Herndon’s Bodega & Bakery has been in the town’s historic center since 2003. Since then, married bakers Angel and Ana Varela and daughter Gaby have built a reputation for making one of the best tres leches cakes around. But as much as we love a fruit-covered, made-to-order cake, it’s Ana’s sugar cookies that really give us a rush.
“[My mom is] very creative. So she first started out with unicorn cookies,” recalls Gaby. “She’s expanded a lot into a variety of different shapes of cookies and designs.” The most popular include the unicorn, but also the smiling strawberry, the fearsome gray fish, and—our favorite—the green dinosaur.
Ana makes her own icing to glaze the snappy cookies with their soft, sugary coating. “We know our cookies aren’t the fanciest, but they taste better than the fancy ones,” Gaby says. We can’t help but agree. 714 Lynn St., Herndon
This story originally ran in our July issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to our monthly magazine.