious Amish pastries and donuts that you can take to go! My personal favorites are the orange donut which is sadly seasonal but the rest of the donuts are also heavenly. If you aren’t a donut person consider trying one of their pies – the peanut butter is exceptional or you can go for a cookie, cinnamon roll, or whoopie pie!
Location: 3713 Bahia Vista St, Sarasota // MAP
Hours: Restaurant & Bakery: November–April, Monday–Thursday: 6am–8pm Friday–Saturday: 6am–9pm, Summer Hours: May – October, Monday–Saturday: 7am–8pm, Closed Sunday
Meaney’s Mini Donuts
Meaney’s Mini Donuts is a walk-up donut shop that offers mini-donuts that are rolled directly off their assembly line and into the fryer then served piping hot and coated with the topping of your choice. These donuts are light, fluffy, and closely resemble the texture of beignets but are a bit denser. If you want something simple I recommend getting the cinnamon sugar topping but for something even sweeter the strawberry cheesecake is a big hit. It is cream cheese frosting and strawberry jam on top of the mini donuts.
Location: 386 St Armands Cir, Sarasota // MAP
Hours: Sunday-Thursday 8am-10pm, Friday & Saturday 8am-11pm
Norman Love Confections
Norman Love Confections started in Florida and now has a shop in Sarasota with over 25 different chocolate flavors using premium ingredients and perfectly crafted in many unique designs. The chocolates are absolutely decadent and you can purchase them individually or by the box. I have yet to try them all but I recommend the coconut, passion fruit truffle, peanut butter marshmallow, yuzu mango, and the hazelnut praline truffle.
Location: 192 N Cattlemen Rd Unit 7, Sarasota // MAP
Hours: Sunday 11am-6pm, Tuesday-Thursday 10am-7pm, Friday & Saturday 10am-9pm, Closed Mondays
READ MORE: The Best Restaurants in Sarasota
Kookies & Kream
Kookies & Kream is serving up delicious mega cookies with a variety of nostalgic ingredients to bring you back to the treats of your childhood. Think frosted animal cookies, Pop-Tarts, Nutter Butters, Oreos, and more. The flavors rotate weekly so it’s hard to make a solid recommendation on flavors. Well… wait, who am I kidding?! All of the flavors are delicious so you truly can’t go wrong.
However, there is a way to best eat your cookies. They give you an instruction sheet on how to best enjoy your cookies but DO NOT, I repeat, do not skip warming them up! But you wanna know what’s best of all? If you enjoy Kookies & Kream as much as we do and want to get them over and over again they ship! Flavors rotate weekly so be sure to check their Instagram to see what’s new!
Location: They recently closed their storefront so check them out on Instagram to see what they currently have!
Hours: Wednesday-Saturday 12pm-5pm, Closed Sunday-Tuesday
Ding Tea
If you’re looking for a boba shop in Sarasota then Ding Tea is the spot to go! Ding Tea has a variety of milk tea flavors, Yakult, slushes, flavored teas, and lattes to choose from. Our favorites are taro milk tea, mango green tea, Hokkaido black milk tea, and matcha milk tea but I’m sure they have your go-to order or can help you find something you’re sure to love.
Location: 4462 Cortez Rd W, Bradenton // MAP
Hours: 11am-9pm daily
The Cheesecake Cutie
The Cheesecake Cutie is located on nearby Anna Maria Island but it’s definitely worth a visit. Jennifer, the owner, brought her mother’s cheesecake recipes from New Jersey to honor her memory and first started by selling them to friends and family while they encouraged her to open her own shop. Thus the storefront for Cheesecake Cutie opened in 2019!
While Jennifer makes regular-size cheesecakes my favorite is ordering the cuties which are mini cheesecakes the size of a cupcake! Our favorite flavors so far have been Peanut Butter Dream, Chocolate Raspberry, and Blueberry-Lemon.
In addition to their sweet mini cheesecakes, they also have a full menu for breakfast and lunch.
Location: 3324 E Bay Dr, Holmes Beach // MAP
Hours: Monday-Saturday 7:30am-4pm, closed Sunday
Kilwins
Kilwins has quickly started spreading across the U.S. and we are thankful for that! It is a nice place to stop and get a sweet treat, especially after a day on the beach or to escape the summer heat. I swear something about seeing the fudge being made in the window, alongside the heavenly smells of chocolate, drags you into the store and has you ordering and leaving with your treat before you even knew what hit you!
I am an ice cream gal, so I love many of their rotating flavors but Salted Caramel, Kilwin’s Tracks, Double Peanut Butter Pie, and Toasted Coconut are some of my favorites. If you’re a chocolate person I recommend the Peanut Butter Buckeyes if you can get your hands on them, they sell out quickly!
Location: 312 John Ringling Blvd, Sarasota // MAP
Hours: Sunday-Thursday: 11am–11pm, Friday & Saturday: 11am–11:30pm
Vampire Penguin
When I found out that Vampire Penguin was coming to Sarasota I could hardly contain my excitement. It’s really hard to find shave ice that’s as fluffy as the kakigori we had in Japan and Vampire Penguin definitely fits the bill. While you can build your own shave ice you should definitely take a look at their specialty snow options like the Halo Halo which has taro shave ice with red bean, white bean, jackfruit, and flan, or the Mexican Candy which is mango shave ice, fresh watermelon, chamoy, and tajin.
Location: 4976 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota // MAP
Hours: Sunday 12pm-8pm, Monday 3pm-8pm, Tuesday-Saturday 12pm-9pm
READ MORE: The Best Ice Cream in Sarasota & Nearby
Which of these Sarasota desserts do you want to try first?
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