The best places to get Chinese New Year snacks in 2024

This home-based bakery is known for its impressive tiered cakes and custom bakes, but this Chinese New Year, it’s switching things up with a selection of unique festive munchies. Try Dapiku Sweets’ version of pineapple tarts ($28.80), given a zesty zing thanks to the fresh kaffir lime and calamansi infused in the jam. There are also a selection of cookies (from $24.80 per tub), like dark chocolate and smoked salt cookies, cornflakes and dried currant cookies, and special roasted peanut cookies with a surprising chewy nian gao centre. You can get all five cookie flavours and a Dapiku tote bag in the Xiao Long Festive Bundle ($128.80) or get the festive selection in a cookie tin ($36.80). Check the illustration on the tubs and tins too – they were inspired by 90s tze char takeaway boxes.

When it comes to spotlighting the traditional flavours of Chinese New Year, local bakery Baker’s Brew has hit the mark with their unique cookie combinations. The ondeh ondeh cookies are a best-seller for good reason – it’s painstakingly made with a pandan-infused dough and chock full of a gula melaka coconut filling. And since pineapples and bak kwa are synonymous with the festive period, Baker’s Brew also offers a tasty pineapple-bak kwa cookie for a delectable blend of savoury and sweet. Other unique cookie flavours include a peanut almond cookie with buttery layers and a hae bee hiam-filled cookie.

You can pick up their Oriental Collection ($138) that features all cookies alongside pineapple pillows, a Thai pineapple-filled treat that’s less sweet but with a buttery, cheesy pastry that still melts in your mouth. Otherwise, they do also offer a Signature Collection ($88) or a Heritage Collection ($88) that both come in sets of three to make a presentable gift.

For handcrafted premium treats, turn to Aunty Hong – they’ve been using treasured family recipes for decades. While they have a trusty range of local snacks, there are certain ones that you’ll need to snap up immediately. Take the Sweet & Spicy Belinjau Keropok ($22) which are lovingly made with homemade paste, or the Shrimp Fries ($22) that are 40 percent shrimp meat for a burst of flavour. Not only do they make presentable Chinese New Year gifts, but are also addictively tasty. The Spring Blossom Box ($88) is a solid starter set, since you’ll get to choose two glass jars and one keropok snack of your choice. It also comes with a box of premium tea bags.

Aunty Hong also offers a range of cookies including almond butter cookies, coffee butter cookies, and even handmade emping belinjau cookies ($28) that are also fondly known as Epic Emping. With islandwide delivery, you can conveniently order other crowd favourites online such as the love letters ($28) and prawn rolls ($20).

Tigerlily Patiserrie's star Lunar New Year creation, the Orange Jubilance Tart (from $60), is a dessert that is at once light and decadent. Velvety smooth Valrhona Noir Orange 56% dark chocolate mousse hides layers of bergamot jelly and orange marmalade, crowned by a ring of earl grey crémeux. Flecks of gold foil and a lace-like decorative topping complete the look. A proper centrepiece needs a supporting cast of equally tasty and gorgeous bites. For that, get Tigerlily's Prosperity Box ($13.50) or CNY Entremet Box ($23.80). The former consists of a pineapple foldover danish and pork belly fa cai foldover in a winning combination of sweet and savoury, while the latter has the mini version of the Orange Jubilance tart complemented by the Spring Blossom – made of strawberry compote and oolong tea creméux within layers of genoise sponge and covered in strawberry and orange blossom mousse.

To add on are a trio of moreish cookies ($7 each): chocolate orange macademia cookies, red date and longan sables, and addictive seaweed and pork floss sables. These can be bought individually or as part of the Double Happiness Bundle ($33.80) consisting of the three cookies and the Prosperity Box. 

This unassuming bakery in Jalan Besar is renowned for its French classics and reinvented localised bakes (think kouign amann, burnt cheese croissant, and even a bubur cha cha croissant). For Chinese New Year, expect more of the same creativity in moreish snacks like osmanthus pineapple balls (from $28.80), sakura ebi laksa cookies ($26.80), bobochacha cookies ($24.80), and peanut shrimp cookies ($26.80). Of course, there are classic but elevated flavours too, which you can find in 70% dark chocolate cookies, shell-shaped butter cookies, Sicilian pistachio praline cookies, and more.

For close to 30 years, 603 Tau Sar Piah has been serving up delicious traditional bakes crafted from family recipes. This care and devotion can be had in the bakery’s selection of handmade Chinese New Year treats, which range from signature pineapple balls and tau sar piah (available in 15cm or 7.5cm sizes), to melt-in-the-mouth kueh bangkit and kueh bahulu. For the ultimate snacking, 603 Tau Sar Piah’s CNY menu also has addictive snacks like seaweed crisps, arrowroot crips, shrimp rolls and a whole selection of flavoured cookies. Looking to gift these treats? Buy the Lunar New Year Gift Box (from $50) to get an assortment of goodies.

