Britain’s Best Bakeries 2025
Published 24 March 2025

Owned by Flora Shedden, a Dunkeld local and once the youngest ever finalist on The Great British Bake Off, this stylish whitewashed bakery enjoys a prime position on the main thoroughfare and has contributed to the town's burgeoning reputation as a foodie pit stop for the Highlands. Locals have much to be pleased about too, with a roster of seasonal Danishes (from wild garlic and goat's cheese to fig, honey and walnut), alongside beautifully flavoured, inch-thick shortbread, golden sausage rolls, focaccia sandwiches and house sourdough made with landrace flour, grown and milled in Scotland. Hot eats include cheese and kimchi toasties as well as seasonal soups, which are best enjoyed at a spot by the window if you can snag one.

Just a few minutes’ walk from the Cathedral, this upscale emporium is from the talented bakers behind Grain Culture (you might spot their bread on local restaurant menus). This is the place to find their crusty-chewy sourdough, bouncy white batch loaves, soft milk buns and Danish rugbrød (seeded rye bread). The pastries tempt too, from knotted Swedish kanelbullar (warmly spiced with cinnamon and cardamom) or custard tarts rippled through with berries to Eccles cakes and custard-filled Italian bomboloni (doughnuts). Have them boxed up to take home or (on a sunny day) nibble them with a locally roasted Brew Project coffee on the pavement bench out front – or in the attractive courtyard at the back.

Having earned a glowing reputation making bespoke bakes for Sheffield’s top coffee shops, the team behind Bakers Yard have opened their own café in a quiet corner of Kelham Island. The signature rum canelés are superb, as are the white chocolate, pistachio and lemon cookies, and the salted whey caramel and chocolate ganache tarts. Savoury bakes also change constantly, but do order the vadouvan-spiced potato and Baron Bigod cheese pie if it’s on offer. Lunch specials generally showcase vegetables – our favourite is an assembly of garlic-roast purple sprouting broccoli, cavolo nero, romesco, pickled chillies, spicy roast almonds on toasted sourdough. Outdoor seating is basic, but great for sunny days.

By Wednesday each week, the Beefcake Café's Facebook page reveals the eclectic delights that will be available to eat in or take away from Thursday to Sunday (10am-2pm). The owners have an obsession with sourdoughs and a passion for pastry, and this very personal business sells out fast. Their regular menu of filled floury baps brimming with breakfast or brunch, loaded sourdough toasts and viennoiserie is supplemented by the likes of sweetcorn fritters with avocado and poached egg, while pies might bring bold combos such as butternut squash with oyster mushroom and halloumi. Otherwise, their perfectly laminated croissant-based options are supplemented by ever-changing Danishes (think pear, blackberry and tonka bean). There's bread, of course, and the place is licensed too.

Lindsay and Ross Baxter opened their bakery-cum-café in 2014, sensing that North Berwick would embrace the style of baking that allowed Ross, a pastry chef trained in fine-dining kitchens across Scotland, to use the high technique he once practised in a more approachable way. Proof indeed that if you make excellent sourdough bread, perfect croissants, creamy cruffins and French-style pastries, queues will form. Ross and his team also excel at sourdough doughnuts, while their ‘escargots’ (croissant dough swirled with chocolate and pistachio paste) are a big hit. There's a younger sibling in East Linton – a larger space with more café tables, an open-to-view kitchen and outdoor seating (dogs welcome).

‘A proper neighbourhood bakery with a community feel and queues out the door,’ this Herne Hill hot spot was founded by English-born Palestinian Sara Assad-Mannings, who started baking as a sideline during lockdown. As the name suggests, sweet, sticky ‘buns’ are the speciality and they are shot through with genuine Palestinian flavours (many ingredients are imported direct from the home country). Try the tahini and molasses bun or the tahini, labneh and Guinness cake, but also look out for syrupy twist on the classic Palestinian pudding, knafeh. The cinnamon buns are another highlight, and there are savoury options too, such as feta brownies and salty zaatar buns. Open Thursday to Saturday mornings from 9am ‘until they sell out’.

