In sampling six of Anchorage’s independently-owned bakeries this month, I realized the joy of a bakery is its ability to surprise. When you find a treat that gives an “omigod” moment, and is somehow a level above the bite you were expecting.
I stopped into Benji’s Bakery & Cafe, Charlie’s Bakery and Chinese Food, Concoction Breads & Provisions, The Flying Dutchman Pastry Shop, Josie’s Bakery and Manila Bake in search of such surprises.
Before I get into the best moments of my pursuit, here’s how I selected the six spots: the bakery had to offer more than one type of treat (e.g. cupcake, cake, donut and macron-only spots were all out). Restaurants with a bakery case were out, it had to specialize. Chains and franchises were out. Oh, and Fire Island was out. (I do love Fire Island, but I think we already have formed our opinion about them.) Without further adieu, the six:
The Flying Dutchman Pastry Shop
Abbott Plaza, 2101 Abbott Road Suite 9
I was overwhelmed by options when I entered the take-out only Southside storefront, packed full with four large cases of chocolate croissants, meringues, savory and cinnamon rolls, cookies, cakes, the list goes on.
The cashier, who was very friendly and patient with my questions, said they’re known for their tarts. My friend had advised that their bran muffins are exceptional, so I chose that, an almond blueberry tart (indeed very good, especially the crust), and an apple and apricot cinnamon roll.
Practical Notes: There is no space to eat inside. Consider visiting Flying Dutchman before the holidays to pick up chocolate easter bunnies or themed cookie boxes, which are popular around Easter, Christmas, and Thanksgiving.
The Surprise: The apple apricot cinnamon roll didn’t look like much, but my goodness, it was easily among the best I’ve ever had. The dough was perfectly moist, the cinnamon was understated, the big dollop of frosting on top was not too sweet, and the fruit was the perfect accompaniment. No notes.
Manila Bake
3020 Minnesota Dr #8C
Manila Bake is connected to Stop N Shop Asian Market. It has pastries, sweet breads, and desserts pre-packaged in plastic bags and to-go boxes on display. We asked the cashier for recommendations and wound up with quite a variety: sticky ube rice topped with custard; a leche flan; a crispy banana fritter; puto (a mildly sweet steamed rice cake); pande ube (a purple sweet yam bread); and ensaymada (more on that below).
If you hanker for comforting sweet breads or maybe a custardy taste of tropical flavors like ube, pandan and coconut, then this place is worth checking out. Old school Anchorage people will appreciate the combo of cafe and convenience store, which my friend Kate said gave her, “back in the day Thai Kitchen vibes.”
Practical Notes: The pande ube comes in a package of six, along with many of the other sweet breads. They were tasty toasted the next morning at home.
The Surprise: The ensaymada was new to me: a soft, sweet dough pastry covered with butter and sugar then topped with grated cheese! I loved the over the top, buttery sweetness and will definitely be back for one of these.
Benji’s Bakery & Cafe
901 E Dimond Blvd Ste C
Did you know you can buy a cruffin (muffin shaped croissant) in Anchorage? A cruffin feels like a fanciful treat you’d only see in big cities to me, as if it doesn’t satisfy the frontier sensibility of Alaskan chefs. Benji’s offers a wide selection of filled croissants, cream puffs, danishes and other treats in unique color and flavor combinations like ube, lychee, fruity pebbles, maple bacon and more. The dessert counter is colorful and enticing, making it impossible for me to order just one thing despite my best intentions.
Practical Notes: Try a taro milk tea while you’re there and enjoy the sweet, chewy and giant tapioca bobas.
The Surprise: These treats look like they’d be heavy, but are remarkably, not. The croissants are textbook with an airy crunch and light quality doughiness, and the filling makes you feel like you’ve mostly just consumed extremely tasty air.
Josie’s Bakery
5915 Lake Otis Pkwy #5
The absolute worst part of my experience at Josie’s was the cashier being way too humble and not telling us to get at least four times as much of everything we ordered.
