There’s this cupcake fad that’s been going on for a few years now: freshly made cupcakes with the best ingredients, interesting flavors, and beautiful decorations at a high price. Because they’re such an easy treat to throw together and adjust slightly to make it your own, little stores claiming to have made the best cupcakes have been springing up all over the country and even abroad. And of course the place to find a huge concentration of these cupcakeries is in New York City (center of the universe).

Over my many visits to NYC I’ve researched the best places, walked for miles to get there, and eaten many cupcakes to come up with this list of where I think you can get the best cupcakes in Manhattan.

Billy’s Bakery

This cute bakery in Chelsea still holds my heart for the best cupcakes in New York. It’s this little hole-in-the-wall cutesy place that smells delicious as you get closer, and it’s only a few steps from the busiest parts of Chelsea, so you don’t have to dig too far to get to taste their tasty treats.

Unlike Magnolia (the popular choice for the best cupcakes), there’s no 30 minute line and exorbitant prices and no place to sit, just friendly people, a cute space, and delicious pastries that you can eat on the spot or save for later.

My favorite cupcakes from there are the chocolate with vanilla buttercream and the red velvet, but they also have a particularly good vanilla cupcake and carrot cake and fun seasonal flavors such as banana-nutella, pumpkin, and pecan. They even have single candles and cupcake decorations on sale for those on the fly birthday treats 🙂 Definitely worth a visit.

Magnolia Bakery

This famed bakery is considered by many to be the best cupcakes in New York, but like Ladurée in Paris, Magnolia may have gotten too big and too famous to be my favorite anymore. Plus the lines are not my favorite. The cupcakes, however, are still delicious, and being able to get them in more than one location is a big plus (since the original location has by far the longest line, especially after dinner). They’re still pretty expensive, but to me it’s still worth the price for these yummy treats.

Plus, their cookbook is also a great investment, specifically their buttercream recipes it to die for and super easy.

Amy’s Bread

This bakery is more focused on the production of delicious bread than on the fabrication of its sweets, but that does not mean that it can’t produce delicious goodies as well. They have three main locations, but my favorite is the factory itself in Chelsea Market. You can see where the bakers are working tirelessly to get the best breads out of the giant ovens, making the whole market smell delicious. The two other locations are quaint shops overflowing with breads and pastries.

The cupcakes are delicious, with a moist cake and a sweet buttercream in bright colors and traditional flavors.They really feel homemade, and in the Chelsea market, you get to watch the bakers create all of their delicious treats.

Other highlights of cupcakes in New York are Sugar Sweet Sunshine, the Cupcake Café, and Empire Cake, but they haven’t made my top three list. I look forward to heading back to New York again soon to catch up on some new Cupcakeries that have popped up since my last cupcake crawl and adding them to my list!

Billy’s Bakery

184 9th Avenue b/w 21st and 22nd

Magnolia Bakery

401 Bleecker St