The 20 best bakeries in the UK

Flint Owl Bakery, Lewes, East Sussex

Bread-making for purists. David Bland bakes his loaves day and night in Glynde, a village in the South Downs, using only organic flours (most stone-ground), natural spring water and sea salt. Loaves are flour-dusted, round and with a pleasingly dark and chewy crust. Flint Owl has shop-cafés in Lewes, Brighton and East Grinstead selling all manner of delights (rosemary and sea salt flutes; pistachio and raspberry financiers; vegan orange and marmalade iced cake). Or pick up your hot cross buns and bread like the locals do – still warm from Glynde Village Stores, where co-owner Steve Grogan will parcel up your order with a quip and a smile. flintowlbakery.com Helen Bain

Brød, Cardiff

What should a “Danish” pastry really look like? Seek out the real deal, courtesy of photographer-turned-baker Betina Skovbro. The loaves at Brød – opened in 2015 on a quiet corner in Cardiff – range from an award-winning white sourdough to a chocolate version with orange added to the starter. Good luck getting out without at least one spandauer (round pastries filled with jam or custard), kanel snegl (sweet-pastry snails) or overskåren (with cinnamon, chocolate, custard and marzipan). You won’t find any croissants or baguettes at Brød – but that’s what it’s about. thedanishbakery.co.uk Chris Allnutt

The Dusty Knuckle, London

Looking for potato sourdough north of the river? Look no further than this Dalston bakery. I’ve lined up for Dusty Knuckle’s chicken caesar focaccia on too many Saturdays to count. Also many are the times I’ve congratulated a restaurant on their bread and discovered it was made by Dusty Knuckle: Cafe Murano, Chiltern Firehouse and Ottolenghi’s Nopi are all fans, as are Panzer’s and Fortnum & Mason. A second, equally superb shop in Harringay doubles as an evening pizza joint from Thursday to Saturday. You will have to queue, though. thedustyknuckle.com Rosanna Dodds

Cottonrake Bakery, Glasgow

This bakery on the Great Western Road does nutty-flavoured, tooth-achingly crusty sourdough from 8am; flour-dusted baguettes at 11.30; and focaccia sandwiches studded in salt and oozing olive oil at lunchtime. Grab a chocolate tart and a coffee for the road, or stuff a flaky croissant with Cottonrake’s homemade jam. cottonrake.com Alexander Tyndall

Ten Four Bakehouse, Birmingham

This is where the city’s Michelin-starred restaurants get their bread baked. Founded in 2017 by former pastry chef Adam Cross, Ten Four Bakehouse is an independent, community-focused bakery. What started as a donut stall at a local market has grown into a shop stocked with pastries and bread, with the signature sourdough supplied to wine bars and coffee shops across the city. Ten Four doesn’t overcomplicate, using the best ingredients available, locally sourced and always in season. tenfourbakehouse.co.uk Honor Rose Cooper Hedges

Farro, Bristol

Head here for flaky French kouigns, canelés de Bordeaux and puff pastry filled with poached rhubarb and white chocolate custard. The bakes might be traditional – think Italian panforte, sourdough boules and sticky canelés – but Farro’s approach is wholly modern, offering twists in the form of peach-filled choux pastry, croissant honey crisps and orange and tonka bean pastéis de nata. Their grains come from agroecological and organic UK farms. farro.co.uk Camilla Bell-Davies

Coombeshead Bakery, Launceston, Cornwall

One of the nicest things about Cornwall is a slice of bread slathered with butter and jam from Coombeshead Bakery. Locals are obsessed with its organic sourdough, made from heritage varieties of wheat, spelt and rye. The bakery sits in an old stable block on the grounds of Coombeshead Farm, the popular hotel and restaurant founded by chefs Tom Adams and April Bloomfield in 2018. Ben Glazer heads up the bakery division, supplying hotels, restaurants and farm shops across the West Country, including Fowey hotspot Fitzroy. A series of one-day bread workshops are available throughout the year. coombesheadfarm.co.uk Fiona Golfar

