Spanish sweets to bring home: the best souvenirs

I have a huge sweet tooth. It’s been like this since I was little. It’s very rare to have a day when I don’t eat something sweet. Whenever I travel to a new destination I have to try the local desserts. That’s exactly what I did when I was in Madrid. I tried as many Spanish desserts as I could and I wanted to share with you what Spanish sweets to bring home and what Spanish sweets you must try while on your trip. This blog post contains affiliate links. When you make a purchase I may get a small commission at no extra cost to you. Find out more here.

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I love Spain and Spanish Cuisine. Bocadillos with jamón ibérico (Spanish hams) and Spanish olive oil, sweet Spanish figs, fresh fruit, tapas. My mouth is watering only when writing this. So good! I think their dishes are so delicious because the ingredients are fresh and local. Their sweet treats are simple, made of a few ingredients, and so delicious.

I tend not to buy souvenirs when I travel, but I will always buy some local desserts to bring home and share with friends and family. In my opinion, desserts are the perfect gift.

Spanish sweets to bring home

Turron de Jijona

Turron is a traditional delicious treat. It looks like a chocolate bar, but it’s made of almond paste. The turron de Jijona has a soft consistency and the taste reminds me of a rich chocolatey nougat. I tried this dessert for the first time on my trip to Madrid. You can find a lot of turron shops in the city center that sell high quality turron and other Spanish candy.

In my opinion, a bar of turron de Jijona is one of the best gifts you can take home. It’s delicious, traditional, and small enough to fit in your luggage. I picked the classic turron, but they come in different varieties, so you can pick something else. Good thing you’ll be able to try all the flavors that pique your interest before deciding what to buy.

Turron de Alicante

Another classic Spanish dessert is the turron de Alicante. Compared to the turron de Jijona, the Alicante version is made with whole almonds. So its texture is very crunchy and it has the sweetness of honey nougat.

I tried it in the gift shop and I have to say I wasn’t a huge fan. I prefer the Jijona softer version over the Alicante crunchier version. Your mileage might vary on this one. You should definitely try both before deciding which one to bring home.

Polvorones

I love polvorones. So delicious! They are raindrop-shaped bonbons made of marcona almonds. You can find them in specialty shops or gift shops that sell just turron and polvorones. Their texture is soft and crumbly.

I was told by one of the employees of the gift shop that you have to squeeze the cookie a few times before eating it. This way you make sure that the crumbles reattach and you bite into a solid cookie rather than making a mess. I tried this technique and it worked.

Polvorones come in a lot of flavors like salted caramel, chocolate chip, or cinnamon. The good news is that sweets souvenir shops let you taste as many flavors as you like before you purchase something.

After I sampled a few flavors I bought a box of salted caramel polvorones and I brought them home to share with friends and family. They were the best food souvenirs and they were a hit!

Nevaditos

open box of cookies i bought from nuns in madrid

Nevaditos are powder sugar-dusted cookies. The word nevaditos comes from the word “nieve”, which means “snow” in Spanish. That’s because the powder sugar on the cookies looks like snow. They are also popular around the holiday season.

I got them from a secret Madrid location and they were delicious! The list of ingredients is so short: flour, sugar, white wine, lard. It’s a simple cookie, with simple ingredients, and it tastes amazing.

Filipinos

Filipinos are chocolate covered cookies that have a donut shape. The taste reminds me of Oreos, but Filipinos are much better (they probably have less chemicals haha). I found out about them by looking at forums to see what supermarket snacks the locals recommended.

One thing about me: I always go to a local grocery store when I travel to look at what they have available and also look at prices for basic groceries. I don’t know why I like doing this so much, but it’s one of my favorite activities when I’m in a new city. I think it’s such a great way to learn about how locals live.

Multiple people on forums recommended Filipinos so I went to a supermarket next to my hotel in Madrid and found them. They are pretty cheap, one pack costs about a euro if I remember correctly. I found 3 flavors: chocolate cookie covered in white chocolate, vanilla cookie covered in milk chocolate, and vanilla cookie covered in dark chocolate.

I ended up buying the chocolate cookies covered in white chocolate. They were great. Super crunchy and the white chocolate glaze gave them enough sweetness. I can see why it’s a popular snack.

Spanish sweets to try while in Spain

Churros con chocolate

One of the must try foods in Spain is churros. They serve them with hot chocolate, but it’s that thick, creamy kind of hot chocolate. The combination is amazing! Plus, calories don’t count while traveling, right?

If you’re in Madrid Chocolatería San Ginés is the best place to try this dessert. You must eat here at least once. It’s the most famous place for churros con chocolate in the Spanish capital city. It’s located in the city center, very close to all tourist attractions. It has been serving churros since 1894 and they are open every day of the week.

