Coffee & Treats in Chicago

A bloom of pastel sugar cookies sprouts from a foundation of peanut-butter and chocolate-chip cookies heaped at their base. This edible masterpiece, the BouTray, is one of Cookies by Design’s many inventive arrangements. For their creative displays, the bakers have been spotlighted on Home and Lifestyle TV. Once customers have selected their ideal cookie bouquet, cookie platter, or cookie house for displaced gingerbread men, pastry chefs personalize the fresh-baked treats with a written message or design.

At J Bean Coffee Shop friendly coffee experts summon jets of steam to whip up lattes and cappuccinos, creating intricate designs in the layers of foam and froth. The independent, locally-run shop recreates the ambience of a cozy Italian café, with every drink handmade to order the way Renaissance-era baristas used to do it. Guests can munch on grilled paninis and wraps as they sip strong espresso or dark-roast coffee, or treat tastebuds to a flood of sweetness with shakes, mochas, caramel lattes, and creamy gelato.

A row of brown aprons lines the seafoam green wall in the kitchen at Give Me Some Sugar. Students wrap themselves in these aprons in preparation for lessons taught by seasoned chef instructors. In basic classes, students squeeze piping bags filled with fresh buttercream to adorn pre-made cakes with rosettes, shells, and blueprints of perpetual-motion machines. Specialty classes show students how to work with specific ingredients, such as fondant classes in which participants cut out shapes and letters, or cake ball classes in which students learn to decorate round shapes with sprinkles and candy and how to pump basketballs full of cake. Students age 8 and up of almost any skill level can find a class that fits and don't have to worry about procuring their own icing bags or aprons, because the studio provides all needed supplies. Staff members will also ensure gluten-free or vegan supplies are on hand with prior arrangement.

Lilly Jane's Cupcakes' founder Kerri Dunn took the name for her dessert shop from her two grandmothers, Lillie Russell and Phyllis Jayne LeValley. As a little girl, she spent countless hours learning how to bake within their kitchens where many of her original cupcake creations were born. Today, these creations bake to fruition within the pink walls of her own space. Staffers pile buttercream onto 9 to 12 rotating cupcake flavors such as Super Chocolate and Strawberry Fields–a white cake infused with strawberries and topped with strawberry icing. They also design custom sugar cookies to help make graduating, getting married, or being really, really hungry more special.

If customers arrive at Mrs. A’s Cupcakes & Cookies at the right time, they may meet the owner’s 5-year-old grandson, who greets them with a hello and an eager recitation of his favorite cupcakes. Mrs. A runs her namesake bakery along with her two youngest daughters, making it a true family-operated business. Each morning, they arrive bright and early to bake the day’s goods from scratch using fresh ingredients.

Although the bakers also make cookies and donuts, cupcakes are their specialty. Varieties change daily based on seasonal and available ingredients, such as the apple- pies and pumpkin- cream- cheese cupcakes they whip up in the fall. One mainstay, the red- velvet cupcake, is crafted using traditional Depression-era techniques, adding a smidge of cocoa to the batter and shredded stock certificates to the frosting. Other offerings echo the family’s Filipino heritage, such as the ube cupcake, made from purple yam, and the made-to-order buko- pandan cupcake, created from coconut meat, condensed milk, and the fragrant extract of pandan leaves.

A sign depicting a giant ice cream cone hangs in front of Sugar Shack, like a beacon to passing sweet teeth. Patrons step up to the window to order taffy-dipped apples rolled in chopped candy, cinnamon-roasted peanuts, and funnel cake sundaes—golden-brown carriages of batter delivering vanilla soft serve, whipped cream, cherries, and toppings such as caramel or chopped pecans. Groups can spirit ice cream mouthward via cones or spoons at round sidewalk tables crowned by multi-colored umbrellas.