There’s never a bad time for a good pastry. Sitting down to breakfast? Fuel up with a fresh scone or coffee cake. Grabbing lunch while sight-seeing? You can’t go wrong with a soft-baked cookie. Finishing up a hike around Salem or in the Cascade foothills? Treat yourself to a cupcake for your efforts.

Whatever the occasion—and even if the occasion is “just because”—Salem and the Mid-Willamette Valley is home to several shops churning out a wide range of decadent treats. You’ll find creative cookies, old-school cannoli, impossibly sweet chocolate truffles, traditional Mexican desserts, and more—some of it even gluten-free and vegan-friendly.

So while you savor the possibilities, here are eight outstanding spots to indulge your sweet tooth in the Salem region.

Over the years, Crumbl Cookies has earned acclaim for its savory cookies and unique menu choice: The hip bakery offers a rotating menu, with four flavors that change weekly (chosen from a possible 120 flavors in total), along with recipes that are constantly updated and improved. Add it all up, and you’re always in for a fun surprise when you visit Crumbl Cookies in Salem.

The one constant? The shop’s ever-popular milk chocolate chip cookie.

But get beyond the classics and find plenty of creative concoctions—including a cinnamon fry bread cookie (topped with melted butter and cinnamon honey buttercream), a chocolate cake cookie (packed with chocolate chips and topped with fudge frosting and shaved chocolate curls), and a raspberry lemon cookie (crafted with a lemon cookie base and topped with a marbled lemon and raspberry frosting). The Crumbl Cookies menu even works some of your favorite candy bars into the mix; its oatmeal cookie is made with Rolo caramel pieces, one sugar cookie is topped with Twix pieces, and its peanut butter cookie is adorned with Butterfinger candy bar crumbles.

And if you can’t make it into the store, you’re in luck: Crumbl Cookies offers delivery and shipping, both locally and nationally.

Everything about The Little Cannoli Bakery in downtown Salem exudes an old-school charm—from the bistro-like interior, designed to recall an Italian café, to the exhaustive menu of classic desserts.

Diners can choose among a wide range of pastries, cookies, cakes, and pies—with selections ranging from cream-filled croissants and eclairs to several varieties of cookies and perfectly prepared coffee cakes. Of course, fresh cannoli is available—and is filled and dipped to order for maximum freshness. Pair your snack with the bakery’s lineup of espresso and Italian sodas.

When you need a quick sugar fix, make haste for Bigwig Donuts in the heart of downtown Salem. The small bakery specializes in donut holes—and only donut holes—that are fully gluten-free and vegan-friendly. Ingredients are also locally sourced and organic whenever possible.

Flavors rotate regularly, but might include a classic chocolate glaze, cinnamon sugar, maple, or lemon poppyseed. In winter, holiday-themed donut holes are crafted with crushed bits of candy cane. Donut holes are only available by the dozen—but, thankfully, you can mix and match if you’re feeling indecisive.

When you’ve ordered your dozen (or two!), pair your sweet treat with Bigwig’s selection of tea lattes, espresso, coffee, and more.

Paleteria y Neveria El Paisanito is an authentic Michoacán-style factory of popsicles and ice cream in all the classic flavors you’d find in the heart of Mexico. Oregon strawberries are deliciously incarnated in several traditional paletas: pure strawberry; chunks of fruit suspended in cream; and a peony-pink, dairy-laced blended strawberry confection. Other items represent a far more exotic fruit basket: paletas and ice creams made of tamarind, soursop, mamey, guava, nance and more tempt curious visitors. Other unexpected flavors include walnut, chongos (cheese curds), cajeta (caramelized goat milk), pine nut and rose petals. Visiting this thriving main-street business in the heart of Woodburn’s Mexican-American community is like a sweet, whirlwind journey south of the border; just keep in mind that the shop is only open March-Sept.

For more ideas about what to see and do in the Salem region, see these additional blog posts.