Torrijas

Torrijas is a Spanish style French toast. It can be served as dessert or for brunch and it’s very popular for Easter and the week before Easter. Torrijas can be made from bread that’s dipped either in milk flavored with vanilla, or in wine. Then the slices of bread are dipped in egg and pan fried. Once it’s cooked torrijas are usually topped with cinnamon sugar.

Pastries

While Paris might be the first city that comes to mind for pastries (and for good reason! their pastries are amazing!), you can find good pastries in Spain too. If you’re in Madrid you should get a pastry at La Mallorquina, a pastry shop that’s been around since 1894. I highly recommend you try the napolitana con crema. It’s a puff pastry filled with vanilla custard cream and the combination is delicious.

Crema catalana

Crema catalana is a similar dessert to creme brulee, but it is flavored with lemon zest, cinnamon, or vanilla. If you’re in Barcelona or anywhere in the Catalonia region of Spain you have to try this dessert.

Huesos de santo

Huesos de santo translates to “bones of saints”. It’s definitely an interesting name for a dessert. They are made of almond paste, or mazapán in Spanish. They have a cylindrical shape and inside they have different fillings such as chocolate, egg custard, or pumpkin. The cookies resemble bones and the bone marrow, hence the name of bones of saints.

They are a popular dessert in Spain around November 1, which is All Saints’ Day. I tried the chocolate and pumpkin huesos de santo when I was on a day trip to Toledo and Segovia. I loved the chocolate one. If you like almonds you will love Spanish desserts such as turon, polvorones and huesos de santo.

Tarta de Santiago

Tarta de Santiago is an almond cake originally from Galicia. It’s a round cake made with a base of puff pastry, shortbread pastry, or no base. The actual cake contains almons flour, eggs and sugar, along with some flavoring. The top of the cake is decorated with powder sugar and it has the cross of Santiago (cruz de Santiago) stenciled. Hence the name of torta de Santiago.

Buñuelos

Buñuelos are small fritters topped with sugar. They are typically consumed around some regional or religious holidays. If you like beignets you will love buñuelos.

Cube croissant

I discovered one of the best bakeries in Madrid during my trip there. It’s called Panem and they make both bread and classic French pastries like croissants, pain au chocolat, palmiers, madeleines. It’s very popular with the locals. There is always a line to enter the store. If you go 10 minutes before they open you won’t have to wait too much.

Their invention is the cube croissant. The pastry is very flaky and the filling is to die for. They also decorate it in a very cute way. They change the cube croissant flavors every week. When I was in Madrid they were selling tiramisu cube croissants. It was as amazing as it looked.

Unfortunately, the cube croissant is only available on Saturdays. They cost 6 euros. On the pricy side, but I promise you it’s worth it. If you can’t go on a Saturday to try the cube croissant, don’t worry, everything they make is delicious.

Roscon de Reyes

Roscon de Reyes is the Spanish version of King Cake. It’s a cake made in many countries and it is associated with Epiphany. In Spain this cake has a round or oval shape and is large so it can be shared by large families or groups. It is usually decorated with dried fruit.

The dough is a brioche soft dough that is flavored with orange blossom water. It can be cut in half and filled with whipped cream or other types of cream. A dry bean used to also be added inside the roscon. Tradition says that whoever found the bean had to pay for the roscon.

Cheesecake San Sebastian

San Sebastian is a foodie’s paradise. I have a friend who went to San Sebastian for a few days just to eat. I would totally do the same by the way. San Sebastian is a city in the Basque Country in Spain known for their world-renowned restaurants and innovative chefs.

One of the desserts that came out of San Sebastian is the burnt cheesecake. You know, that cheesecake that’s super creamy inside, but it’s brown and a bit burnt on the outside. If you haven’t had a slice before, you need to try it.

Now a fun fact that not a lot of people know about: San Sebastian cheesecake is very popular in Istanbul. Now you might be very confused. Why is a type of cheesecake from the Basque Country popular in Turkey of all places?

Because of influencers. They started posting on social media about eating this cheesecake with a chocolate sauce while in Istanbul, so everyone wanted to try this dessert when they traveled to Istanbul. I can confirm that this is true. I ate the slice of cheesecake San Sebastian pictured above while I was in Istanbul. Pretty crazy, right?

Spain food tours

If finding all the local eateries and figuring out what dishes you should try is too overwhelming, you can always book a food tour. They are all run by locals who know all the best food spots in town and can introduce you to the best local flavors. Here are a few suggestions, depending on where in Spain you’re going:

Alicante: Secret Flavors Food Tour

Seville: 3.5-Hour Spanish Cooking Class & Triana Market Tour

Malaga: Guided Food Tour

Barcelona: 2-Hour Bites & Flavors Private Food Tour

Secret food tours Madrid

Valencia: Tapas and Drinks Evening Tour

Bilbao: Basque Food Tour with Guide

San Sebastian: Guided Food Tour with Pintxo Tasting & Wines