Malasadas are an awesome Portuguese donut which became extremely popular in Hawaiian culture. If you’ve never had one, you must try! Our first time gorging on these tasty morsels was on the island of Oahu at Leonard’s, a bakery renowned for their fresh fantastic malasadas. When I heard about Punalu’u Bake Shop [5642 Mamalahoa Hwy, Naalehu, HI 96772] and a chance for another sugary affair, I was all in.
The first thing you will notice as you get out of the car is the SMELL, good gracious. Walk down towards then entrance and you’ll understand why, peering into the bake room.
The grounds of the bakery are lovely, plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. A man was playing lovely ukelele music on our visit, he even did ‘Muskrat Love’ by America, one of my favorite songs! You will find a small koi pond and surely a lizard if you keep your eyes open.
Good luck choosing what you want when you get inside. There are so many divine looking choices…we refused to choose. We got five to split!
They were all so tasty and delicious, my favorite was the lilikoi frosted. A neat random fact is that Punalu’u is the Southern most bakery in the USA! So you’ll have dessert bragging rights when you get home. A baked good from the shop is the perfect treat to pair with any visit to: green sand beach, Punalu’u black sand beach, or Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.