Guide to the best bakeries in London

E5 Bakehouse has two branches in East London and focuses on organic artisan baking. Community and ethics are at its heart, with products made from heritage wheats and locally-sourced ingredients. There are breads, pastries, brownies, and cookies on offer, and you can also participate in sourdough or pizza-making masterclasses here.

This beloved establishment on Church Street consistently draws a crowd thanks to its five different sourdough varieties and selection of baked goods (its carrot cake, in particular, is a standout). You can't overlook its eye-catching bright orange exterior, and inside, they offer a rotating selection of snacks, including sandwiches, rolls, and baked treats that vary with the seasons. Conveniently located right next to the stunning Clissold Park, it's the perfect spot to grab a coffee and a slice of their mouthwatering carrot cake before heading over for a picnic in Stokey style.

Sample Japanese baking at Happy Sky Bakery in West London. Quality ingredients and zero preservatives are used to produce fresh bakes, with methods adapted daily to respond to conditions like temperature and humidity. Visit the smart bakery for shokupan bread and Japanese pastries, available to eat in or take away.

Rated as one of the best bakeries in the whole country, Arôme Bakery crafts unique fusion bakes using classic French methods with authentic Asian ingredients. Sweet and savoury bakes are available here - expect a wide variety of sweet and savoury pastries, quiche, and shokupan bread. Eat in the cosy and on-trend space, or get a takeaway.

Pophams originally aimed to put a new spin on traditional viennoiserie baking, but continued evolving once it found success. The delicious goods at this artisan bakery have punters queuing up every morning and include classic croissants and pains au chocolat, as well as more daring pastries that even incorporate Marmite and sauerkraut.

The Little Bread Pedlar is a highly-rated bakery with numerous locations around the city. The spaces have a cosy and traditional vibe. This bakery concentrates on bread and pastries, always meticulously prepared. As well as buying delicious fresh bakes, you can get merchandise, English preserves and honey, and sourdough starter for your home baking at these spots.

Euphorium is a well-established bakery with branches throughout the city. Each bakery's offering is tailored to the needs of the local community but there's always a selection of pastries, sourdough loaves, and cake. You can also buy brunch dishes, porridge, and filled brioche buns to eat in or take away.

Started during lockdown as a neighbourhood delivery bakery, Buns From Home boasts nationwide delivery and numerous London shops just a couple of years later. The secret to its swift ascent is butter from Normandy, used to laminate the cinnamon, cardamom, tiramisu and other hand-rolled buns. This provides them with unique croissant-style flakiness.

Brigit’s Bakery is a bakery and café in Covent Garden. Lots of sweet treats get baked here including scones, macarons, and cupcakes. Sit in the café to enjoy brunch or lunch dishes or indulge in your favourite baked treats with afternoon tea, either in the café or on-board a converted double decker!

In Upper Street you'll find Benita Bakery, a modern and welcoming bakery and café. Freshly-baked products are available each day including bread, pastries, and cakes. When you want lunch, pizza slices, sandwiches, and quiche are available to eat in or take away, with every sandwich using the bakery's quality fresh bread.

Located in Walthamstow, Suba Bakery is an intimate artisanal bakehouse that provides wholesale options as well. Led by the skilled Pa Modou, they employ traditional baking techniques to craft a diverse range of pastries inspired by African, European, and Asian flavours, including sourdough breads, everything croissants, and pains au mango. Enjoy a cup of coffee and watch the magic unfold behind their expansive storefront window.

First opened in 2004, The Hummingbird Bakery now boasts multiple London sites. This place specialises in sweet American-style cupcakes and is particularly well known for its Red Velvet recipe. You'll also find cookies, cheesecake, pies, and brownies on offer for a taste of America. Vegan and gluten-free alternatives are available as well.

Sunflour Bakery has become a North London favourite for traditional baking with quality ingredients, with 30 years of baking experience. There's a variety of classic breads, as well as a broad selection of sweet and savoury baked goods like sausage rolls and pies. You can also enjoy hot food in the café.

Humble hole-in-the-wall bakery Ararat Bread specialises in soft naan breads that are great with a curry or as a satisfying snack. You can expect traditional recipes here. Buy plain breads to take home or get one served hot and laden with meat, cheese, garlic, or a fried egg for convenient comfort food.

The Dusty Knuckle Bakery has two branches and offers employment opportunities for at-risk youth. Expect fresh pastries, bread, and even pizza on certain nights of the week. Dine in at the café if you like the sound of loaded sourdough sandwiches, comforting soup, and flakey pastries for when you need a quick pick-me-up.

