From Appleton to Green Bay, here's where to find pączki near you for Fat Tuesday

For bakeries like Simple Simon, Fat Tuesday is the busiest day of the year as customers across Wisconsin pour in to buy dozens of pączki for the annual holiday.

Pączki (pronounced POONCH-kee) are Polish, jelly-filled pastries most commonly enjoyed on Fat Tuesday, the last day to indulge in foods before Lent. The pastry is traditionally filled with fruit jams like prune, apricot, plum and poppy seed.

Midwestern bakeries have adopted the tradition, giving it it's own American twist with flavors like custard, chocolate, lemon, blueberry and more.

Dawn Ebert, owner of Simple Simon in Appleton, said when the bakery first started selling pączki in the 1980s, one rack of 25 dozen would last them throughout the season. Now, they sell at least 10,000, which Ebert said is in part due to the party atmosphere the bakery has on Fat Tuesday.

"Each year we have tried to figure out how can we sell more, how can we get the party started, so to speak," Ebert said. "So for that day we have accordion music that we have played, everybody is in their beads, I have pączki fairies that are running around helping customers. We really make it a fun, happy day in the middle of February."

Greg Smurawa, owner of Smurawa's Country Bakery in Pulaski, said his shop easily goes through at least 30,000 pączki during the season, not counting the ones sold all year long.

"Fat Tuesday is the largest day, by sales volume and customer count, for our bakery all year," Smurawa said.

The following are some of the bakeries between the Fox Cities and the greater Green Bay area where you can find pączki on Fat Tuesday.

Simple Simon

218 E. Wisconsin Ave., Appleton, (920) 733-4351

Every year on Fat Tuesday, the staff at Simple Simon make sure to transform the holiday into a party at the bakery. Customers can expect live music, decorations, staff wearing colorful costumes and, of course, pączki. Customers can preorder the pastries from the store by calling the store or going through the website anytime from now until Feb 12. Customers are also welcomed to come in as early as 3 a.m. to purchase orders in person. A line in the store will be made specifically for those who ordered and paid online, making pick-up quick and easy. There is no limit to how many pączki can be ordered. This year, the bakery will sell poppy seed pączki, but only on Fat Tuesday.

Price: $1.50 each, $18 a dozen

Flavors: Raspberry, strawberry, lemon, custard, cheese, cherry, blueberry, apricot, apple, poppy seed

Hilltop Bakery

100 E. Seventh St., Kaukauna, (920) 766-1771

This year, Hilltop Bakery will serve traditional pączki flavors along with the introduction of three new flavors for this year's Fat Tuesday. Triple chocolate, Oreo cheesecake and strawberry cheesecake will join the other flavors of pączki available to purchase at the bakery on Feb. 13, Fat Tuesday, only. Hilltop starts making the donuts the night before and continuously throughout the next day, but can possibly still run out. Customers are encouraged to preorder before then, with Feb. 9 being the last day to do so.

More information can be found on Hilltop Bakery's Facebook.

Price: Traditional and classic cream $2.50 each, gourmet flavors $3 each, $29 a dozen

Flavors: Sugared rapsberry, vanilla iced raspberry, powder sugar prune, powder sugar lemon, cinnamon sugar apple, Boston creme, Reese's pb cup, maple bacon bourbon, strawberry cheesecake, Oreo cheesecake, triple chocolate

Manderfield's

5100 Michaels Drive, Appleton, (920) 882-6500; W3176 Springfield Drive, Appleton, (920) 731-2181; 811 Plank Road, Menasha, (920) 725-7794

All three of Manderfield's locations will be serving pączki from now until Feb. 17. Customers can call any of the locations to pre-order from now until Fat Tuesday, with no limit on quantities. All of the bakeries's pączki are coated with granulated sugar except for the chocolate flavor.

More information can be found on Manderfield's website and Facebook page.

Price: $1.40 each, $15.75 a dozen

Flavors: Raspberry, blueberry, lemon, custard and chocolate cream

Mom and Pop's Bakery

710 W. Kimberly Ave., Kimberly, (920) 380-0800

While the bakery is normally closed on Tuesdays, Mom and Pop's will be making an exception for the holiday. From 6 a.m. to noon, customers can visit the shop and purchase pączki on Fat Tuesday only. Pre-orders are appreciated by the bakery and can be placed by calling in.

Price: $2.25 each, $25 a dozen

Flavors: Glazed Lemon, powdered lemon, Bavarian cream, sugar raspberry, iced raspberry, cinnamon apple

Smurawa's Country Bakery

204 E. Pulaski St., Pulaski, (920) 822-8655

Pre-orders for Smurawa's Country Bakery are accepted from now until Feb. 11 and can be placed by calling or visiting the bakery in person. Customer's can pre-order the variety packs of pączki made by the shop, which are available for preview on the website, but Smurawa asks those who want specific quantities and flavors come in to the store on Fat Tuesday to pick them out. The bakery will be closed the next day, Feb. 14, to recover from its busiest day, but those who missed Fat Tuesday can come back that Thursday for more freshly made pączki.

Price: $1.75 each, $21 a dozen

Flavors: Raspberry, cherry, strawberry, apple, lemon, blueberry, poppy seed, apricot, prune, French cream, chocolate French cream, peanut butter French cream, cream cheese, custard, plain.

Uncle Mikes Food Emporium/Bake Shoppe

3860 W. Wisconsin Ave., Appleton, (920) 278-2280; 1840 Dickinson Road, Ledgeview, (920) 330-0300;  2999 E. Mason St., Green Bay, (920) 544-0330; 2514 Lineville Road, Suamico, (920) 434-0100

All four of Uncle Mike's locations will be taking pączki pre-orders up until Fat Tuesday. Customers can call their nearest location or visit the bakeries to place their orders. While Uncle Mike's makes traditional pączki, the bakeries also offer an extreme version, a pączki which is cut in half and stuffed with unique, signature fillings. Some of the traditional flavors are available for purchase now, but the full list of pączki won't be available until Feb. 12 and 13.

Price: $2.31 each for traditional, $3.54 each for extreme

Flavors: "Traditional" flavors include apple, cream, lemon, raspberry, prune, strawberry, poppyseed and custard; "Extreme" includes turtle, peanut butter cup, chocolate lovers, banana fosters, strawberry and cream, cream cheese, The Ultimate (custard, bananas and strawberries), maple bacon and Oreo.

Reach Jelissa Burns at 920-453-5107 or jburns1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @burns_jelissa or on Instagram at burns_jelissa.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Green Bay, Appleton paczki options abound ahead of Fat Tuesday