Winter is the season for cookies, and Nora Cafe & Bakery in Ellicott City offers up boxes of sweets for your home or a hostess gift.
I carried a plastic box of Nora's cookies to Chicago, and they were a great dessert at my friend's house. I love staring into a lighted display and picking out whatever catches my eye. The round sandwich cookies with powdered sugar on top and a red jam in between. The butter cookies covered with twirls of chocolate. The almond-flavored ones with the crinkly texture.
The kids in Chicago ate up the almond ones before I could get a taste, but I really enjoyed everything else. A half pound disappeared in a flash.
Nora Cafe also offers a full menu of breakfast, soups, subs, paninis, and pizzas. It is an extensive selection, and everything is made at the restaurant. They also deliver breakfast and lunch. I drove there for a nice Sunday morning bagel sandwich. Real eggs and bacon, not just a kit microwaved somewhere in the back. Based on comments on other posts, people seem to like Nora's bagels.
If you are looking for a Howard County bakery, you should also check out Bonaparte Bread in Savage or French pastries and baguettes or La Boulangerie in Ellicott City for formal cakes and for breads and buns filled with sweet red beans, chocolate, hazelnut cream and other delicacies.
8450 Baltimore Natl Pike # 8
Ellicott City, MD 21043
(410) 461-6902
thenoracafe.com
NEAR: Nora's is in a shopping center with a Safeway. It is on Rte 40 just east of the intersection with Rte 29.