Chatsworth Bakehouse started life in lockdown and has grown into a thriving and in-demand local bakery. The weekly offering of bread, pizza, and sweet treats changes often so there's always something new to try. This bakery is also well-known for its sandwiches, which are touted as being some of the best you can get in the city.

24-hour bagel bakery Beigel Bake has an infamous rivalry with another shop in Brick Lane. This places satisfies your bagel needs at any time - choose from plain bagels or options stuffed with salt beef, salami, or hummus for a tasty snack. Bagel and pastry platters are sold here too.

Baban's Naan bakes a range of naan breads in various flavours that are great for a lunch or snack. Buy plain breads to take home with you or have one topped with cheese, chilli, or meat. If you're really hungry, choose a pillowy naan bread wrapped around a tasty filling like falafel.

For a French bakery experience without hopping on the Eurostar, Londoners head to Aux Pains de Papy. This compact bakery uses traditional methods to craft croissants, pastries, and continental sweet treats. Sandwiches are also available for lunch. There’s a limited amount of seating so most diners grab their snacks to go.

Bageriet is London's leading Swedish bakery, specialising in classic Scandinavian recipes. Enjoy traditional breads, including the unique lingonberry loaf, as well as classic cakes, pastries, and biscuits. For special occasions you can really go to town with a smörgåstårta - a unique sandwich cake that's a stalwart in Sweden.

The thoroughly modern Weirdough Bakery is proving to be a big hit in Walthamstow. You can enjoy warm service and a great atmosphere in addition to the high quality bakes on the menu. There's fresh bread, muffins, pastries, and pizza, plus delicious coffee. Take your goods home or eat in.

Riverside baking school and patisserie Cake Boy creates sophisticated cakes with fine ingredients. This is a destination for cheesecake, tortes, and cupcakes available in a variety of exciting flavours. Celebration cakes are available from Cake Boy too. You can also learn the secrets of baking for yourself by joining a masterclass here.

For all-natural sweet treats in London there's Cutter & Squidge. This modern bakery is family-run and has a tea room in Soho. Biskies, cupcakes, cookies, and brownies are available in a choice of different flavours, and plant-based diners can find plenty of vegan options on the menu. Cutter & Squidge also do afternoon tea.

Layla Bakery has a clear passion for sourdough, crafting its loaves using wild grains and traditional methods. Pastries and treats like sausage rolls are also made here and you can buy sandwiches and hot drinks. A cheese toastie or focaccia sandwich from Layla Bakery is an ideal West London lunch.

Bread and Macaroon specialises in bread, cakes, and pastries, all made with traditional methods. You can order a birthday cake here crafted by expert French pastry chefs. The menu features individual and large tarts, sausage rolls, croissants, and focaccia bread. A selection of fresh sandwiches is available here too.

At The Lily Vanilli Bakery you'll find in-demand seasonal cakes and baked treats. Cakes, pastries, brownies, and the bakery's famed sausage rolls are all available, with vegan and gluten-free options on Sundays. You can also order wedding and celebration cakes here. The menu changes weekly so there's always something different to discover.

You can discover the flavours of Japanese baking at Tetote Factory. This modest bakery prepares sweet and savoury items, including fresh rolls and baguettes. If you have a sweet tooth, there's melon pan or green tea brioche. Lots of savoury snacks are on offer like curry pan and meat or veg-filled pastries.

Wood Street Bakery began during the 2020 lockdown and now has a permanent home in Walthamstow. This proudly-local café and bakery works closely with independent UK suppliers and sells fresh pastries and cakes. In the café, enjoy a daily-changing menu of sandwiches, filled savoury croissants, and quiche, or go for afternoon tea.

Charles Artisan Bread is dedicated to bringing quality artisan loaves to Londoners. This bakery uses organic and local ingredients and bakes in small batches so the focus remains on quality. Expect a simple range of loaves, baguettes, and focaccias, as well as croissants, brownies, and pastries, including vegan-friendly recipes.

Honey & Co. Daily is an all-day spin-off of beloved Middle Eastern mainstay Honey & Co., an acclaimed icon on London's dining scene for years. This branch is aimed squarely at those who always order more bread and find mopping up dips with a piece of bread the highlight of any meal, as it's all about the baked goods here. The pastries and sweet treats are top notch as well - after all, Honey & Co. made its name thanks also to a legendary feta and honey cheesecake.