Make your Lunar New Year snacking count with exquisite treats from AMI Patisserie. Helmed by chef Makoto Arami, the patisserie is turning out beautifully crafted pastries made with premium citrus fruits from Japan. The first offers a refreshing twist on pineapple tarts, a kumquat and kokuto pineapple pie (from $68) featuring mille feuille puff pastry that’s filled with almond cream, pineapple jam and Okinawan kokuto brown sugar, topped with Ehime kumquat. The Setoka orange tart (from $72) has an airy filo pastry tart, topped with almond cream, orange custard, and crowned by fresh Setoka oranges and edible gold flakes.

When tiny morsels of pineapple tarts won’t do, go for a full-fledged pineapple tart instead. French bakery-café Paul’s rendition ($8.80 each) is a pretty confectionery with a buttery tart base topped with almond cream, tropical fruit compote with pineapple curd, and whipped white chocolate ganache piped around the rim. Lime zest is sprinkled over to give it a final lift. If you’re looking for a selection of savoury and sweet bites instead, opt for Paul’s canapes which come in an auspicious red and gold box of eight. There are flavours like sambal prawn and smoked duck and hoisin sauce, as well as peanut and caramel, and pistachio and mandarin orange.

Keep things traditional with Chinese New Year goodies and snacks from Teochew confectionery Thye Moh Chan. New to its CNY line-up is a twist on its signature salty tau sar piah – the salted egg tau sar piah ($22.40), which has the same fragrant mung bean filling enclosing a molten salted egg yolk custard centre. For added prosperity, order the Golden Ingot ($20.80) treat, which has longan and pineapple paste encased in a buttery ingot-shaped pastry shell. Long-time favourites will also be available, including the bak kwa tau sar piah ($22.40), love letters ($22.80), walnut cookies ($10.80) and egg rolls ($10.80). Check out the full range of snacks and goodies at thyemohchan.com/.

Goodwood Park Hotel can be trusted to turn out the goods every Lunar New Year. Besides all its dining venues working overtime on dinners and set menus, The Deli at Goodwood Park is also offering a fine selection of festive goodies. Think of the hotel and you’ll inevitably think of its famous durian treats – sure enough, enjoy luscious Mao Shan Wang in its Auspicious Firecracker durian roll cake ($138), which is designed with auspicious dragon emblems, peach blossoms, and ingots. If durian is not your thing, try its orange pound cake, marble pound cake, pandan pineapple ‘Huat’ tarts, or addictive salted egg yolk lotus root chips. Looking to impress? Go for the Flourishing Prosperity Tier ($118), featuring eight pairs of bite-sized macarons, cakes, pastries, and tartlets.

From restaurant Jade’s Chinese executive chef Leong comes two vibrant festive desserts that you’ll want on your table. The first is a gorgeously pink baked longan red date cookie moulded with the image of a peacock. Bite into one and you’ll find a centre of fragrant and chewy paste made from dried longan and red dates. The other is a red bean and green tea nian gao that resembles a rainbow kueh lapis, a traditional option that you can’t go wrong with. Meanwhile, executive pastry chef Siddarth Prabhu has fashioned two intricate cakes: a pineapple mango prosperity cake with refreshing pineapple compote, white chocolate, and mango lime mousse; as well as a rich chocolate chestnut cake made from 70% Guanaja dark chocolate with honey chestnut and hazelnut crunch.

Perfect for gifting, Si Chuan Dou Hua's seasonal gift sets come in limited edition packaging designed by talented individuals with special needs. There are three boxes to choose from: the Prosperity set with carrot cake and nian gao, the Happiness set with kueh lapis with prunes and a choice of carrot cake or nian gao, and the Fortune set with two kueh lapis with prunes. The fine dining restaurant has also worked with local business Peng Guan to offer bak kwa, which have been roasted in traditional charcoal ovens and stoves for that sought after kiss of smoke.

Trust the Italians to get CNY-inspired pastries right. This year, Da Paolo Gastronomia is offering up a creative selection of treats that take a leaf from classic Chinese New Year snacks and desserts. Take the Bakkwa Pineapple Dragon Bread ($11.90), which is a crusty loaf stuffed with homemade sundried tomato pesto, bak kwa, and pineapple, a combination that surprisingly works. If you love fried nian gao, then it won’t take much to convince you of the nian gao croissant roll ($23.60) where chewy homemade nian gao meets flaky croissant pastry, best served hot. Bright citrus flavours come through in the Mandarin meringue tart ($12.90) and the Mandarin tiramisu ($13.90), putting a festive twist on signature Da Paolo desserts.