With twinkling lights decorating the city, the holiday season is in full swing. Children rush in and out of toy stores. Tourists scramble to the Macy’s in Herald Square to see the holiday windows in all its consumer glory. As a fellow foodie, however, I’d much rather enjoy the delicacies that New York City has to offer before I hop on a plane home once the semester ends. Besides the iconic bagels, I’ve learned that another NYC necessity is knowing which bakery offers the best babka.Â
Before living in the city, I must admit I had no idea what babka was, let alone what the hype for it was. If you love chocolate, then you will love this sweet treat (although it originally didn’t have chocolate). According to Gimmee Jimmy’s Cookie blog, “babka is eaten on Jewish holidays and thought to have come about during the early 1800s. Housewives making dough for challah bread, braided bread eaten on the Sabbath and Jewish holidays, would have prepared extra dough, to be filled with cinnamon or jam, which was then rolled up and baked as a special treat.”Â
Over the years, babka has changed from being filled with cinnamon and jam to decadent chocolate. The first time I heard of this sweet treat was during the summer, when a loaf of babka from Breads Bakery was substituting a birthday cake for one of my coworkers. One slice in and I was hooked. Since then, my friends and I have all agreed after sampling other bakeries that Breads Bakery’s babka is superior to other NYC spots.Â
Breads Bakery started their business in 2013 and in just a decade, they’ve perfected the chocolate babka recipe that has made me a loyal customer. They’re conveniently located close to NYU’s campus, which makes getting an after class treat easy. Not to mention, if you show your student ID, you get 10% off!Â
Eater Magazine has named the Breads Bakery in Union Square as one of the Best Jewish Bakeries in NYC, and I fully agree. Babka has put Breads Bakery on the map. They somehow make their babka just sweet enough to not be overly indulgent, and moist enough that it makes you forget you’re eating bread.
Besides their well-known babka, Breads Bakery has other delicious treats just in time for the holiday season, especially for those who need a pick me up in the last half of the semester. The bakery’s croissants are as flaky and delicious as their babka. It makes it even more worthwhile knowing you can enjoy them for under 5 dollars. Rooted in their Jewish culture, they also have an assortment of flavored challah bread such as poppy and festive, as well as typical bakery staples like cinnamon rolls and brownies. Everything is delicious and line-worthy. Given the bakery’s beloved history, I recommend ordering online if you know what you want ahead of time because during the holiday season, the line is crazy.Â
In addition to their amazing pastries, one of the best parts of visiting their Union Square location is seeing everyone pick out their selections, adding to how Breads Bakery has risen from “neighborhood favorite to New York culinary icon” since 2013, as stated by NYMag. Seeing the hype of the bakery in person is definitely a highlight for me when I visit. Now that I’ve tried Bread’s Bakery, I’ll never go back!.Â