Head to Toad Bakery to experience lively baking innovations. This place is grabbing attention for its exciting spins on bakery classics. You can expect the familiar pastries and loaves but check out the bakery's test kitchen - you'll find experimental recipes like strawberry and elderflowers croissants or bear claws with chipotle beef.

Dunn's Bakery has been trading in Crouch End since 1946, with a history going back to 1820. Every day they bake a tempting range of bread, cream cakes, and items like sausage rolls. You can also buy freshly-made sandwiches here. Added to that, Dunn's Bakery offers catering and wedding and celebration cakes.

The cakes from Fortitude Bakehouse are unique - they're made with sourdough. The menu includes a variety of unique flavours such as espresso and vanilla or boiled orange and almond, with what's available changing frequently. You can also buy hot drinks and snacks like savoury tartlets or sausage rolls to take away.

Violet is the brainchild of Claire Ptak, who baked Prince Harry's wedding cake. This understated bakery and café specialises in organic and seasonal bakes including cakes and cupcakes, cookies, and macaroons. The on-site café also serves savoury food - choose from generously-filled toasties, quiche with salad, or something on toast for lunch.

Patisserie Sainte Anne operated in Paris for 20 years and now welcomes in Londoners with its colourful exterior and vibrant yellow interior. This is the place for traditional French breads, pastries, and sweets. French-inspired sandwiches are on the menu too, with options available for vegetarian and vegan diners.

Miel Bakery has a French influence and aims to build a community around baking. The regularly-changing menu includes sourdough bread, pastries, cookies, and madeleines, and catering orders are welcome. Regular baking classes, including private workshops, take place here so you can learn all the tricks of the trade.

The Fabrique bakeries are a big hit in their native Sweden, with Stockholmers taking a shine to their sourdough bread and artisanal pastries, baked in stone ovens using fresh ingredients and traditional techniques. They can be found at several locations around London as well, offering their signature Swedish cinnamon buns in snug café-style venues where you can enjoy a cup of coffee as well.

Around the corner from its parent café and eatery, Kuro Bakery displays an array of baked goods in a simple counter, with freshly baked bread stacked up enticingly in the background. The goodies on offer includes buttery savoury croissants and delicate sweet treats, for example the meticulously rolled Japanese Sakura pastries with a rich custard filling.

A recent arrival, Birley Bakery in Chelsea is a contemporary take on a classic French boulangerie, enchanting passers-by not just with its inviting counter, stacked full of pastries and cakes, but also its fairy-tale interior influenced by the 19th century Japonisme movement. Beneath a ceiling painted to look like the sky, hand-painted murals adorn the walls, with lanterns casting a magical glow over everything. You can treat yourself to freshly baked breads, beautiful cakes, chocolate assortments and more here.

Helen Evans, who was the head baker at the now-closed Flor bakery, has started her own venture, Eric's Bakery, in East Dulwich. She offers baked goods made from UK-grown, organic wheat, including sourdough breads, focaccias, croissants, doughnuts and other treats. Additionally, the bakery hosts various workshops and events such as pie making and lamination classes.

Acclaimed chef Alexis Gauthier expanded his plant-based fine dining revolution with a pair of eateries at the BFI Stephen Street building. 123V Bakery operates as a café serving plant-based pastries and sandwiches, along with coffee, breads, and a bottomless salad station.

Effortlessly cool Jolene has several branches across North and East London, some specialising in fresh bakes whilst others also serving as hip neighbourhood eateries. At every location, you can get hold of fresh bakes made with regenerative grains – expect bread, pastries, and cakes amongst the options. Daily sandwiches are served, too.

Toklas Café and Bakery is a deli and bakery that's part of the well-regarded Toklas restaurant. In this breezy and bustling space, you can shop for kitchenware, global cooking ingredients, and an evolving range of fresh bread and pastries. If you're feeling peckish, you can grab a sandwich here, too.

Bermondsey bakery Alma mills and bakes using wheat from sustainable growers. This railway arch bakery has a vibrant feel. Head over on a Saturday to buy top-quality fresh loaves or a freshly baked baguette loaded with mouthwatering ingredients like ham and cheddar. Sweet pastries are served, too.

Sourdough Sophia, an acclaimed micro-bakery, was established in London amidst the lockdown. With support from the local community and a commitment to using flour produced through regenerative methods, it has rapidly gained a great reputation for its range of sourdough breads, pastries, cakes, sandwiches, and more. Sourdough Sophia also provides a variety of workshops and online courses for enthusiasts eager to learn the intricacies of sourdough baking.