10 of Britain’s Best Bakeries not to miss in the North
Published 08 June 2026

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.

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.

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. 

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.

Since opening by a tributary of the Tyne in 2020, this little bakeshop in the bohemian enclave of Ouseburn has created quite a stir among the city’s cognoscenti. Behind the counter, energetic black-clad staff construct imaginative sandwiches such as roasted aubergine with chimichurri and curtido (fermented vegetables) or ham and pease-pudding rolls. What makes these a class apart is the superb bread, from cruncy-crusted baguettes to best-in-class olive and rosemary focaccia. Among the sweet stuff, the slightly salty, buttery chocolate-chip cookie is worth every calorie. Laptop-tapping regulars sit on the few stools inside, sipping tasty mochas, while others eat outside by the river. There are also outlets in North Shields: a ‘stunningly good’ bakehouse, a coffee shop, and the bakery itself. 

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.

Chef and pastry buff Jamie Heffey returned to his love of baking post-lockdown and, after selling out at farmers' markets in the early days, has made a roaring success with his fully fledged patisserie north of the city centre. The unit might look basic but the fastidious attention to detail delivers seriously good bakes. Dessert flavours ranging from Black Forest gâteau to tiramisu define a sweet-toothed line-up of danishes and cruffins, but you’ll also find seasonal savoury twists, fish-finger butties, chicken Caesar sandwiches and Pastille's beloved breakfast baps.

Few spots in Manchester can match the joy of a sunny Saturday morning at Pollen – especially the OG Ancoats site that started it all (a second can be found at Kampus). Bag a canal-side seat, settle in with a well-crafted coffee and take your pick from a glossy, caramelised Breton-style kouign-amann or a perfectly laminated croissant. The team's longstanding commitment to quality ingredients and technical precision produces bakes that punch well above their weight. A destination worth every minute of waiting in the queue.

Started by Harry Doherty in 2023 as a wholesale business before branching out to sell direct, this industrious little bakery has wasted little time securing a place in the hearts of its lucky locals and firming up its reputation as the finest bakery on the Wirral. British-grown stoneground organic grains are at the heart of everything here, arriving as fresh as possible from the mill and transformed into exceptionally delicious sourdough loaves, buttermilk bloomers and seasonal pastries. Pre-orders are recommended, though weekend walk-ins are warmly welcomed.

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.