Winkler Bakery in Old Salem

Some of the best cookies I have ever had! I recently went back to NC for my birthday and stopped in to show someone where I went to school. We bought a couple of the moravian cookies and the ones in the tins are the best. I wouldn’t recommend the ones in the cardboard like boxes because they are stale like. The tin ones are crunchy and crispy.
of note, you can also purchase cookies online! which I did for christmas this year for the friends and fam!

the female young white working there. would walk up to us. block our walkway and try to step on our foot. we not buy anything. the other female employees were not friendly at all. I not buy any items from the bakery. it was not busy. we not buy anything at all. the cashier was only nice to people who bought a lot of items. not worth the visit.

Delectable homemade goodies are a yearly favorite when we bring students here. The sugar cakes, cinnamon rolls, Moravian ginger cookies are sweets you should sample. The line grows later in the day so stop by as soon as you get to the village.

Such a neat spot in Old Salem! They have all sorts of baked goods. A lot of them are prepackaged, my friend got a pound cake that was less than fresh which was unfortunate. Some of the packaged goods also have way too many ingredients for my liking. I prefer just the basics. And that is why I go with the sugar cake. They bake those babies fresh everyday and I mean can you really go wrong with cake coated in sugar? The staff is very friendly and add to the whole experience for a day in Old Salem.

Had an enjoyable time in Old Salem last weekend, seeing some history and beautiful fall scenery. As a treat, we stopped in Winkler Bakery and it was AWESOME and AUTHENTIC! I’ve never had such thin cookies and they were scrumptious! They were handing out samples of their Ginger Snap cookies that were to die for! The sugar cookies that I purchased were incredible and very thin and reminded me of shortbread. A tad on the expensive side but so worth it. YUMMY!

The adventure to Old Salem was about an hour drive and we had high expectations. Within minutes of getting there we realized there was not an attention grabber. In our SUV, we cruised the sleepy village and enjoyed some of the structures.
Most of the shop keepers gave us less than inviting looks on the cruise. This didn’t make us feel to much hospitality on this Saturday morning in June.
At the bakery, my kids were given a complementary cookie. This made the experience a little sweeter, pun intended :). We purchased an apple strudel. It was delicious and it single-​handedly destroyed our diet for that day. One AS did the trick for the 4 of us.
Overall, I would go back because I think it was an off day for the attraction. Before this visit I visited the town 15 years ago.

Scones and cakes are delicious here! I wasn’t a fan of all the cookie flavors and they were a little too thin for my liking, but the other breads and cakes were pretty good. Walking into this bakery is like a trip back in time. Great for a special treat every now and then!

A fun way to get a little history and some cookies at the same time. Great little hole in the wall that is well worth the visit.

It’s a cool little bakery. When I’m in the area I can’t resist the temptation to go in and grab some Moravian cookies or bread. The quality of the products are very good. The bread selection is limited, but keep in mind I think this place is really here to cater to the Old Salem visitors and keep the old traditions alive.
Just some tips
— The shop is very small and can get crowded during peak visiting times
— They do take plastic
— Get there early if you want the best bread and bake goods selection
— You don’t need an Old Salem visitors pass to go into the bakery

Winkler Bakery is one of the highlights of Old Salem (and Winston-​Salem too). This bakery has been in business since the Winkler family first ran it in 1807. The bakery was originally constructed in 1800 and still uses the *same* dome bake oven to this day. Random facts I’ve learned: Their wood-​burning oven is 7 feet wide, 9 feet deep, and 2 feet high and can bake over 40 loaves of bread in precisely 16 minutes.
No ticket is required for entry. You can pull right up to the bakery, park on the street, and walk in. A visit to Winkler Bakery is like taking a trip back in time. The building originally served as both a bakery and a home for the Winkler family. It’s not very big. Upon entry, the open bakery is to the right and small store is to the left. Upstairs, Mayberry Ice Cream has set up shop. Like many historic tourist attractions, there are small placards located in the bakery with descriptive background information.
It’s fun and interesting to watch the bakers at work. They still use the same recipes, techniques, and methods that were used in the 19^th century. They even dress the same way. The gentlemen bakers («Brothers») in their white baker’s attire and the lady workers («Sisters») in traditional dresses and bonnets. The food you buy from the store today tastes exactly like what the Moravians ate centuries ago. Not only is the novelty of this experience very cool, but the food tastes great. That’s only expected of a bakery that’s been in business for over 200 years!
Some of Winkler Bakery’s best-​tasting and most popular products are its sugar cookies and sugar cakes. They make fantastic gifts. You can find these in the gift shop/​store. Other popular cookies are the ginger cookies and lemon cookies. I personally love both the sugar and ginger cookies. The cookies are thin, crispy, and circular-​shaped with jagged edges. You can purchase the cookies in neat, decorative, cylindrical tins (ideal for gifting) or in standard plastic containers.
The sugar cakes are amazing (and probably really bad for you, ha). I grew up eating a lot of sugar cakes from another local Winston-​Salem Moravian bakery, Dewey’s. Whether you buy your sugar cake from Winkler’s or from Dewey’s, the cakes taste the same. The only way I know how to describe the sugar cake is it’s sort of like eating a giant frosted/​glazed doughnut (except more dense) or huge, square-​shaped honey bun.
The sugar cakes are made of yeast-​raised dough that’s topped with cinnamon, pure butter, and brown sugar. The cakes actually freeze well, so don’t be hesitant to buy several and stock up. My mom has purchased many sugar cakes at one time and stored them stacked up in a freezer.
The bakery offers several different kinds of breads, buns, muffins, and pound cakes. Their rosemary garlic bread is one of their classic, popular breads. Sometimes, free samples of sliced, fresh-​baked bread are located near the bakery entrance. Definitely try some.
Service is friendly and hospitable.
If you live in the Piedmont Triad area, Winkler Bakery (and Old Salem in general) is an excellent and unique place to take out-​of-​town guests.

