Where to Find the Best Cookies and Desserts in Seattle

If you’re looking for desserts in Seattle or where to find Seattle’s best cookies, you’ve come to the right place. You see, I’m reaaaaaaaallllly picky when it comes to desserts, so I only remember desserts that are truly special.

I’m one of those people who always chooses savory dishes at brunch. I usually choose to eat another appetizer rather than order a dessert. But every once in a while, a sweet treat comes along that leaves an impression.

Whether you love cake, cookies, or other confections, here’s where to get the best desserts in Seattle.

Best Cookies & Desserts in Seattle

Best cookies in Seattle

I think some of the best desserts in Seattle are in fact cookies, so I have a whole section dedicated to cookie places in Seattle!

Dahlia Bakery

location: downtown (get directions) | website | best for: peanut butter cookies

Dahlia Bakery is run by restauranteur Tom Douglas. They’re famous for coconut creme pie, but I think they’re secretly making the best cookie in Seattle.

Their peanut butter cookie is more like a peanut butter cookie sandwich because there are two chewy cookies with a thin layer of peanut butter between. Most peanut butter cookies tend to crumble, but these bend as you break it in half and don’t make a mess. They’re also way more flavorful than any other peanut butter cookie I’ve ever had.

In fact, once I brought them to a work event and they were gone within minutes. And Dahlia Bakery deserves a shout out for their customer service, as they aren’t set up to do orders for parties but they worked with me to make it happen. Let’s just say this cookie made the party a hit!

Lowrider Cookie Co.

location: Central District (get directions) and Georgetown (get directions) | website | best for: soft cookies with interesting flavor combos

Lowrider Baking Company is named after owner Emily Allport’s weiner dog. She got her start selling out of Seattle farmers markets, but now has two locations and nationwide shipping for her irresistible cookies.

The menu changes often and has interesting flavor combos like stuffed strawberry rhubarb, white chocolate birthday cake, and caramel chocolate pretzel cookies. But my favorite is her signature cookies and cream cookie.

Treat Cookies

location: Burien (get directions) | website | best for: snickerdoodle and molasses cookies

Treat is a mother-daughter team creating some of the largest and softest cookies in Seattle. All of their cookies have a name and they range from classics to unique concoctions.

For example, two of my favorites are Treat’s “Tessa” snickerdoodle and “Whitney” molasses cookies. The snickerdoodle tastes like the classic version, but it has sumac. Similarly the molasses cookie has African spices to make it more warming and earthier. Both stay soft and chewy for days, so they’re awesome versions of the OG recipe.

Treat also has excellent soft-serve ice cream. Plus they ship their cookies nationwide. Oh and did I mention how Instagrammable the space is? All in all, Treat is serving some of the best desserts in Seattle and should be on your list to try.

Pinckney Cookie Cafe

location: Kirkland | website | best for: soft, chewy cookies that last awhile

This Black-owned cookie company operates out of a catering kitchen in a strip mall in Kirkland. Owner Michael Pinckney doesn’t have a storefront, but you can order online for pickup or get nationwide shipping.

I’m so impressed with how long these cookies last. They’re individually wrapped and can last in the fridge up to 10 days. Even after that many days they are still super soft and chewy.

My favorite flavors are the double chocolate espresso and bing bling made with dried Bing cherries, dark Belgian chocolate chips, and coconut. However, I encourage you to order a sampler pack to try them all!

Sugar + Spoon

location: U-District (get directions) | website | best for: chocolate chip cookie dough

Sugar + Spoon started as a colorful food truck and since has opened a permanent home near the University of Washington. I was late to trying them because they are fodder for Instagram: meaning people take an obnoxious amount of photos of their grammable creations with animal crackers, sprinkles, and other wild toppings.

Since I’m a purist when it comes to desserts, I figured the fan fare was mostly for the aesthetic. But when I tried Sugar + Spoon, I realized I was mistaken. They’re making some of the best cookies in Seattle…they’re just not baking them.

Sure, you can get a cookie dough cone with crazy toppings. But know that their cookie dough is really good just on its own. I really like the flavor of their take on the OG chocolate chip classic.

Metropolitan Market

location: Queen Anne, Magnolia, & others | website | best for: “The Cookie”

I’m the first to admit I’m surprised that I ever bought a cookie at a food store. I’m kind of a hater when it comes to store-bought desserts, and I’ve rarely had a grocery store bakery counter item that I remembered.

But I’m so happy I was low on blood sugar the one day I went food shopping at Met Market and decided to get their ominously labeled “The Cookie”. It’s a beast of a thing, essentially a chocolate chip cookie with walnuts. When you bite or break it, chocolate visibly oozes out…a sign of a good cookie.

Met Market has a whole page on its website talking about this cookie, which isn’t something you see a lot on grocery store websites. Apparently it was developed by their head baker over the course of a few years after the owner discovered the cookies at an NYC bakery people were waiting in line for.

I’d bet my money that it was Levain Bakery that inspired this cookie. Well, if it was, Met Market’s cookie is better, and one of the best cookies in Seattle to boot.