*Catley's used to be called Lockdown Loaves and is in the process of rebranding, to find the bakery look for the Lockdown Loaves sign on Flaxpits Lane.*

Opened during lockdown, this village bakery has the kind of cool, urban vibe you'd expect to find in nearby Bristol – in fact, the owners have opened a sister branch in Clifton. Come for the tasty, Instagram-worthy cakes, pastries and sourdough loaves, but stay for the lip-smacking homemade Scotch eggs and sausage rolls, doorstep sourdough toasties and great coffee. They can even whip up an affogato using their soft-serve ice cream machine. Local eggs, coffee beans, condiments and cookbooks are also for sale.

*Cereal Bakery will close after a final day of trading on 28th December, after which Wingmon Cheung and Niall Furlong will look for new premesis in the area*

Founded in 1932 and once a a historic trading post, Burr’s of Tongue is a lifeline for the local community: petrol pump, tea room and bakery in one. Now rustically renovated, it’s once more a vibrant community hub, store and café hosting talks and supper clubs, and home to Wingmon Cheung and Niall Furlong’s artisan Cereal Bakery. Inside, it’s pared-back, with walls lined with shelves of books to buy (or borrow), local honey, bags of flour and Wingmon’s signature ‘daily bread’ – a tin-shaped, wholemeal brick of sourdough made with Scottish-grown and milled flour. The perfect place to nurse a sweet chai latte in a ceramic tumbler with a piece of Brazil nut and bere barley shortbread.

There are few bakeries with the culinary pedigree of Company. Created in 2017 by chef Ben Reade, Lovecrumbs' Hollie Love Reid and Duncan and Amy Findlater of local wine bar Smith & Gertrude, the business began baking sourdough for wholesale, supplying many of Scotland's finest restaurants. Their new, expanded bakery in Musselburgh offers those exceptional loaves direct to the public, alongside a menu that features sublimely gooey Manchego and chorizo toasties, stacked sandwiches made with house-baked focaccia, and seasonal specials such as their famed hot cross buns. Keep an eye on their socials for their next £20 all-you-can-eat pizza party.

Crwst’s off-site bakery on Bath House Road in Cardigan provides four types of bread for the Priory Street café, all based on organic Shipton Mill flour. In addition, they produce everything from brioche doughnuts to particularly good swirls (perhaps cinnamon or maple and pecan). Visitors to the café can also take advantage of a good-sized, all-day brunch menu ranging from rum and banana French toast or sour cream hash browns to slow-roast local pork shoulder packed in a roll with satay sauce and a crispy fried egg. Crwst’s Poppit Sands outpost is perfect place to pick up something to enjoy on the beach – or when walking the Pembrokeshire Coast Path.

There’s a perma-queue at the counter at this bakery and café beneath Hackney's railway arches but it moves quickly and you’ll soon find yourself at a table with your coffee and a bun. Take a laptop or stylish baby if you want to look the part. The baking is exceptional, both in terms of skills and ingredients: their croissants, for example, are made using three different types of heritage flour, stoneground on site and laminated with raw cultured butter. The menu changes constantly but currant buns, florentines and rye cookies are constants. For something more substantial, choose soup, a sourdough sandwich or a seasonal special. There are outlets in Poplar and, from May 2025, in Hackney Wick.

Arguably the best croissants in London (if not the UK) are on offer at Eric’s – a local bakery run by ex-Flor supremo Helen Evans. Inside, it has a level of refinement that most of its rivals simply cannot match: carefully chosen interiors and an intentionally gentler style of service create what one visitor called 'an elevated experience'. Those croissants get their unmatched depth of flavour from a mixture of meticulously sourced wholemeal and emmer flour, but everything excels here: savouries include a rich, tangy and devilishly moreish aubergine and fermented fava bean swirl, while sweet inducements range from exemplary pain an chocolat to cinnamon buns. Eric's only serves filter coffee, but that’s just fine by us.

In the most unlikely of locations, right by the city’s Bearpit roundabout, ‘probably my favourite bakery of all time’ puts the focus on ancient grains; the owners mill their own in-house and produce an einkorn wheat loaf with an incredible depth of flavour. Best pastries are probably the honey and almond croissant, the pastel de nata and the totally ‘unmissable’ canelé. So often, bakeries lose that element of quality by branching out into sandwiches and the like. Not here. All they do is bake bread and pastries to wonderful perfection. Takeaway only.

