Easton Sweets
We’re not going to lie—we’ve got a sweet tooth here in the Easton Park office. So we recently put out the call to ask our wise Eastonites to share their favorite indulgences in South Austin. As usual, y’all came through with yummy ice cream, cakes, donuts and more. See all the great recommendations (and contribute your own ideas and feedback) on Facebook and Instagram.
Capital City Bakery
Recommended by: grandchild
Tucked on East Cesar Chavez, this local bakery offers delicious vegan versions of your favorite treats. Stop in for a dairy- and egg-free cupcake, cookie, brownie, or poptart, or order a specialty decorated cake for your next soiree (we really want the rainbow layer cake). They even offer vegan baking and cake decorating classes—check the website for upcoming options and availability.
Lick Ice Cream
Recommended by: seanmatthew
Lick’s tagline is “honest ice creams,” and they take it seriously, working with local farmers and a family-owned dairy to get the best ingredients for their artisanal flavors. Eastonite Sean Matthew recommended the Lavender Crisp as his favorite springtime flavor; for any season, we love the Caramel Salt Lick and Texas Sheet Cake. Also, their ice cream sandwiches have a layer of ice cream between two soft cake cookies—please try one immediately.
Central Market
Recommended by: k.r.jantzen
Yes, it’s a grocery store, but it’s also home to one of our city’s best bakeries. While you’re grabbing milk, bread, and eggs at the Westgate location, you can also grab cupcakes, cookies, pies, tarts, and more. Eastonite k.r.jantzen recommended the carrot cake, and this is a wise pick indeed. Whether you get a whole cake or a single slice, you’ll be on a one-way trip to cream cheese frostingville. Plus, it has carrots, so that’s almost like eating your vegetables for dessert.
Manoli’s Ice Cream
Recommended by: Tina Moshin
Manoli’s might be located in a food truck (in the park on South 1st and West Live Oak), but they’ve got a surprisingly large menu with ice cream, popsicles, pastries, cakes, and coffee. This family-owned business makes everything on site, with larger cakes available if you order ahead.
Tina says: “Hands down the best ice cream I’ve ever had. They make everything on the truck and they’re the nicest people! They will give you as many samples as you need.”
Little Lucy’s Mini Donuts
Recommended by: Vanessa Navarro
After a late night on Rainey Street, there’s nothing better than a little pink bag of hot tiny donuts. The flagship trailer offers a seasonal variety of flavors, all names after dog breeds. Go with friends and try everything from Chow Chow (classic cinnamon sugar) and Poodle (blueberry lemongrass) to Greyhound (chocolate espresso) and Saint Bernard (bacon, maple and rum).
Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop
Recommended by: Kaleigh Ford
Located on South 1st, Sugar Mama’s offers cookies, mini pies, dessert bars, cupcakes and more in the heart of South Austin. It wasn’t luck that won them tons of Best of Austin awards from the Austin Chronicle as well as Cupcake Wars on the Food Network—these are some seriously good treats. They even made a birthday cake for Kayne West when he was performing in Austin during the X Games.
Kaleigh says: “They have an Oreo one and a peanut butter one. I forget the names it’s been a while! But they are all so good!!”
Tiny Pies
Recommended by: Heather Burnside
Started by a mom and daughter duo, Tiny Pies offers hand-sized pies that are baked from scratch with lots of love—and local ingredients. Flavors change seasonally, depending on what’s available, but we love the cherry and chocolate cream pies. They also offer savory pies, including a spinach and ricotta empanada and a veggie chili pie with a cornbread crust. Nom nom nom.
Cow Tipping Creamery
Recommended by: Sarah Morgan
Known for their original and handmade “stacker” toppings such as brownies, cake bites, and cookies, this place takes soft serve ice cream to a whole new level. Take for example the Lemon Drop, which layers the soft serve of your choice with fresh lemon curd, honey dust, molasses graham crumbs, and whipped cream. Or the Death By Chocolate, containing soft serve, triple fudge brownie chunks, cocoa cookie crumb, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and brown sugar hot fudge. At Cow Tipping Creamery, too much is apparently never enough.
Sarah says: “Anything with the chunks of cake in it. It’s too good.”
