best sweet treats in NYC

It’s been almost a month since I came back from my trip to New York. I’m actually still sorting through various pictures on my camera roll and trying to get them organized. We literally took a picture everywhere we turned, and I guess I’m kind of paying the price for that. But looking back on all the amazing food we ate, I’m so glad I took so many pictures! Today I’m sharing a couple of the best sweet treats in NYC, to cure our sweet-toothed cravings. Plus, you really can’t experience New York to the fullest without going to places like Cookie DŌ or Dominique Ansel.

I hope you enjoy!

P.S. If you haven’t read my previous NYC post, make sure to check it out! It’s all of the delicious brunch places we went to in the city. If you’re ever in the area, I hope these two posts help you out. There are also more coming… I just have to get another 200 or so photos (and my life) together before I can write another one!

Emack and Bolio’s

Uhhh… yes, ice cream in bone-chilling 10 degree weather. Because LOOK AT THESE CONES.

Looking back, I feel like I should have chosen a cone and ice cream color that complimented each other more. The pink-and-yellow with the grey-and-black combo isn’t the most photogenic. But the ice cream was soooo good! I got the oreo encrusted ice cream cones with the space cake ice cream, which is literally cake batter ice cream with chunks of shortbread cookie and red velvet cake. Again, it was one of the coldest days of our stay, and yet I was determined to have a taste of this trendy ice cream joint, and let me tell you, it was so worth it.

The chunks of red velvet were my favorite best part, but honestly, the mere fact that there’s a cake batter ice cream flavor out there just restores my faith in humanity.

 

Cookie DŌ

If I could, I would eat cookie dough every single day. When we stopped by Cookie DŌ, I literally felt like I was in cookie dough heaven! I’m sure y’all have heard of this trendy spot in New York. They have flavors ranging from classic flavors to unique concoctions of their own. Although you can order dough online, nothing beats the in-store flavors. You can order your cookie dough in an ice cream cone (which is SO extra, and I really wanted to, but my mom wouldn’t let me), build your own cookie dough sundae, or even freaking cookie dough hot chocolate! Not to mention, the cookie dough cafe itself was adorable. I mean are you not obsessing over the “dreams dough come true” neon sign?

We got: reese’s peanut butter cup, gingerbread, nuts for nuts, brookie, sugar cookie, and oatmeal M&M. Yeah, we got SIX FLAVORS of cookie dough. I’m not complaining because we were in New York City, and why wouldn’t we splurge on DŌ? If it makes you feel any better, I brought back three of the flavors for my friend Brooke, so technically we only had three.

 

Black Tap

You saw this coming. I know you saw this coming.

Crazy, over the top shakes have been such a huge trend for so long. Although there are a few restaurants in Dallas that sell crazy shakes, I wanted an authentic Black Tap milkshake. I don’t know if the picture does the drink any justice, because that thing was taller than my head and made be gain 5 pounds just looking at it.

We ordered the Cookie Shake: It’s got a vanilla frosting rim, rolled in crushed cookies, and filled to the brim with cookie-infused-vanilla-milkshake. There’s a mountain of whipped cream, drizzled in chocolate with a COOKIEWICH (vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two chocolate chip cookies), more crumbled cookies, and chocolate chips.

Yes, my family and I finished the entire thing. The hardest thing in the world was picking which shake to order. There was a cake batter shake (topped with an actual cake slice), a fruity pebbles shake (topped with a pop tart), and a peanut butter shake (with pretzels, chocolate, and pb). I dare you to on their menu and see if you can choose between the shakes. Even if I went back right this moment, I’d probably spend hours trying to decide.

ALSO: Why do all the good restaurants have horrible lighting? Ugh!

Jacque Torres Chocolate Museum

I was expecting the this chocolate museum to be a huge, trendy building, and, like all the other places we went to, packed full of people. When I first walked in the building, my first thought was, “oh.” It seemed to be the dingy, neglected back room of the actual Jacque Torres Chocolate Shop.

But, surprisingly, I actually had a really pleasant time there. The exhibit starts with a brief showcasing of the history and evolution of chocolate, including some of the very first tools used by the ancient Mayans to grind the cocoa beans. It also showed a couple of the elaborate and expensive-looking chocolate molds used by the Europeans back in the day. There was a chocolate tasting station (shown above), where you could sample chocolate that came from different parts of the world. I also learned that there is no actual cacao in white chocolate, just cocoa butter and sugar!

As for the interactive portion, the staff showed us how the ancient Mayans made their hot chocolate (shown above) – by grinding cacao nibs, seeping them in hot water for a couple hours, and serving them with various spices, such as cinnamon. Let me tell you, it is bitter. Almost black coffee-esque. But I actually enjoyed it! There was also a truffle-making demonstration (shown above), where the chef used tempered chocolate, poured it into molds, and filled them with more chocolate filling.

All in all, it’s not much, but it was a very nice, relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

Dominique Ansel

I know I featured this in my NYC brunch guide, but I couldn’t leave Dominique Ansel out of this roundup. The cronut, a donut-shaped croissant deep fried, filled with cream, and rolled in cinnamon sugar, is still one of the best desserts I’ve ever had. It’s crunchy and crisp on the outside, and buttery, fall-apart flaky on the inside. I’m not sure if you’ve ever had a cronut in your area before, but nothing beats the Cronut from Dominique Ansel: the place where it all began.

We stopped here twice. First, we came here on a cold evening and waited about 45 minutes only to find that the Cronut had sold out many hours prior to our visit. So we ordered three cookie shot glasses filled with vanilla-infused milk (which were soooo good), along with some hot chocolate. My mom returned on our very last day to pick up some Cronuts, and she also ordered the famous DKA, which is another flaky, croissant-esque pastry, along with the Cannelé de Bordeauxes.

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I know you’re probably thinking: There’s literally only five restaurants in this roundup. And one of them was featured in your last post. Ok, ok, fair point. When I’m reading food guides, I always expect a long list with lots of tips and lots to choose from. But looking back at all the photos, I’m also realizing how a) we only had time to go to like 5% of the restaurants I wanted to go to, b) I wanted to enjoy New York without having to take so many pictures, and c) there were so many long lines and we were honestly just exhausted from traveling.

We went to so many amazing places, I’m really sad that I didn’t get to explore some more. You could stay in New York for months, trying new places, and still discover amazing foods every day. There is just so so so much to eat in the city, and it’s really impossible to try them all. And we were even there for five whole days!

With that being said, New York is at the top of my “places to revisit” list. There is definitely way way way more to do and see in the city. There’s also a few more guides I’m getting ready to post, so stay tuned for those!