Gothelney Farm is a beacon of regionally powered regenerative agriculture and when it comes to picking up a loaf, it doesn’t get more local than on-site Field Bakery where Rosy Benson oversees the stone mill and shows the care that goes into nurturing the soil. The results speak for themselves: extraordinarily good loaves, cinnamon buns and kimchi sausage rolls (made from the farm's own pasture-reared pigs) are the top picks – note that bakery hours are limited to Saturday mornings, but coffee and locally produced provisions make the trip worthwhile, and a pre-order system is in place to avoid missing out. For the real bread heads, there’s also a regular roster of field-to-loaf workshops and baking classes. 

Set among the boutique shops of Brighton’s Bond Street, this stylish bakery and café is perfect if you want to buy a loaf of artisan sourdough to take home – one that's made with organic stoneground flour. Alternatively, you could settle in and enjoy a chocolate croissant or a cinnamon bun, produced each day at Flint Owl's main bakery in rural Sussex. There's excellent coffee too, made with beans from the renowned Square Mile roastery in London. In good weather, sit at one of the pavement tables and watch the city’s colourful street life go by. Flint Owl has branches in Lewes and East Grinstead. 

Anna Gerrans and Nat Galliano-Hale’s bakery opened as a wholesale business in 2021, supplying sourdough to cafés and restaurants. But a weekly counter selling baked goods directly to the public quickly built-up a following and, such was the demand, the couple moved to a larger retail space in 2023, allowing them to incorporate a café alongside the on-view bakery. Meticulously baked sourdough loaves, viennoiserie and updated versions of classics such as Danish pastries (with fillings like coffee crème patisserie, whipped cream and dark chocolate crumb) give locals good reason to keep coming back. As an added attraction, there are also eclectic savouries along the lines of bone broth with a carrot kimchi toastie.

Family-run with a passion for all things sourdough, this easy-going bakery and café is fast building up a solid, enthusiastic fan base. Bang on target, with cheery staff encouraging a sense of bonhomie, it’s as good for breakfast (shakshuka eggs) as it is for lunch (fish finger sandwich or a savoury roasted beetroot and cream Danish). The coffee is good, sourdough croissants and cinnamon rolls fill the gaps, and ‘Friday Night Dinner’ ranges from steak or pie feasts to chicken and salsa rossa with hazelnut pangrattato.

The sign outside Kate and Hugo Hamblin’s neighbourhood-focused bakery is simple: Bread Baked Here Daily. And it is, along with carefully crafted cakes, biscuits, buns and cookies, with an array of deli items on sale too. Sourcing is of the utmost importance with only directly traded organic, stoneground flour baked into the custard and candied Seville cake, whole-fruit financiers and Swedish bun staples perfumed with cinnamon and cardamon. For something savoury, consider a slice of sourdough pizza made from Maris Widgeon and ‘population’ wheat, topped with Westcombe ricotta. A second location – Hamblin kiosk and snack bar – can be found in Oxford’s Covered Market.

Handy for a classy train snack to go, this excellent bakery next to Bristol Temple Meads station is also a hugely popular destination in its own right. Inside, it’s simply decorated with moveable counters on castors and a gleaming coffee machine in front of the open-plan workspace. There are also a few tables inside and a couple of outdoor benches for those who want to linger over their doorstep sourdough toasties or cinnamon buns. Open from early doors till 3pm, its daily menu of baked goodies is supplemented by lunch specials such as chicken and tomato broth with asparagus and peas. Coffee is from the local Extract roastery.

Phil Clayton, a largely self-taught baker, credits his flavoursome loaves with the flour grown and milled in small batches by Yorkshire Organic Millers – you can taste the splendid results by purchasing his crusty sourdough classics and slow-fermented yeast breads. The Haxby shop, where it all began, has a counter stacked with pastries, tarts, cooked meats and store-cupboard ingredients as well as the venerated ‘pain au levain’. There's also an outlet (also with a café attached) in the characterless Clifton Moor Business Park, where eager locals take advantage of a bigger range of goodies ranging from generously filled focaccia sandwiches to sugary cinnamon buns and good coffee. Get there early – they’re invariably sold out by midday.

