The Sweet Spots
Check out our interactive location map to find the most creative ways across the country to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Sugar Porn 19 Photos
Flip through pics of some of the most decadent, mouthwatering desserts money can buy.
Meet the Contributors 16 Photos
These hilarious sugar fiends take the cake (literally –– and then review it).
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Digital-Original Series: Sweetnr
When desserts start using dating apps, crazy mash-ups are born.
The Country's Top 5 Best Desserts 4 Videos
We've rounded-up the best pies, doughnuts, cupcakes and breakfast treats around.
Instagram Dessert Pics Actually Worth Looking At 26 Photos
Episodes
See Episode GuidePies
Pies are anything but humble in the hands of these innovative bakers. Whether it's a Seattle shop that imagines pies on sticks or in jars, a San Francisco baker who likes his pies on the spicy side, or pies both deliciously peculiar and uniquely down-home coming from New York City, the pie has arrived.
Cookies
Craving cookies that are too cool for your childhood cookie jar? Nibble on a crumbly, oat-flecked peanut butter sandwich cookie in New York, a psychedelic sugar cookie from Brooklyn, a serious chocolate chip cookie with cocoa nibs in San Francisco, or a wacky snickerdoodle "cookie pizza" from Chicago.
Breakfast Pastries
Nothing beats waking up in the morning to the scent of hot buttery sweet pastries. And these breakfast pastries from Oregon, California, New York and Connecticut are unlike anything you've had before. Once that morning coffee kicks in, you'll need to dig in.
Colorado Sweets
Colorado has it all: Mountains, lakes and sweets. Head to High Point Creamery in Denver for unusual ice cream flavors like lemon ice pop with raspberry swirl and earl grey tea with shortbread, or have a slice of ice cream cake drizzled with hot fudge. In Boulder, Pizzeria Locale finishes off their dinner menu with three desserts done simply and perfectly. You can order the seasonal biscotti, butterscotch budino, or saltimbocca -- baked pizza dough filled with gooey, melted chocolate-hazelnut spread. And also in Denver, Glaze: They serve German layered cakes called baumkuchen that will amaze and delight your eyes and taste buds.
Breakfast Sweets
Of bakeries and brunches from the Pacific Northwest to New York City, we've found the best reasons to roll out of bed in the morning. Think outside the toaster and try a warm slice of brioche sweetened with almond paste and homemade almond syrup, a hand-forged donut, a towering stack of peanut-butter filled chocolate waffles, or a coffee cake made just for you (with a single-drip artisan coffee brew to match).
Childhood Favorites
We found the top spots from Seattle to New York to keep the kid in you hopped up on sweets. Boxed supermarket desserts take on a grown-up twist with flavors like black sesame or passion fruit, as do the freshest of fruit pops, in two boutique shops in New York. For a more innocent indulgence, try sprinkle-scattered hummingbird cupcakes in Seattle or caramel apples dipped in cookie crumbs in Chicago.
Italian
La dolce vita, with a twist. We take a tour through New York and visit bakeries that have unique takes on classic Italian sweets. We discover dipped artisanal cannoli, uniquely flavored creamy tiramisu, gelato gone wild and uniquely Italian doughnuts.
Savory Sweets
Opposites attract, which must be why sweet and savory flavors are such an irresistible combination. We visit three very different sweet and savory hot spots: Aiko Pops in Denver, where ice pops come in radical flavors like Raspberry and Sweet Corn, Mango and Green Chile and Grapefruit Rosemary. At New York's 24-hour Empire Biscuits, perfect flaky Southern biscuits are slathered with out-of-the-box spreads like roasted duck fat-thyme butter and apricot-Cape gooseberry jam and grilled corn butter with blueberry jam. Finally we visit Cacao Sweets and Treats outside Chicago for the artfully-salted decadence of the Luxe Brownie and the Chocolate Caramel Spice Cake and the genre-bending Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls with cream cheese icing.
Cakes
We're returning the favor and celebrating cakes in every form, flavor and size. Take a slice of inspired, traditional French cakes from New York City, over-the-top masterpieces from a San Francisco mainstay, Seattle's best delicate and exotic coffee cakes or out-of-the-box cupcakes. Cakes never deserved their pedestal more.
Sweet & Savory
Forget bacon and chocolate: we found the spots for sweet-and-savory desserts that are new to the menu. Between sweetened tofu, donuts that raid the savory spice cabinet, roasted red pepper gelato and a cupcake that's fit for dinner, you'll never look at dessert the same way again.
Brunch
There are those who order a savory brunch and there are those that go for gusto with something decadent and sweet. We're catering to the sweet tooth by visiting hotspots that take a sweet brunch very seriously and turn it into something utterly unique.
Ice Cream Nation
We travel across the nation to find the most original ice cream creations. At Morgentern's Finest Ice Cream in New York, inventive flavors and unusual toppings take center stage. If you're feeling nostalgic, Publican Quality Meats in Chicago is bringing back a childhood favorite with their amazing pub pops, one push of this frozen pop and you'll be hooked. And in Colorado, Fior di Latte makes a delicious horchata affogato and a colorful cake using their creamy, silky gelatos.
Updated Classics
Trigger your fondest food memories with flavors you never remembered in our favorite picks for revisited retro and nostalgic desserts. Indulge in caramel corn in San Francisco, a Meyer Lemon Shaker Pie, the creamiest of cheesecakes to have all to yourself, or a slice of birthday cake unlike any mother ever made.
Small Bites
Need a nibble of something sweet? Take a bite of sticky, stacked baklava and creative candies from Brooklyn and Queens, N.Y., or a tiny taste of decadence with twisted French classics in Chicago or upscale Farmer's Market fare in San Francisco. These treats may be tiny, but are huge on flavor.
Cute and Sweet
Sometimes good things come in small packages, and we visit three locations that pack big-time flavors in small servings. First stop is Cake Monkey Bakery in Los Angeles, where their mini layer cakes allow you to have your favorite cake -- and eat the whole thing! And the fluffy, coconut-coated Mogul takes a cute childhood favorite and makes it even better than you remember. Next stop is Tiny Pies in Austin, Texas, where a mother-daughter duo are making some of the best pies you've ever tasted, like the brownie-pecan combo Texas Two Step and the juicy Peach and Blueberry, and sizing them to fit in the palm of your hand. Finally, it's a twist on some classic French pastries at Canele by Celine, where delectable canele -- crispy on the outside, custard-like inside -- come not just in a rainbow of flavors, but bite-sized as well so you can try them all!
Awesome Asheville Sweets
We're in Asheville, N.C., for some amazing sweet treats. At the speakeasy called Nightbell, they're taking traditional Southern dishes, adding a little culinary magic, and turning them into bite sized morsels that will surprise and satisfy. Then at the local hang out called The Hop, they've come up with the most unique, yet delicious, ice cream flavors you could imagine. Finally, just outside Asheville, there's Ruth and Ranshaw, where they put all the flavors of your favorite Southern treats into a jar and make an amazing pecan pie that's anything but traditional.
