February In the Sandhills: Discover Delectable Sweets for Your Favorite Sweetheart
Around Pinehurst, Southern Pines and Aberdeen in February, love is definitely in the air. With Valentine’s Day here, why not pick out something sweet for your sweetheart? Surprising them with some of the Sandhills’ many, delicious sweet surprises will help you steal your sweetheart’s heart around Valentine’s Day — and every other day. Here are just a few of our favorites:
Broad Street Bakery & Café
130 SW Broad St., Southern Pines
“The Sweetest Spot in the Sandhills” is this delightful café along the main drag in Southern Pines that offers up homemade breakfast and lunch inside or on a sidewalk café. The bakery provides fresh daily bagels, breads, Danish, muffins and sweet treats. While the French toast, breakfast burrito, and ham and egg sandwich on a croissant are memorable, the sticky, gooey hot cross buns are sweet game changers.
C Cups
105 E. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines
105 Cherokee Rd., Suite 1E, Pinehurst
With locations in Southern Pines and Pinehurst, C Cups cupcakes are created from the finest all-natural ingredients, such as real vanilla beans, sweet cream butter, fresh fruit and rich chocolate, then topped with C Cups’ signature homemade icing and colorful candy sprinkles, Reese’s cups, fresh coconut, chocolate covered espresso beans, chocolate chips and more. More than 50 scrumptious taste sensations to sample throughout the year.
Christian Book Store
156 NW Broad St, Southern Pines
There are many memorable items at this treasure in downtown Southern Pines, including a Creation Museum and Taxidermy Hall of Fame. They also sell Christian Books, gifts, hundreds of puzzles and lots of other goodies. But at this time of the year, what we most enjoy is the delicious, fresh fudge — including free samples — for which they are well known.
Dunrovin Country Store
5456 US Hwy 1, Vass
A truly one-of-a-kind roadside attraction that features an eclectic selection of novelty items. This little store has so many things for gift shoppers or souvenir hunters, from soaps to candies to preserves and jellies, baked goods — and scrumptious ice cream, too!
Granny's Old-Fashioned Donuts
201 Johnson St, Aberdeen
As Our State magazine once wrote: “Granny’s Old-Fashioned Donuts feels like someone’s back porch.” This family business produces fresh, homemade donuts large, yeast-raised, sugar-glazed donut. From a mobile unit, their donuts are made from scratch, cut and stretched by hand, then fried and glazed. They are then placed on a spinner rack to dry, and then served to customers. Our mouths are watering just thinking about these culinary delights — but arrive early because once they sell out for the day, Granny’s closes.
Pine Crest Inn
50 Dogwood Rd., Pinehurst
Once owned by Donald Ross, the father of modern-day golf course architecture, Pine Crest Inn is known for its fabulous food, neighborhood bar, comfortable accommodations and friendly staff. Centrally located in the Village of Pinehurst, the Inn serves breakfast and dinner daily and a fabulous breakfast buffet on Sundays. There may be other places around the Sandhills that dish up mouth-watering banana pancakes — but we know they can’t top those at the Pine Crest.
Southern Angel Donut Co.
211 Central Park Ave., Pinehurst
This relatively new addition to the Olmstead Village Shopping Center in Pinehurst offers a trio of cake donuts — chocolate, vanilla and blueberry — but the real culinary calling is the “Traditional Raised Donut.” Made with a sweetened dough that’s leavened with baking powder and extruded into oil to cook, they have a cake-like consistency with a slightly crunchy exterior. Raised donuts are almost always glazed, frosted or filled. Plus, Southern Angel caters and delivers for orders of two dozen or more.
Sweet Carolina Ice Cream
108 W. Main St., Aberdeen
This 1950’s style family owned ice cream shop, established in 2018, offers more than 20 different ice cream flavors, soft serve, sorbet, sherbet, malts, egg cream’s, floats and more. Waffle cones/bowls made fresh daily. Good prices and variety of treats and sizes.
Southern Supreme Fruitcake & More
1699 Hoyt Scott Rd., Bear Creek
Southern Supreme has flipped the narrative about fruitcake and have turned heads across the globe in the process. Their fruitcakes are ordered by people everywhere. Treat your sweetheart to a variety of their favorite gourmet treats, including the special, Scott-family recipe “famous nutty fruitcake,” cookies, jams, jellies, mustard, pralines, truffles, coffee, hot apple cider mix and cocoa made from fresh-shaved chocolate.
Yum Yum Chocolates Bakery
Inside the Design Market of the Sandhills, 3086 Hwy-5 Aberdeen (Saturdays only 11 AM -3 PM)
Like its name suggests, Yum Yum Chocolates offers one-of-a-kind, yummy desserts that will surely make your taste buds burst with every bite. A longtime establishment, Yum Yums serves up utterly divine baked goods including the yummiest, most irresistible chocolate mini cakes in town, freshly baked every day. Tempt your taste buds and make your Valentine extra happy.
For some low-cal gift suggestions see our list of Romantic Gift Ideas.