Ursa Minor Bakehouse, Ballycastle, Northern Ireland 

Founded by self-taught husband-and-wife bakers Dara and Ciara O’hArtghaile, Ursa Minor began life as a market stall nine years ago. Its motto is “slow, honest food”, and the best-selling sourdough is made with just three ingredients: flour, water and salt. Upstairs, a café serves seasonal lunch specials in addition to confections inspired by the surrounding coastline, from flower-shaped frangipane buns and dainty rhubarb eclairs sprinkled with gorse petals to chocolate ganache tarts ribboned with foamy waves of Chantilly cream that are (almost) too good to eat. ursaminorbakehouse.com Sara Semic

Rye Bakery, Frome, Somerset 

On a narrow side street just off Catherine Hill, families chatter over cardamom buns at the many tables, queues snake out of the door, and waiting staff rush around with hot breakfast plates. Head straight to the shelves at the back, where you’ll find bread made from local and ancient grains such as Red Lammas, April Bearded and Einkorn. There’s a second location near the station – it doesn’t have an organ or a star-spangled ceiling (the original café is based in an old church), but the easy-access bakes make up for it. rye-bakery.com RD

Toklas, London

Toklas restaurant, from the team behind Frieze art fair, opened off the Strand at the end of 2021. Its bakery is located a few doors down. The by-the-slice pizzas – crisp-based and topped with finely sliced Jerusalem artichoke and parmesan – are one of the best speed-lunches in the area. From the pastry counter, the laminated buns pumped full of lime curd and buttery custard tarts are the stand-outs. toklaslondon.com Baya Simons 

Pollen Bakery, Manchester

Pollen is a busy sourdough and viennoiserie bakery based by the New Islington Marina. Whether you want to try one of its signature staples, such as the 28-hour sourdough bread, or experiment with a cruffin, be there in good time – they often sell out. The bakery, with its Scandi decor, moss-green terrariums and floor-to-ceiling windows, also doubles as a brunch café with a substantial menu of breakfast sandwiches. The smoked and cured pork bun is a personal favourite. pollenbakery.com Elena Losavio

Live Love Loaf, Leek, Staffordshire 

“The classic white sourdough is our most popular loaf,” says Matthew Booth, a former bank manager in Manchester, who with his wife, Clare, began baking bread as a side hustle. Since opening up shop in their hometown of Leek in 2014, they’ve been regular winners of the Best Regional Bakery award for the Midlands. Selling crusty baguettes and olive and rosemary focaccia, croissants and fresh pizza dough by the kilogram, the bakery also hosts a café and a programme of bread-making courses – which are, adds Booth, “run by my dad!” liveloveloaf.co.uk Victoria Woodcock

Northern Rye, Newcastle upon Tyne

Northern Rye is so beloved by locals that the bakery’s current site – in the artsy Ouseburn Valley – was part-financed through crowdfunding. Its interiors riff on the city’s industrial heritage, but the floury goods are homely and sizably hospitable: gargantuan rye breads and sesame sourdoughs are sold alongside experimental pastries — think Danishes filled with apple crumble or dauphinoise, as well as pistachio and raspberry cruffins. Get there early and be ready to queue: it’s known to sell out. northern-rye.co.uk Grace Cook 

The Flour Pot Bakery, Brighton 

Since opening its first shop in the buzzy North Laine in 2014, The Flour Pot has expanded to become a Brighton institution. The industrial-chic aesthetic of each of the 10 locations is a perfect backdrop to the piled-up loaves in paper bags. The sourdough has a chewy, glazed crust with a slightly charred edge, not unlike a pizza in Naples; pleasing variations include pumpernickel, chocolate and orange brioche, and fruit rye loaf with apricots, walnuts and sultanas. The vegan pain au chocolat more than holds its own in the flaky, pillowy stakes, and you’ll need to get up early for the VLG (very low gluten) loaf, which sells out almost as soon as it hits the shelves. theflourpot.co.uk HB