Tucked away in an industrial warehouse space off the canal in Hackney Wick, this social enterprise is a model urban bakery. It starts with the grain, sustainably grown and traceably sourced from organic and low-intervention farms within 50 miles. On the counter, the bestsellers are cinnamon brioche buns and sourdough loaves, but weekly seasonal additions can range from a rhubarb bun with honeyed ricotta and rhubarb compôte (or with oat milk and bay-leaf custard for vegans) to a pumpkin meringue pie and a kefir-frosted beetroot and carrot cake loaf, made with wrinkled pea flour from Hodmedods that would otherwise go to waste. A monthly lunch menu of soups, salads, toasties and sandwiches favours whole grains and veggies.

Filipino and Korean bakes are the order of the day at this handsome little bakery on Cherry Hinton Road. Tuck into matcha cream buns, a riff on Basque cheesecake made with ube (purple yam) or pillowy ensaymada pastries filled with buttercream and topped with a drift of mild cheese. Savouries grace the counter from mid-morning, so keep an eye out for egg sandos with kimchi butter and sesame, or tuna mayo focaccia with a sprinkle of sweetcorn. Grab a seat inside to enjoy a bake with coffee, or enjoy a strawberry matcha latte on one of the pavement tables when the weather's fine. 

Since opening in central Bath in 2018, Andrew Lowkes’ independent, community-focused bakery has expanded to become a city institution. Locals are obsessed with the sourdough loaves, made with speciality grains sourced directly from local farmers and milled at the bakery’s own granite stone mill some 20 miles south, near Evercreech. And good luck with getting out without at least one cardamom bun, hazelnut praline cream bun or fennel-studded sausage roll. While it never stops being a bakery, Landrace is also a treasured all-day resource – operating as a ground-floor daytime café (the coffee is excellent), while the space above is home to the excellent GFG-rated restaurant Upstairs at Landrace, headed by chef Rob Sachdev.

From lines out the door at The Palmerston to crowds overwhelming her Stockbridge bakery, Darcie Maher can’t help but attract queues for her pastrywork. Do the goods deliver? Absolutely. The sunny corner spot is an apothecary-like arrangement of glistening cardamom buns, puffed-up pain au chocolat, vanilla slices and sugared cinnamon scrolls stuffed with cloud-like vanilla cream, while a hatch onto the working bakery offers a glimpse of masters at work. To get the best selection, it’s wise to turn up before 9.30am – or earlier if you can. Coffee is Obadiah and the hot chocolate is from Glasgow’s micro bean-to-bar factory Bare Bones.

Brummies have been enjoying an upsurge in quality bakeries, but this tiny one tucked down an alley off King's Heath High Street brings something new. In honing his approach to viennoserie and French-style baking, self-taught Pascal Bishop has built such a following for his flaky, butter-rich croissants, sourdough loaves, crusty baguettes, pillowy focaccia and brioche that a second branch is due to open towards the end of 2025 in Stirchley. Pascal uses French organic flours from Moulin Viron, a family-owned flour mill located just outside of Paris, and his unconventional savouries (Marmite and Cheddar swirl), and highly delicious pastries (white chocolate and pistachio pain au chocolat) are ranked among the city’s best baked goods.

Taking over a long-disused site back in 2020, this bakery from Pollen alumnus Jenny Oakenfull has breathed new life into Levenshulme. A small team of all-female bakers turns out a satisfyingly creative selection of sweet and savoury bakes – perhaps a pandan lamington (a take on the coconut-drenched Aussie classic) or an ‘everything bagel’ croissant stuffed with dill, spring onion and cream cheese – while classic cakes and pastries are presented with equal doses of flavour and flourish. With a tiny production kitchen, bread comes from the also-excellent Holy Grain Sourdough in Manchester city centre. Like any self-respecting neighbourhood bakery, they sell out quickly – so get there early. 

Working directly with Somerset farmers through the South West Grain network, James Cartwright and Frederica Bullough have been serving up the model of an accessible, sustainable food system alongside their delicious bakes since 2022. Their Wiveliscombe bakery has won over locals with its full-flavoured porridge tin loaves, and rye/spelt malt loaves, while the line-up of seasonal sweets might include rhubarb and custard pies, roast apricot bostock and cream buns with strawberries macerated in Somerset cider brandy. As a small operation, hours are limited to Friday collections with orders to be made by 2pm on Wednesday. Plans are afoot to start up pizza nights, join the farmers' market circuit and offer baking classes.