Now the only thing that is baked at Winkler’s is the bread, and sugar cake. Drop by Winkler’s when they get the sugar cake out of the oven. It’s great!

Wow, talk about made fresh to order. We watched them kneading the bread and baking it in the fire stone oven. Pretty awesome! What a step back in time.
The chocolate pound cake was out of this world. The spicy cheese stars were not «spicy» at all… pretty bland. I would skip those. Wish we would have bought more baked good on our trip. Next time you are near Winston Salem, swing by this bakery — you don’t need a ticket to go in.

Their breads are amazing, bought a raisin bread and sugar cake. The store sells great unique ingredients, got there too late to see them in full production. Hope to come back someday. Such great experience and history. A must, buy their recipe card book, can’t wait to try.

Came here for the Moravian cookies. They were excellent. Very thin and tasted delicious. It is on the pricy side but we bought the easter egg cookies, so they were at a discounted price. Another thing to try here are the sugar cake. You get a HUGE piece, almost the size of a sheet of paper. It costs about $ 5 but you can easily split it between 3 people. I shared it with one other person and I didn’t feel like I was overwhelmed with sugar by the end. I definitely recommend those two items and would recommend coming here again.
Nothing special about the other shops that you have to buy a ticket to go into. I think the tickets are overpriced and it’s only a few shops spanning maybe 2 blocks. Not much to see. Just skip those things and just go to bakery. Your money will won’t be wasted!

No trip to Old Salem would be complete without a visit to the bakery that makes the delicious paper thin Moravian cookies and more. They’re sold all over NC, but how wonderful to come to the source to really get the true experience of it!

Forget overpriced frou-​frou cupcakes or other trendy takes on traditional sweets — Winkler Bakery is where it’s at! Located in gorgeous Old Salem, they offer an array of breads and classic baked goods like pound cake, apple or cherry strudel, sweet rolls and Moravian specialties like sugar cake and super-​thin cookies. You can also buy proper stone-​ground grits there, something I find irritatingly difficult to get in the Triangle! The bakery offers demonstrations of old-​fashioned baking techniques in addition to the nostalgic deliciousness; stop in for a step back into time and pick up something tasty to enjoy while you stroll Old Salem or kick back in the little park nearby!

Colonial Village Bakery, cool! The ovens were off we were getting here after the crowd so it really was cool!

We were just passing through, but I read about Winkler’s in my guidebook. Wasn’t too far off the highway so we decided to stop. Boy were we glad we did!
They have a delicious selection of traditional Moravian goodies — sugar cookies, lovefeast rolls and sugarcake. Delish! Clearly a local favorite, as the place was busy even though the surrounding historical village was closed on Monday.

Anytime that I’m in my hometown, I try to make a stop at Winkler Bakery. Here’s why: Sugar Cake, Moravian Ginger Cookies, fresh bread. I’ve been eating this stuff all my life and consider these foods to be culinary gemstones. Sugar Cake is a delicious yeast bread, shaped just like foccacia, topped with a butter, brown sugar coating that gets crunchy on top. You don’t slice Sugar Cake, you tear it. It doesn’t come in fancy wrappings, it comes in wax paper. I won’t admit to licking said wax paper on Unilocal,but I might in person.
My family is Moravian. Some of my ancestors settled in Old Salem centuries ago. Moravian Ginger Cookies are the world’s thinnest cookie. They are seriously skinny, but pack a mean gingery punch. They’re perfect with coffee, tea or cider. They are quite pricey, so I purchase them only once a year.
Some places are landmarks in your life. I entered this bakery as a child with my Mom. I will enter this bakery with my children as a Mom. What a special little bakery with a smell so sweet that I can almost smell it when I close my eyes, though I am far away.

This is worth a stop, if you happen to be in the area. We enjoyed a little tour and talking with the bakers. Of course, a visit is not complete without samples. We tried the ginger cookies; I picked up the gingery cookies gingerly, since they were paper thin, the thinnest I have ever had. We also sampled the honey wheat bread and something that resembled a cinnamon bun in taste, but was called either sugar bread or sugar cake. I bought two little tins of ginger and walnut cookies to give as gifts. I was recently able to try the walnut cookies as well. I say, go for the ginger cookies!