Best Bakeries: Kiedrowski's Bakery

Most of us know 34-year-old Kiedrowski’s Bakery for the snoogle. The long, twisted puff pastry was a happy accident between owners Tim and Terri Kiedrowski. Tim was baking lady locks while Terri was stirring up a batch of cheese Danishes when they decided to mix the ingredients together. The results yielded a deliciously decadent treat that’s stuffed with a sweet cream cheese combo. More than 20 years after their creation, the duo is still surprised each day when they sell about 50 to 75 dozen of the oblong confections. “We bake three to five dozen every half hour,” says Tim. “Sometimes people wait out in front of the store for a fresh batch if we’re running behind.” But even before the popularity of the snoogle, Kiedrowski’s had been scoring it big with Clevelanders. The bakery sold Dawg Bone cookies back in 1987 that were launched onto the field during The Drive and legions of fans still wait in line around the building for their paczki — think apricot, prune, poppy seed and Polish rose — on Fat Tuesday. “We started this business when I was an unemployed rock drummer and my wife was a nurse,” Tim says. “There were some nights we had doughnuts for dinner because that’s all we had. So to see how far we’ve come makes it all worth it.” 2267 Cooper Foster Park Road, Amherst, 440-282-2700, kiedrowskibakery.com

Our Pick: The blueberry swirl bread ($5) delights with a whirl of blueberries through the center and hints of vanilla.