Landrace Bakery, Bath

For a snack on the go the fennel-studded sausage rolls are a must. To take home there’s a host of different sourdough loaves such as wholemeal porridge bread and the signature country loaf. Weekenders should opt for the Landrace Miche, a wholesome loaf that, thanks to its high proportion of wholemeal flours, should last throughout the week (according to the bakery it’s at its best by day three). landrace.co.uk RD

CRWST, Cardigan 

Behind a cool green-and-glass façade, this is a hotspot of baked goods and local Bay Roasted Coffee. Its signature loaf – the “Torth y Wlad” (country bread) sourdough – is “still produced from the same starter that I made nine years ago”, says drummer and chef Osian Jones, who turned his passion for bread-making into a business in 2016 alongside his wife, Catrin. Today, the repertoire includes yeasted bloomers as well as sourdoughs – all still hand-mixed and shaped, made with organic white flour from Shipton Mill in Gloucestershire – and a range of sweet treats. The bestseller is “definitely the doughnuts”, says Jones, although my nine-year-old recommends the eclairs, filled not with chocolate sauce but with custard. crwst.cymru VW 

Hamblin Bread, Oxford

Hamblin Bread opened in 2018 with the goal of making “the most delicious bread possible with UK grain,” as co-founder Hugo Thurston says. The bakery has since garnered a cult following in the city and beyond: former River Café executive pastry chef Anna Higham recently spent a season learning their ways in preparation for opening her own bakery. Its more elaborate concoctions include Seville orange and saffron tea cakes glazed with Seville orange syrup; haganta plum, ricotta and brown butter crumble-topped buns; and plaited cardamom and cinnamon ones inspired by head-baker Kate’s Swedish aunt. But the treacly, dark-crusted country loaf, made with only stoneground British wheat flour, water and salt, is the standout. hamblinbread.co.uk BS 

Twelve Triangles, Edinburgh

Found in several locations around Edinburgh and the Scottish borders, this bakery takes its name from the triangular sandwiches you bought on platters in quainter times. The difference being that Twelve Triangles sandwiches come in hulking wedges, with local cheeses and hams entombed inside. Rustic sourdoughs resemble boulders on a Hebridean shore; savouries are arrayed next to sticky buns and whorls of cinnamon. These are the kind of baked goods you huddle around on a dreich Scottish day, to fill in the gaps left by the cold. twelvetriangles.co.uk CB-D

Oast, Margate

At the heart of this seaside bakery is a love story: founders Charlotte Keeys and Will Moss met at high school in Canterbury before moving to Edinburgh, where Will cut his teeth at the city’s beloved bakery Twelve Triangles (see above). Now married, the pair opened Oast (named after the kilns that litter the Kent countryside) in 2022, and are already a key component of Margate’s burgeoning food scene; the boutique Fort Road Hotel serves Oast bread. There’s the obligatory (delicious) sourdough as well as classic tinned loaves and gluten-free varieties, topped off with one of the most underrated pastries: the humble Belgian bun. oastmargate.co.uk RD

Baltic Bakehouse, Liverpool 

One of the first new businesses to be set up in Liverpool’s rejuvenated Baltic Triangle, just outside the city centre, Baltic Bakehouse is a great place to spend a laidback morning. Inside the former garage, which retains a lift shaft in the corner, are exposed brick walls and non-matching chairs, shelves laden with loaves, ciabatta and baguettes, and an irresistible pastry counter. Try the French toast – doorstop bread and thick bacon, drizzled in maple syrup – or a glistening pain aux raisins, washed down with steaming hot Hasbean coffee. The signature Baltic Wild sourdough loaves and the cinnamon buns are particularly popular. balticbakehouse.co.uk Laurence Fletcher