The holidays are a time to treat yourself. For some, that might mean a spa treatment or a new coat. For others, it might manifest in the form of a medium-rare porterhouse, or mashed potatoes with a 1:1 butter:spud ratio. The foremost festive treat, though, is sugar. No matter the confection of choice, this is the time of year for pastries and desserts wafting cinnamon-sugar, slathered in cranberry mousse or layered with cookie butter. For all of the above and more, here are some festive sweets to look forward to in OKC this holiday season.
Since cookies are a requisite, you can get your fix at places like Quincy Bake Shop (1235 NW 38th St.), where annual gingerbread “people” offer a less gender-specific approach to a holiday tradition. At Spark, the expanding burger concept from The Social Order (300 Oklahoma City Blvd.), cookies take a different form for the December desserts of the month. This includes cookie butter custard, wherein creamy frozen custard comes heaped with a dollop of sweetly spiced cookie butter, or the Festivus Shake, featuring cookie butter custard spun with holiday sprinkles.
Pie is another seasonal staple, with both classic and novel flavors to be found throughout the city. For the former, Holey Rollers (3010 Paseo) offers pre-orders for Christmas in flavors like apple crisp, pumpkin and pecan — all vegan and gluten-free. Then there are the ever-innovative flavors at Pie Junkie (1711 NW 16th St.), where the seasonal specialty for November and December is cranberry white chocolate pie. It features a buttery hand-pressed graham cracker crust layered with silken white chocolate ganache, fluffy whipped cranberry cheesecake mousse and a cloud of whipped cream. Topped with mini white chocolate chips, it’s available for pre-order until sold out, and in-shop on a first-come, first-served basis.
Just in time for the homey holidays, Social Deck + Dining (1933 NW 23rd St.) is going back to its “Simple Done Well” ethos, debuting new menus from chef Jerrod Driskill that emphasize fun, shareable dishes and modern comfort food with some international inspiration. On deck for dessert are “mom’s” mini cheesecakes, in flavors like pumpkin chiffon and German chocolate, as well as classic sweet potato.
Both pie and cheesecake take top billing at FRIDA Southwest (500 Paseo) for the season, where holiday confections include an orange cloud pie with cinnamon shortbread crust, fig jam, whipped cream and candied orange, or dark chocolate pistachio cheesecake with sweet pistachio crust, dark chocolate ganache, pistachio praline and cranberry compote. There’s also a vegan carrot cake, made with spiced gluten-free cake and cream cheese frosting, which gets a festive touch from a mini gingerbread cookie.
