The Best Panellets in Barcelona in 2026: Oso Grizzly Bakery & Coffee Gràcia
Looking for the best panellets in Barcelona? At Oso Grizzly, we make ours the traditional way: almond flour, sugar, and egg, nothing else. No potato starch, no shortcuts, not even in our specialty flavors.
A tradition going back to the 18th century
Panellets trace back to Catalonia's religious customs around All Saints' Day and the Day of the Dead.
Families used to bring them to church in baskets to be blessed, then shared them together as part of an overnight vigil, food dense enough in calories and sturdy enough to travel that it suited a long night of prayer.
The name itself means "little breads." Almond only became affordable enough for a treat like this once sugar started arriving through Catalan ports from trade with the Americas, which is what made the almond-and-sugar marzipan base possible in the first place. Production stayed in home kitchens for generations before moving into bakeries in the 19th century, which is also around when pine nuts became the classic topping.
Why the potato starch matters
Some bakeries stretch their panellets with potato starch to cut costs. Ours don't have any. Because our filling is almond, sugar, and egg only, our panellets qualify for the EU's Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (ETG) standard, which explicitly rules out potato and sweet potato in the filling. It's the same distinction reserved for panellets made the traditional way.
Our panellets:
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Piñones (pine nut), the classic
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Pistachio
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Almond crunch
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Maple pecan
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Coconut
Every variant starts from the same base filling: almond flour, sugar, and egg. What changes is the topping, not the filling.
Available October 20-31
Find our panellets in the case at our Gràcia bakery from October 20 through 31, or reserve yours ahead of time.
Part of La Castanyada
Panellets are one of the cornerstones of La Castanyada, Barcelona's late-October sweet tradition.