Mary’s Top 5 Sweet Spots in Phoenixville

Photos by Amy Strauss and Prestige Chocolates

Sometimes I like to have dessert first…so what? Of course, when I first visited Phoenixville I had to check out the sweetest spots in town. Here’s what I found.

Handcrafted Cookie Company

Chad and Theresa Williams are proud owners of The Handcrafted Cookie Company where they produce all-natural cookie dough in small batches using high-quality ingredients with absolutely no corn syrup, hydrogenated fats or other dubious additives. They boast more than 16 varieties spanning from Classic Chocolate Chip to Chocolate Rubies with fresh grapefruit zest and pulp and Nutty Irish with toasted walnuts, oats and Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur.

If that’s not enough for you, check out their new line of ‘cakies’ – personal size mini cakes in 7 different flavors. It’s like eating the best part of a cupcake! Or, choose from a wide variety of cookie cakes and cookie pies and cookie-crust cheesecakes. You can get your cookie dough fix with cookie dough pops (with no eggs) and cookie ice cream sandwiches, all with the same commitment to great, high-quality ingredients. Ummm, yes please!

Prestige Chocolates, Inc.

Owner and chocolatier Jeremy Wasserman has worked in the food-service industry since he was 16 and as a personal thank you, he crafted chocolate truffles. What began as a labor of love and a way to give customers a handmade gift for the holidays has grown into much more than that. Thank goodness for that; we get to indulge in his truffles, which are hand-crafted using farm-fresh butter and cream combined with imported couverture.

Fill up with the truffles of your choice, ranging from Jeremy’s wife’s favorite, balsamic with Fleur de Sel (“a perfect blend of acidity from the vinegar, sweetness from the chocolate and a pinch of salt to round it out”) or Jeremy’s favorite, honey jasmine. Call for current truffle flavors from their unique line of 13 flavors.

Brown Cow Ice Cream

Longtime owner Warren Brown dishes up Bassett’s Ice Cream, a fifth-generation family business and a Philadelphia tradition since 1861. Customers rave that “you cannot miss out on the waffle cones that are freshly dipped on premises or the Blob-wich (ice cream sandwich).”

Carrying all the usual flavors in a old-fashioned “throw-back” atmosphere, you’ll feel right at home at this sweet stop. Enjoy a thick and creamy milkshake or a scoop of a classic flavor, like Praline & Cream, or my personal favorite Moose Tracks, which is vanilla and chocolate goodness with mini peanut butter cups.

Sweet Water Baking Company

Their Mission: To bake the best possible bread, the most delicious cookies and to do it in a place of care, respect and joy. Their team uses ingredients of the highest quality, organic and local whenever possible. Their quality ingredients include a whole-grain flour ground in a slow-moving stone mill, a combination of organic sugar and Rapadura (a completely unrefined sugar), fresh, cultured butter and unrefined salt.

All of their treats are made with care in small quantities; the bread is naturally leavened, mixed and shaped by hand and baked in a wood-fired brick oven and all the cookies are scooped by hand, baked, bagged and delivered fresh.

Purchase bread and cookies at the cafe (Tuesday-Saturday from 11 A.M. to 2 P.M.). Note: The Cafe has cookies available for retail sale. Bread is available directly from the bakery, adjacent to the cafe, on Tuesday and Friday mornings.

You can also purchase products at Kimberton Whole Foods in Kimberton, Gateway Pharmacy and Artisan’s Cafe in Phoenixville and at Lionville Health Food Store in Lionville. Seasonally, Sweetwater Bakery sells items at the Phoenixville Farmers’ Market and at local CSAs, including Sankanac, Kimberton and Charlestown CSAs.

Special orders can be placed with the bakery directly by calling 610-935-1060. All orders must be picked up.

Guilty Pleasures

This new spot downtown is loaded with Asher chocolates, penny candies, cookies (delivered fresh from Philly), fresh fudge from Pittsburgh and buckets and buckets of fun candies for the kid in everyone to enjoy. The owners are quiet but sweet once you get them to warm up to tell you about their various offerings, including soft-serve ice cream, hot dogs, ice cream sundaes – you know, all your childhood favorites.

And an Extra One For Good Luck…

Wildflower Cafe

A friend of a friend of a friend told me about this “virutal” cafe and although there is no actual location to sit and enjoy these goodies, you can pick up tasty treats like Cafe Mokka or Chocolate Chip with Pecan cookies, Josie’s Banana Espresso Muffins with chocolate chips or Mollie’s Granola with Wild Blueberries and Pecans at markets like The Mill at Anselma Farmer’s Market.

Owner and baker Janet is still getting used to the fact that she’s a “baker.”

“I smile every time I put on my apron, listen to tunes and work with organic ingredients.   I am committed to using organic, local and the best ingredients I can find.” What started as a quest to find organic, natural and delicous chocolate chip cookies has led to her making her own cookies for her friends and now in her certified kitchen because, as the story usually goes, friends urged her to sell to the masses. There is something oh so cool about an underground organic bakery that you’ve got to try it out!

Find her goodies at The Mill at Anselma Farmer’s Market

http://anselmamill.org/

Every Wednesday 1 – 6 P.M. May 19 – October 27