Vegan dessert guide to Milwaukee: Bakery, cakes, cupcakes & cookies

Vegan dessert shopping is a little like astrophysics: it looks simple until you realize you’re navigating ingredients, cross-contamination, and the chaos of “someone just remembered we need a cake… tonight.” So here’s a practical, Milwaukee-area guide—where to get the good stuff, what each place does best, and how to pull off a last-minute save without stress-sweating through your winter coat.

More sweet treat guides:

Milwaukee’s best cupcakes

The best pies in Greater Milwaukee

Where to find gluten free bakeries across Wisconsin

Dedicated vegan + vegan-forward bakeries

Blooming Lotus Bakery (Milwaukee East Side + Shorewood)

If you’re shopping for someone who reads ingredient labels like bedtime stories, Blooming Lotus is your mothership. They’re explicitly free of grain/gluten, egg, dairy, cane sugar, oils, soy, yeast—and they do cakes, cookies, muffins, biscotti, and more. (Blooming Lotus Gourmet Bakery)

• East Side: 2215 E North Ave (Blooming Lotus Gourmet Bakery)

• Shorewood: 3948 N Maryland Ave (Blooming Lotus Gourmet Bakery)
  Best for: grain-free cakes/bars/cookies when “strict vegan + allergens” matters.

East Side Ovens (Cudahy)

A longtime artisan vegan bakery with a deep bench: cookies, pies, muffins, cupcakes, brownies, seasonal specials, and custom orders. (Shepherd Express)

• Bakehouse: 5430 S Packard Ave, Cudahy (Shepherd Express)
  Best for: classic bakery variety (and that “real bakery” feeling… but vegan).

CupKate (Milwaukee — online ordering / pickup model)

CupKate is straight-up vegan cupcakes and cakes, with rotating flavors and ordering online. (CupKate | Delicious Vegan Cupcakes)
Best for: cupcakes for parties + custom vegan cakes without guesswork.

Urban Beets Café & Juicery (Brown Deer)

A locally owned vegan café that also scratches the “treat” itch—smoothies/coffee plus dessert-y options, and it’s a handy stop when you want vegan compliance without a long drive. (Urban Beets Cafe)

• Brown Deer: 5091 W Brown Deer Rd (Toast)
  Best for: grabbing vegan-friendly sweets alongside drinks/food.

MOR Bakehouse (Milwaukee)

MOR is known for being gluten-free-forward and carries clearly labeled vegan items (and they’re a popular “special diet dessert” solution in town). (Toast)
Best for: mixed-diet groups (gluten-free + vegan overlap) and dessert-case browsing.

Co-ops + markets with reliably good vegan cake

These are the places that treat vegan dessert as normal inventory, not a special request.

Outpost Natural Foods (multiple locations)

Outpost is a sleeper MVP for cakes—especially their Mexican Chocolate Cake, which Outpost itself calls one of their most popular cakes (and yes, they publish a full cake menu).
Best for: “bring a cake to a party” cake—reliably festive, reliably delicious.

Beans & Barley (East Side) — closing note

Beans & Barley has historically been a go-to for vegan desserts in the case (including whole cakes depending on the day).
But: they announced they’ll close Jan. 31, 2026, so availability is time-sensitive and likely to shift.

The “I need vegan cake today” backup plans (aka: your emergency chute)

When bakeries are sold out (or you remembered too late), Milwaukee’s grocery ecosystem quietly saves the day.

Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods carries JPS Pastry vegan cakes (like vegan vanilla/red velvet) that are designed for this exact scenario.
Best for: last-minute 6-inch cakes that still look like you planned ahead.

Metro Market (Kroger network)

Metro Market often stocks Rubicon Bakers vegan items (including vegan cupcakes and cakes). (MetroMarket)
Best for: quick “grab, thaw, plate, pretend you’re a wizard” wins.

Pro move: buy two smaller vegan cakes, thaw them, and plate them like a dessert duo. That’s not “backup.” That’s strategy.

A very 2025 Milwaukee note: Classy Girl Cupcakes

Classy Girl Cupcakes announced they’re closing Dec. 23, 2025, which makes this a “go now or forever hold your frosting” situation. (Facebook)
The local intel angle: their final weeks can mean big crowds, but also a chance to score walk-in cupcakes (including vegan options, depending on the day).

How to order vegan desserts like a calm, powerful adult

A few tactics from the “holiday dessert logistics” playbook:

• Call early, not late. Dessert-case inventory only goes down as the day goes on.

• Ask the right question: “Is it vegan and made on shared equipment?” (Matters for strict vegans/allergies.)

• Use the three-tier plan:

  1. Dedicated vegan bakery (Blooming Lotus / East Side Ovens)

  2. Co-op cake case (Outpost / historically Beans & Barley)

  3. Retail vegan cakes (Whole Foods / Metro Market)

• Party hack: if the whole cake is gone, buy slices/cookies/bars and build a platter. Nobody leaves a party sad because dessert came in “sampler form.”

Quick picks

• Best “strict vegan + lots of allergen avoids”: Blooming Lotus (Blooming Lotus Gourmet Bakery)

• Best classic bakery variety (all vegan): East Side Ovens (Shepherd Express)

• Best cupcakes for a crowd: CupKate (CupKate | Delicious Vegan Cupcakes)

• Best grocery-store save: Whole Foods (JPS) + Metro Market (Rubicon) (Whole Foods Market UK)

• Best “this is a real party cake”: Outpost Mexican Chocolate Cake (Outpost Natural Foods)

If you keep this guide evergreen for your site, the only thing I’d update seasonally is the “status” section (Beans & Barley + any other closures/opens), because the bakery world is… deliciously unstable.