Baker Aidan Monks was on the sourdough scene long before it became fashionable. In fact, he first set up shop in Kendal in the late ‘80s and has built a mini empire in the North West that continues to rake in the plaudits. Exclusively British organic flours are baked into a wide range of loaves and pastries that are available for delivery country-wide and are sold over the counter in Burneside, Altrincham Market, Kirkby Lonsdale’s weekly market, and at the Kendal HQ, which is a worthy detour for any Lake District visitor. Favourites from the range include the khorasan loaf, Northumberland rye and the flavoursome, buttery croissants which, with a specialty coffee from neighbouring Rinaldo’s, makes for the perfect mid-morning treat.

Former Pophams head baker Dan Frazer and Downham Market local Lucy Peacock have been delighting residents since setting up shop on the Market Place in 2024. Pophams fans might recognise the maple-bacon swirls, the rosemary sea salt twists and the seasonal Danishes, but there's plenty more to intrigue and delight – including damson iced buns, Hawaiian pain suisse and sourdough loaves spiked with spelt, honey and oats. If you’ve waited in the line snaking out onto the street, a warm welcome awaits – so we suggest grabbing a seat at the communal table to savour it all.

Part of the local Lewis family stable of hotels and restaurants, this bakery has been luring crowds with enticing oven smells since it first opened. With tea rooms attached, it draws in casual tourists seeking solid Scottish in-hand sustenance along with those stocking up for the week. Their breads showcase quality small-batch flours and slow fermentation, and they offer a full portfolio of pies to please the purist (‘Scotland in pastry’), as well as fat, fulsome sausage rolls with a variety of enhancements. There are also meringues ‘the size of a baby's head’ and sweet indulgences galore. Scones are examplars of their kind, while brownies and blondies will fuel you up the steepest of local hills.

Leeds Dock was once a stew of 19th-century warehouses, where barges would offload coal to supply the heavy industries of nearby Hunslet. Its transformation came in the mid 1990s with the arrival of the Royal Armouries Museum and later a mix of residential and business premises, of which Sarah Lemanski's bakery, opened in 2019, is a major standout. There’s no seating but you can watch the dough being kneaded while waiting to pick up one of their long-proved sourdough loaves, brown butter madeleines, almond croissants, or a bag of chewy chocolate-chip cookies. The counter and shelves are also stacked with all manner of on-trend provisions from esoteric homemade marmalades to Leeds honey, pasta and pulses. Eight-week 'bread subscriptions' available.

Husband-and-wife team Will Moss and Charlotte Keeys opened this industrial-meets-utilitarian set-up on Northdown Road in 2022, supplementing their bakery with a few recycled plastic-topped tables. There are window stools, too, for those who want to linger over their cinnamon buns and (excellent) flat whites while watching the world go by. Regulars keep returning, not just for the daily sourdough loaves, baguettes, rye bread and weekend specials, but for the choice of sweet and savoury pastries. Expect sausage rolls, viennoiserie and slices of cake, complemented by lunch bites such as roast pepper, potato and caramelised onion quiche, croque monsieur tartine and various filled baguettes (cheese and pickles, say). Great local vibe too.

For the past year, local spies have been singing the praises of Clare Mansfield and Fred Mackenzie’s warm-hearted bakery at the centre of this ancient market town. Fred’s meticulous approach is evident in fragrant, gloriously crusted sourdough loaves and baguettes, flaky croissants and irresistible pastries. Come for the espresso buns and the seasonal fruit Danish riffs (blood orange on our visit) – they are popular for very good reason. However, for many fans, the most memorable creations often straddle the border of sweet and savoury – look out for the likes of fennel, salami and béchamel-filled croissants, or roast tomato, tomato jam and whipped ricotta Danish.

Since the aroma of fresh croissants first wafted from the ovens of the original bakery in Ancoats, Pollen has established something of a cult status in Manchester for its quality viennoiserie and sourdough loaves. A second, larger outpost at the Kampus development in the Piccadilly area is a serene, putty-hued space looking onto a lush courtyard garden where you can linger over a lunch of BBQ mushrooms on toast with celeriac and salsa verde or Jerusalem artichoke soup with herb butter. The counter also advertises a handsome selection of sweet treats: our surprisingly delicate matcha cheesecake was a sure sign of the pastry team's skills.