Hello Robin

location: Madison Park (get directions) and U-District (get directions) | website | best for: Mackles’more cookie

My office seems to get cookies from Hello Robin delivered to it a lot. The first cookie to go? The Mackles’more.

This cookie is Hello Robin’s ode to a s’more, with a chocolate chunk cookie base topped with a piece of graham cracker, marshmallow, Theo Chocolate, and sea salt. It’s deeply flavorful, but not too sweet. And, like Met Market’s “The Cookie”, you’ll also get a bit of ooze from the chocolate and marshmallow when you bite in and pull away. Ask anyone where to find the best cookie in Seattle, guaranteed this is on their list.

Fun fact: You can get double the cookies served as a ice cream sandwiches featuring Molly Moon ice cream.

The best desserts in Seattle

If you prefer more traditional desserts like cakes, pies, pastries, and more, these are your places for dessert in Seattle.

RockCreek

location: Fremont (get directions) | website | best for: key lime pie and s’more mousse

RockCreek is one of my go-to places for seafood in Seattle and one of the best places to eat in North Seattle. So imagine my surprise the first time I got dessert and had my mind blown.

You won’t find a huge dessert menu at RockCreek, but you’ll find two that never leave: s’more mousse and key lime pie. Both come in jars and both are worth coming back for again and again. In fact, we brought my boyfriend’s brothers here for dinner and they liked it so much, we went back two days later to just get dessert. It’s so good, I’ve included it in my self-guided Seattle food tour of Fremont.

The s’more cup has a perfectly-executed chocolate mousse made with ever-so-dark chocolate (meaning even milk chocolate lovers can get behind in). Underneath is homemade graham cracker and on top is a smoky marshmallow meringue. But the secret ingredient that puts it over the top? A thin layer of caramel sauce. It’s so good that it makes me wonder why I haven’t been putting caramel on my s’mores growing up.

The key lime pie is equally as good. Most key lime pies are more creamy, but I love RockCreek’s because it’s more like a lime curd. It’s the perfect consistency and balance between acidic and sweet. And it also features their irresistible homemade graham cracker.

If it sounds like I’m gushing, it’s because I am. If you can only go to one place for desserts in Seattle, make it RockCreek. This is my favorite dessert in the city right now.

DERU Market

location: Kirkland (get directions) | website | best for: super moist, big-as-hell cake

There are a lot of cake places in Seattle, but my absolute favorite cake is in the Eastside at DERU. They are in an unassuming residential area of Kirkland and serve massive slices of cake that are $16 a pop. Before you balk, know Dan and I barely ever finish just one slice between the two of us.

The cakes are SO moist and flavorful. What I like best about their cakes is that they’re the perfect balance of fluffy and fudgy. There are some really popular cake spots in Seattle that people are probably surprised aren’t on this list, but I find them way too dense. But DERU’s are just right.

While there are a lot of great flavors, the salted peanut butter chocolate cake is the must get. The icing is so so so friggin’ good. It’s fluffy and tastes like peanut butter, but doesn’t stick to the roof of your mouth. I love it so much that DERU has become one of my go-to restaurants in Seattle when that sweet craving hits…even thought it’s 25-30 minutes from my house!

Cakes of Paradise

location: Georgetown | website | best for: tropical cakes

You haven’t lived until you’ve tried Cakes of Paradise. They make super moist cakes with tropical flavors like guava, mango, lilikoi (passion fruit), and coconut.

My favorites are the guava cake and mango cheesecake. If you haven’t had guava, it’s like a more tropical strawberry. This one isn’t cloyingly sweet, but it’s a pleasing pink-ish red color with exceptional, curd-like icing.

9th & Hennepin Doughnuts

location: West Seattle (get directions) | website | best for: fresh-made doughnuts with rotating seasonal flavors

This doughnut shop operates out of a commissary kitchen near some of the best restaurants in West Seattle. They announce their menu each week and you order ahead for Saturday morning pickup. The window is tight because they insist on serving piping hot doughnuts.

I can’t tell you which doughnuts to get because the menu changes regularly, but know they are yeasty and awesome. You’ll find interesting flavors like yuzu, cardamom, and more put together in a really balanced doughnut.

The Pastry Project

location: Pioneer Square (get directions) | website | best for: subscription boxes

The Pastry project was founded by Heather and Emily who met while working at Molly Moon’s. They became passionate about helping people with barriers enter the kitchen, so they developed The Pastry Project to provide free baking and pastry training to individuals with barriers to education and employment in the industry. They’re able to fund a free 14-week training program through donations, subscriptions, classes, events, and incubator residencies for small businesses.

While the treats in their subscription box changes regularly, I experience their cinnamon and savory rolls at a popup and it was hands down the best I’ve ever had. So not only are they improving people’s livelihood, but some mean desserts are coming out of their kitchen.

Pro tip: The Pastry Project does a summer soft serve ice cream window!

