Egypt Star Bakery — Restaurant in Whitehall

I know many people who rave about Egypt Star but I just don't get the hype. The baked goods are alright but nothing special in my opinion. Their donuts are strange to me - they seem to be PA Dutch type of a style. No real flavor and strange combinations. They call their chocolate frosted cream filled donuts, "Boston Creams" even though a real Boston Cream is filled with custard... very confusing if you don't know that's how they do it. Also the "cream" filled donuts aren't filled with custard, they are filled with something different. The service is strange as well. I placed an order over the phone and asked for a dozen assorted donuts. The person taking my order then proceeded to ask me multiple times how many of what kind of donut I wanted... when I asked for assorted. Generally assorted means it's up to the bakery to choose an assortment but I guess not the case here. Egypt Star seems to cater to a specific older and local PA based clientele and that's fine - if you are a part of that group and like those types of baked goods. Otherwise if you want donuts you would generally think of when you hear the word "donuts", I recommend Mary Ann's in Allentown or Yum Yum in Quakertown, both worth the drive and time. I may also be biased since my granfather was a baker from German and had bakeries for 30+ years but not located in PA. But just my opinion so take with a grain of salt (or sugar in this case lol).

Edited from 3 stars to 2 stars: looked at my order this evening and it was incorrect after I had called them twice this week (initially to place the order & then again to adjust because when I first called they didn't understand). I asked for an ASSORTMENT of donuts and got a dozen assorted cinnamon rolls. I asked for a mix of donuts (plain, jelly, etc) AND cinnamon rolls and they just gave me a mix of...

Over the years, I've had mixed experiences with this bakery. The staff is ALWAYS friendly and personable and helpful, even on fastnacht day! And they have some of the tastiest crullers and cream-filled doughnuts.

However, I consistently get iced cinnamon rolls that are underbaked. The first few bites are great, but the center is completely raw & doughy (I've uploaded a few photos of this), rendering about a third or half of the cinnamon roll inedible. The first time this happened, I brought it back to the bakery, and they were shocked and got another one for me off their shelf, and cut into it to make sure it wasn't raw. Well, it was raw as well, as was the next one they cut into. If I remember correctly, they gave me a cruller instead of a cinnamon roll, because they were literally all raw inside.

It's been about 2 years since my first raw-center cinnamon roll. I've had multiple conversations with the staff, whose reactions range from shock to "yeah we know it's a problem." I usually go once every few months to Egypt Star, hoping that in between my visits, they'll figure out why this keeps happening and fix it. But again today (10/29/21), I got iced cinnamon rolls, and by the time I reached the center, twas doughy. I am truly disappointed by this and have started buying my iced cinnamon rolls from grocery store bakeries. They're not as delicious as Egypt Star, but at least they're baked all the way through and are not raw. I really really hope they are able to figure out and fix the obvious and on-going issue with their cinnamon rolls, because when they get it right, WOOO...

I can't recommend this bakery enough! We've ordered Thanksgiving pies and birthday cakes, and each time, everything has been absolutely delicious and reasonably priced. One experience, in particular, stands out: We ordered two birthday cakes while living out of state. We called in the order with some special requests—one vanilla and one chocolate with peanut butter frosting. When we picked up the cakes, the woman working there was one of the sweetest people I’ve ever interacted with during an order pickup. We chatted about being in town for a special birthday after a long drive, and as we spoke, we decided to get some cookies for the kids as well. To our surprise, she generously gave the cookies to us for free, just wanting the kids to enjoy them. Then, she insisted that my husband and I pick out a cookie for ourselves, on the house! The service was extraordinary, the baked goods were phenomenal, and the whole experience was so heartwarming. I truly hope everyone gets to enjoy the amazing treats and top-notch service this bakery...