Six must-visit, mouth-watering York County bakeries
Sticky buns, cupcakes and baklava, oh my!
If grabbing some pastries for breakfast or a piece of cake for dessert is wrong, we don't want to be right.
When York County foodies need to fix their craving, here's a few of the places they go:
Baker’s Diner — Dillsburg
Baker’s Diner has been a staple of the Dillsburg community for decades. The diner was first owned by Dolores Baker for many years and changed owners once in the early 2000s before brothers Alex and Bill Hronis purchased the diner in 2005. The brothers come from a large family of experienced diner owners. Their father owned Miller’s Diner outside of Allentown and another set of brothers own the Capitol Diner in Harrisburg. A few years ago, the brothers started getting their baked goods from The Pennsylvania Bakery in Harrisburg.
Top sought items: Lemon berry mascarpone cake, coconut cream pie, baklava cake
Address: 515 N. U.S. 15, Dillsburg
Hours: The diner is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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The Copper Crust Company — York
Nicole and Sean Austin, a pair of Culinary Institute of America graduates, were seeking a place to open up a bakery and, while visiting relatives in York in the early 2010s, believed the area could benefit from one. They opened The Copper Crust Company in 2012 in the west side of York’s Central Market. Recently, the bakery expanded to an adjacent stand and started selling bread.
Top sought items: European pastries
Address: 34 W. Philadelphia St., York
Hours: 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays; closed Monday, Wednesday and Friday
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Gateau Monique — Littlestown
OK, so this might be cheating a bit, but Littlestown is close enough to York County to include Gateau Monique on this list. The Littlestown bakery opened in 2014 by Virginia native Monique Washirapunya. While working at another restaurant in Taneytown, Md., Washirapunya started making specialty cakes for customers out of her home. Once that business grew, she branched out and opened Gateau Monique.
Top sought items: Scones, sticky buns and specialty cakes
Address: 5 S. Queen St., Littlestown
Hours: 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday
Janina’s Fine Desserts — York Township
Janina Turziak learned to bake at a four-year culinary school in southern Poland. In 1988, amid social unrest and food shortages, Turziak and her family immigrated to the United States. She worked at a variety of jobs, including Patisserie Poupon in Baltimore. In 2010, she made her dream come true, opening Janina’s Fine Desserts off of Leader Heights Road in York Township.
Top sought items: Strawberry cake, almond croissants and macarons
Address: 176 Leader Heights Road, York Township
Hours: 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday
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Just Cupcakes — York
Sometimes the most successful idea is also the simplest. In 2008, Chris Martin and her daughter, Sarah Koveleski, started Just Cupcakes as a part-time business venture. Over the years, their baking became so popular that they opened a stand at York’s Central Market selling, you guessed it, just cupcakes.
Top sought items: Three types of cupcakes — chocolate peanut butter, lemon blueberry and Le Blanc, a vanilla/vanilla cupcake.
Location: 34 W. Philadelphia St., York
Hours: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; also by appointment
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Paullet’s Bakery — Jacobus
Paullet’s Bakery started simple enough — supplying convenience stores in the area with cakes, pies and other baked goods. In 2005, Alan Paullet opened the bakery to the public on Main Street in Jacobus. Paullet, who was born in Pittsburgh and lived in the Washington area before moving to the York area, said baking has always been one of his passions.
Top sought items: Pastries, specialty cakes (such as the raspberry cream cake) and bake-at-home chicken vegetable pies.
Hours: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday
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Anthony J. Machcinski is the food reporter for the York Daily Record. Follow him on Facebook, @ChinskiTweets on Twitter or email him at amachcinski@ydr.com.