Bakery Nouveau

location: Capitol Hill, West Seattle, and Burien | website | best for: croissants

I’m admittedly not much of a pastry person, but my tune changed when I tried the twice baked almond croissant at Bakery Nouveau. This is unlike any croissant I’ve ever had. It’s chewy instead of flaky, akin to if a croissant had a baby with a cinnamon roll. There are traditional versions you’ll get at places like La Panier in Pike Place Market, but Bakery Nouveau’s version will flip what you know about croissants upside down.

Hot Cakes

location: Capitol Hill (get directions) and Ballard (get directions) | website | best for: chocolate dip ice cream

Surprise! You thought I was going to recommended Hot Cakes for their famous molten chocolate cakes, didn’t you? Well, insiders know that one of the best things on their menu is actually their take on the classic dip cone.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I have a near obsession with dip cones. They were a staple in my diet growing up in New Jersey (I had a great childhood, huh?), so any time I see them on a menu I must get it. There’s something so nostalgic for me whenever I eat this soft serve ice cream treat dipped in molten chocolate to create a hardened shell.

However, dip cones aren’t very common on the west coast. The few places I’ve found them don’t do the ones from my childhood justice because they try too hard to be “artisanal” and end up tasting all wrong. But the dip cone at Hot Cakes’ Capitol Hill location is so good it’s become one of my favorite places to get desserts in Seattle. It tastes familiar, but ever-so-slightly elevated with better quality chocolate and creamier ice cream that tastes more vanilla then chemical. I’m thankful that now I can get my fix whenever the craving hits!

Osteria La Spiga

location: Capitol Hill (get directions) | website | best for: tiramisu

Want to know a secret? I’ve never actually eaten dinner at La Spiga. I went there on a food tour, which is how I discovered that they make maybe the best tiramisu in Seattle.

Coming from New Jersey, Italian desserts like tiramisu are a staple on most menus. Yet not many places are making it in Seattle, let alone perfecting it. A lot of tiramisu’s can be too boozy or not have enough coffee flavor. But La Spiga’s has the perfect balance of coffee to booze and is light as a cloud.

If you’re looking for one of the more interesting spots to get desserts in Seattle, make sure La Spiga is on your list. And when you do, can you let me know how their dinner is? 😂

Shug’s Soda Fountain

location: downtown (get directions) | website | best for: banana split sundae

Shug’s is a quaint ice cream shop right next to Pike Place Market that’s styled like an old-school soda fountain from the 50s…a.k.a. it’s Instagrammable as hell. This is one of the places I recommend everyone visit on a self-guided walking tour of Pike Place Market.

This ice cream parlor serves delectable sundaes using ice cream from Lopez Island Creamery, one of the must-visit spots on Lopez Island. But the dessert you must get is the banana split.

I don’t even usually like banana splits because they’re served with raw banana. However, Shug’s brûlées the banana on its version and tops it with high quality cherries (not those bright red shits that made me think I hated cherries growing up). So if you’re exploring downtown Seattle, make sure to stop at this dessert place!

General Porpoise

location: Capitol Hill, Pioneer Square, Laurelhurst, SLU | website | best for: vanilla custard doughnuts

General Porpoise is the doughnut shop created by legendary restauranteur Renee Erickson. Coming from the east coast I tend to prefer yeasty doughnuts over cake-y, and I love a good stuffed doughnut.

Well, GP is making arguably the best doughnuts in Seattle. They’re yeasty orbs of goodness stuffed with homemade custards, curds, and jellies. The menu is constantly changing, but the original vanilla custard doughnut is one of the best desserts in Seattle so it’s always available.

I always choose curds over custards, but when I tried Renee’s custard, I was converted. It’s flecked with real vanilla beans and has the most satisfying creamy texture. It doesn’t glob, but rather spreads as if someone was swirling a design on the top of an iced cake every time you bite into it.

I’m not a big doughnut fan, but I’ll go out of my way for these babies. Make sure to add GP to your list of dessert places in Seattle!

Trophy Cupcakes

location: Wallingford, Queen Anne, and U-District | website | best for: moist cupcakes

A lot of people prefer Cupcake Royale, but I think Trophy has the best cupcakes in Seattle. They’re moister and less dense than Cupcake Royale and they serve a lot of really fun flavors like margarita, Black forest, and birthday cake. They’re one of the quintessential Seattle food you need to try at least once.

Pie Bar

location: Ballard, Capitol Hill, and Phinney Ridge | website | best for: fruit crumble pies

Pie Bar is kind of genius: it serves pies alongside spirits at a 21+ establishment open for dinner and late night. I’ve yet to try their savory pies, but I go back again and again for their sweet pies.

My favorites are their crumble pies. The dough is the perfect consistency and the pies are perfectly balanced between sweet and tart. When in season, the strawberry rhubarb is killer. But if it’s not spring time, get the apple pie instead. I’d argue that Pie Bar serves the best pie in Seattle, and definitely one of the best desserts in Seattle!

More ideas for desserts

• Dessert Delivery in Seattle When That Craving Hits
• Best Chocolate Made in Seattle
• The Controversial List of Seattle’s Best Ice Cream
• Fudgy Coconut Banana Brownies
• Lemon Drop Cookies with Sprinkles