Forming part of a business collective comprising an art gallery and wine bar with live music at the weekends, Owen Postgate’s bakery-café takes up most of the space at this hugely popular warehouse conversion. It’s all about quality, with provenance to the fore – everything is sourced as locally as possible, from fruit and vegetables to the grain used in the baking. Everyone praises the ‘divine’ pastries: the cardamom buns are a daily sell-out and there are ‘absolutely delicious’ seasonal Danishes (we enjoyed an orange crème version). On the savoury side, don’t miss the homemade pickles, ferments and salads or the Neapolitan-style fior di latte, pesto and pepperoni pizza from the huge pizza oven. There's an offshoot café on Whittox Lane. 

For a small artisan bakery to have found great success with such limited hours says a great deal about the amazing things coming out of its ovens. Six Chimneys opens on Saturdays only and that’s it. Their once-a-week offerings include such crowd-pleasers as sourdough loaves, viennoiserie, morning buns and creamy patisserie, as well as more playful items along the lines of an egg custard Danish with spiced cream, or honey, brown butter and almond croissantine, or even lemon, basil and black-pepper cake. Also expect meaty sausage rolls, substantial sandwiches and savoury pies such as slow-cooked shin of beef marinated in red wine.

Housed in a one-time primary school, Small Food is the brainchild of Kimberley Bell – baker, ‘sustainable food activist’ and founder of the UK Grain Lab. It’s not only a genuine community hub, but also a treasured source of organic produce, naturally leavened breads and much more besides. At the centre of things is an eco-conscious, artisan bakery and café, where you can procure sweet and savoury treats to eat in or takeaway. Seasonal hits range from croissants, fruity Danish pastries and cheesecake with blackberry jam to sausage rolls, pies, pizza slices and immense potato and leek scones. Small Food sits cheek-by-jowl with Beam (a bookshop and gallery with its own barrista-led coffee shop).

As you head up the steep incline of Hazellville Road, you’ll know you’re on the right track. Just a couple of tables furnish the front of this small but sophisticated bakery from Pophams' former head pastry chef Florin Grama. Thanks to scrupulous sourcing from local farmers, the team can deliver an array of seasonal delights ranging from cakes and Danish pastries to sweet little cardamom buns in citrus sugar. Savoury flavours are a strong suit (our Jerusalem artichoke and Alpine Meadow cheese swirl with kale sauce and walnut pesto was a meal in itself), along with a tempting spread of sandwiches and toasties. They have regular pizza nights too.

As the name suggests, this relaxed bakery, café and general food store is related to the Angel Hotel opposite. It’s popular locally as well as a favoured pit-stop for in-the-know travellers passing through town. Crowd-pleasers range from croissants, brownies and chocolate brioche to a memorable cardamom bun – buttery and light as air, with a sweet cardamon sugar glaze. On the savoury side, there are focaccia-filled sandwiches and sourdough cheese toasties – indeed, we recommend picking up one of their sourdough loaves, which have a worth-the-detour reputation. In addition, local beers, wine, cheese, jams and locally grown veg are for sale.

For more than a decade, Max Tobias and co have been leading the field with brilliant baking, good community vibes and a training programme supporting young people facing barriers to employment. In addition to the bakery, café and baking school at the Dalston HQ, Dusty Knuckle now also comprises this Harringay offshoot, a van at Highbury Fields and a roving milk float. Bacon-and-egg breakfasts give way to lunches of famously stacked sarnies (perhaps roasted celeriac with spicy ‘pilpelchuma’ paste, whipped feta and smoked almonds on bouncy focaccia), while the flaky, sugar-dusted morning buns with freshly ground cinnamon work as an all-day treat. Come sundown (Thursday-Sunday), things get a little smarter with pizzas, salads and wines.

Daniel and Lauren Cadoo have become an integral part of the local community by producing ‘amazing’ bread at their gem of an independent bakery in the heart of Market Harborough. From ‘really excellent’ sourdough, via traditional yeasted loaves (white tins, wholemeal) to the more unique (for the area) Turkish flatbreads – all are worth trying. The pastries (croissants, pain au chocolats) are made from scratch in the traditional French style, and the sausage rolls are ‘very, very good’. In addition, there are sandwiches and more ‘fun’ baked items such as cheese and Marmite swirls or 'cruffins' with sweet fillings.

