READ MORE FROM OUR “BEST DESSERTS” FEATURE HERE.
Enter the doors of 770 N. Jefferson St., take the steps down to the food court and just to your right will be a cute walkup window with cookies, brownies and such stacked in layers that cover half the window.
That’s Midwest Sad bakery, which started as a popup in 2023 and nods to seasonal affective disorder, a form of winter depression. Could desserts be the cure? Owner, head baker and MKE native Sam Sandrin thinks so.
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Besides classics like brownies and chocolate chip cookies, Sandrin bakes surprise offerings like the matcha almond cookie (my favorite – thick, chewy and tastes like marzipan), jammy blue raspberry bun, and peanut butter banana pudding cup (which makes a strong case for a dessert-in-a-cup trend).
The Midwest Sad peeps take baking just seriously enough. “It doesn’t have to be this life-changing experience from a Michelin-star restaurant,” Sandrin says. “I’m just trying to create food that’s healing for your inner child and makes you feel good.”
In mood-boosting accent shades of yellow and pink, the Third Ward’s Sweetly Baked serves a mini smorgasbord of baked goods, some infused with hemp-derived CBD or Delta-8 THC. But owner/baker Amanda Buhrman’s bakery’s true calling card is as a dessert bar offering non-infused baked treats paired with an alcoholic beverage – wine or a cocktail (or mocktail).
The flights are meant to be shared in couplings like banana pudding and a Manhattan, pistachio macaron and an espresso martini, a cookie butter bar alongside a glass of Malbec. You can also curate your own flight. “I wanted to remove the stigma a little bit from just cannabis in general,” Buhrman says.
She also wanted to give the city an option for a nightcap and dessert outside of a bar or restaurant, with evening hours (until 9 p.m.) on Thursday through Saturday nights. Flight serves two, $45. Marshall Building, 207 E. Buffalo St., Suite 104.