We went at noon on a Friday right when it opened and asked the cashier to recommend some favorites. We had chicken and pork siopao, which is a rice-flour steamed bun filled with savory BBQ meats; two perfectly fried, flakey empanadas with delicious, tender filling (I could have eaten 100 of these); and a box of ube and cream cheese senoritas, which were these cute filled sweet bread treats. All of them were served hot and fresh, and filled me with deep regret to not have visited this bakery sooner.
Practical Notes: This is also a to-go only location with very limited hours (noon – six, Fri. and Sat. only). There was already a line when we arrived right at noon, but it moved fast. The chalkboard menu has very little detail, but don’t be embarrassed to ask questions or have them make recommendations, they were so friendly. Also, order double!
The Surprise: Every single thing we ate from Josie’s was utterly delicious. Get yourself to Josie’s next Friday and/or Saturday.
Concoction Breads & Provisions
1443 West Northern Lights Boulevard Unit P
Did you also order bread from Concoction during the pandemic? Or maybe grab a cookie or mochi donut while Katie was set up at one of the farmers’ markets or breweries? I’ve never understood how Concoction’s head baker, Katie Wright, had time to bake all the things and be all the places. But she did, until recently when she opened a storefront on Northern Lights.
Concoction is best known for delicious gluten-free treats that would trick any gluten lover into delight. She also sells other delicious, gluten-filled bakes, including bagels, sourdough loaves, sweet buns, and canele (more on that below).
Practical Notes: I’ve never lived in New York City, so my ability to critique a bagel is apprentice-level. However, these bagels struck the right balance, having real bread to sink your teeth into while maintaining that chewy exterior, made better with the toasted crunch. She’s got you with multiple flavors of homemade schmear, even vegan schmears. I tried the gluten-free everything and the blueberry sourdough with dairy and non-dairy schmear and thoroughly enjoyed them all.
The Surprise: CANELE! (I’m sorry to yell, but this is important.) Canele is a small, French pastry that requires special copper molds and beeswax to make. Because of this, you never see them in town (and I’ve looked), except at Concoction. Canele have the eggy sweetness of a crème brûlée or flan, but with the airy interior of a risen dough, and a succulent sweet exterior crunch. You must take my word for how good these are and go get one. Actually, go get a dozen and share them with your friends. They need to know.
Charlie’s Bakery and Chinese Food
2729 C St.
It’s easy to dine at Charlie’s for Chinese food and dim sum and not save room for sweets. Now I understand that the move is to make a separate, sweets-only trip. Charlie’s sells a lot of frosting and cream-forward slices in its dessert case (e.g. jelly and cream rolls, boston cream pie, cheesecake, opera cake, tiramisu, eclairs). They also sell full cakes to-go, which are reportedly a little lighter in texture and not as rich as American cakes, though I did not personally taste one. Behind the cashiers are their breads and a selection of sweet buns (e.g. custard, red bean, coconut) and savory buns (e.g. sausage, egg, and cheese; pepperoni and cheese; BBQ pork).
Practical Notes: The rolls sell out quickly! If you want to try a specific flavor, arrive close to when they open at 11 am.
The Surprise: The dough of the sweet roll was perfect (we sampled the red bean). Milky, sweet, yeasty, and pillowy soft. Whoever bakes those really knows what they’re doing. I can’t wait to try more flavors, both sweet and savory.
The final list of most delightful Anchorage bakery surprises, is as follows:
- Josie’s Bakery: Tie between the ube cream cheese senorita or an empanada
- Concoction Breads & Provisions – Canele
- Benji’s Bakery & Cafe – Strawberry croissant
- The Flying Dutchman Pastry Shop – Apple apricot cinnamon roll
- Manila Bake – Ensaymada
- Charlie’s Bakery and Chinese Food – Any sweet bun
Try some and tell me what you think. Or better yet, tell me what I’m missing!
Jenny Weis writes for a variety of Alaska nonprofits and causes in between keeping up on Alaska's doughnut scene, sliding on snow, and gawking at cool plants and rocks along local trails.