Drop in for your daily bread, but don’t ignore the exceptionally good breakfast/brunch/lunch offer at this super-friendly café, run by the couple behind the nearby Old Bank restaurant. Linger over eggs every which way or plump for a fish-finger sandwich with iceberg lettuce and homemade tartare sauce. Elsewhere, a plate of truffled mushrooms on toast is the perfect lunch fix, ditto the generous ‘fit bowl’ loaded with locally smoked salmon, butter bean and sun-dried tomato houmous, grilled halloumi and more besides. Also check out the piping-hot duck-fat hash browns. The counter is laden with inviting cakes and bakes, and care is poured into the inventive, seasonal drinks list too.

The cinnamon buns are excellent, but it's hard to ignore the rest of the regularly changing display of cakes, pastries and viennoiserie on offer at Wild Loaf. The croissants (both plain and almond) also come highly recommended, as does the coffee. On the savoury side, their sourdough cheese toastie is a must (a glorious amalgam of cheese, and onion marmalade) – and don't forget to pick up a loaf to take home. After all, the sign on the window proudly proclaims the ‘best sourdough in Liverpool’. Prepare to queue, especially on Saturdays, as Jessica Doyle and Emily Sandeman have built a huge following for their tiny enterprise. If you’re lucky, you might just bag one of the few tables.

At the weekend, you may have to join a lengthy queue if you accidentally hit peak time, such is the popularity of this small, crowdfunded Camberwell bakery where excellent bread is a given. Sourdough is long-fermented and made from UK-grown, sustainably farmed grain, but the stars of the show are the pastries. Choose from sweet treats such as almond croissants, saffron and vanilla teacakes or yuzu orange Jaffa mini cakes; otherwise, pick up a savoury croissant (beef brisket 'bear claw' with pickle, say). There are daily meat and vegetarian sandwich options, too.

Image: Teo Della Torre

Offspring of the nearby Toklas restaurant, this bakery and café has the bonus of ample indoor seating for those who want to linger over its delectable cakes, pastries and savouries. We love the seasonality of their offer – try the Danish with fresh fig and a squiggle of mascarpone or (even better) a pillowy pan de coca baked with Muscat grapes, tahini and brown butter frangipane. At lunchtime, everyone piles in for 'strecci' (slices of Roman-style pizza on crispy-oily focaccia with various toppings): the roast chicken version with crispy chicken skin and roasted garlic aïoli is a winner. We also have fond memories of the ‘celestially good’ Basque cheesecake topped with Todoli citrus. They serve decent coffee too.

The sight of bakers beavering away behind Tough Mary’s bright yellow shopfront will be familiar to Nottingham's night-owl students and clubbers – in fact the place is now something of a local landmark on Derby Road. Seeded sourdough loaves and beautifully textured pain au chocolat (almost as sublime as the version sold in House of Pain in Marseilles) are top calls, along with almond croissants, seasonal Danish pastries, blondies and more eclectic ideas including Basque cheesecake, babka and Swedish semla buns. There are also savouries galore (sandwiches, cheese and mustard scones, mini pizzas etc), and TM’s bagels are irresistible too – especially with a ‘drip’ coffee or herbal tea. Just be sure to get there early. 

Rachel Morgan and Emily Cuddeford have created something quite special with their small, Edinburgh-based artisan bakery group. Famed for their slow-fermented sourdough loaves and unique pastries, most venues are takeaway only, but Stockbridge residents are lucky to have a warmly welcoming café too (open from breakfast to mid-afternoon). Those in the know drop by for worth-a-detour croissants, pain au chocolat, cheese scones, sausage rolls or lunchtime sandwiches – and very good coffee. We missed out on the new-to-the-menu spinach, mint and feta swirl but another new addition – an olive oil and sweet potato bun filled with walnuts and panela (unrefined whole cane sugar) – hit the spot. One of the city’s bakery stars.

There’s something of a local fan club for this town-centre bakery/deli run by the Wooster family, so look sharp because the early laden shelves can empty quickly. Try the deep, malty flavour of a peerless sprouted rye sourdough or go for a bouncy white batch loaf. Meet your sweet needs with a cream-filled morning bun or a paper bag of soft amaretti, and don’t miss the squidgy richness of the malt loaf. Wooster's pops up at local farmers’ markets and there’s nationwide delivery of some items. A second branch can be found at the Bull Pen at Wyken Vineyards.