We’ve worked very hard (oh, it was SO hard) to find some of the most delicious and decadent dessert offerings here at the beach along Florida’s Scenic Highway 30A. And while we can’t list all of our favorite finds, below are 10 decadent desserts that should be on everyone’s beach bucket list.
For hedonistic chocolate delights, look no further than this Rosemary Beach favorite. We actually love two selections that push the envelope of “died and gone to heaven.”
The OMG Chocolate Espresso Cookie is made from two warm, triple chocolate cookies that are soft on the inside and crisp on the outside. They’re filled with an espresso cream center and then drizzled with warm chocolate sauce. It takes a little longer to make the Hot Chocolate Molten Cake, but this mug of dark fudge cake on top and hot lava chocolate below pairs amazingly well with locally sourced salted caramel ice cream.
Peanut Butter Pie at Surfing Deer.
Surfing Deer GM Nancy Norris and pastry chef Rachele McCulley want you to know it’s rare that a table full of diners does not order dessert.
“Our servers love our desserts so much that their exuberance makes for an easy sell.”
Their homemade Banana Pudding Cheesecake is surrounded by vanilla pudding, banana slices coated in turbinado sugar and then caramelized with heat, vanilla wafers, fresh cream, and a rum caramel sauce for the finish. Their most popular dessert – Peanut Butter Pie – starts with an Oreo cookie crust topped with creamy peanut butter filling. It’s all capped with peanut butter cups and a chocolate ganache.
Moist and indulgent, those in the know say the bread pudding at Red Bar hits all the right notes. Served with dollops of ice cream, the fluffy pudding features a caramelized top and a soft center.
Chef Jim Shirley’s Key Lime Pie
You’ll find many restaurants along Scenic Highway 30A with key lime pie on their menu, but Chef Jim Shirley’s mile-high key lime pie is the cream of the crop. It’s so popular that he serves it at not one, but two of his restaurants.
Fun Fact: a newlywed couple once bought ten pies to serve to their guests instead of wedding cake. Not a single leftover to be found.
The meringue is light, fluffy, and taller than any you’ve probably ever seen and probably better than any you’ve ever tasted. The whole pie is baked in the oven, the old-fashioned way, to give the meringue a brown, crisp finish. The well-balanced and elevated tartness of the filling is the perfect complement for this more than memorable pie.
Pastry chef Lindsey Culverhouse says that she used Black Forest Cake as her inspiration for a crowd-pleasing flourless chocolate cake. The peanut butter cheesecake is so light and elegant that customers have even ordered a second slice to take home for later.
The melt-in-your-mouth Flourless Chocolate Cake dish is dense chocolate cake is covered in a cherry chocolate ganache and topped with Bing cherries, honey roasted almonds, and vanilla ice cream on the side. The Peanut Butter Cheesecake features Chantilly cream is folded into creamy peanut butter to make the unbelievably light and satisfying filling. It is topped with chocolate sauce, chocolate milk crumb, white chocolate pearls, and a chocolate tuile crisp. YUM.
Love homemade ice cream? Head to Pecan Jacks for their famous Bourbon Pecan Praline Ice Cream, Grandma’s Banana Pudding Ice Cream or the Raspberry Chocolate Chunk. Don’t leave without trying the brittles and chocolates. Highly addictive stuff!
We like the small bite cupcake minis because of their range of flavors and moist, delicately filled center, each one a different burst of great. From chocolate to lemon to red velvet, from hot fudge sundae to Mississippi Mud… you want one right now, don’t you?
Family-owned and operated, these made-fresh-daily confections have been a staple in Seagrove for years. Their filled donuts are unique because the donut is sliced in half lengthwise. Rich, creamy, tangy, delightful key lime filling goes in between the two halves, making this indescribable joy more like a donut burger.
Made fresh every morning, Parlor doughnuts come with a layered twist! Choose from over 15 varieties, ranging from Raspberry Pistachio to Caramel Apple Cashew and Pumpkin Chai Cheesecake to French Toast.
The latest hot spot in town, 30A’s Beach Happy Cafe is a casual dining and retail concept located in WaterColor Town Center, directly on the south side of Scenic Highway 30A. Beach Happy Cafe offers affordable grab-and-go food and drinks options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Cool down after a swim in the Gulf with assorted flavors of 30A ice cream, all hand-crafted especially for 30A by G.S. Gelato in Fort Walton. They also sell decadent donuts and baked goods, as well as delicious vegan options from the local NaturBaker.
