It’s the simple things in life that can make all the difference to your day. And when it comes to the perfect weekend breakfast, this means a freshly baked sourdough loaf, golden brown with a bubbled crust and pillowy soft inside, crying out to be topped with a thick layer of butter.
Here are 10 city bakeries across Scotland where you’re guaranteed to find a top-notch sourdough, and some sweet treats for good measure.
Read More: 10 of the best garden centre cafes in Scotland
Big Bear Bakery
54 Sinclair Drive/21 Dowanhill Street, Glasgow
Big Bear Bakery is a family-run business that’s been on the scene since 2007, when founder Ian Pediani started out in wholesale supplying cafes and restaurants across Scotland.
The queues for their Sinclair Drive shop are known to snake down the street of a weekend, but once you arrive at the front to take in their selection of freshly baked breads and supersized pastries, there’s no questioning it’s worth the wait.
Vera Artisan Bakery & Kitchen
26-28 Barnton Street, Stirling
This artisan bakery in the heart of Stirling city centre has been recognised at the Scottish Bread Championships with a bronze award for its black-tinted charcoal sourdough, as well as bagging the title of Best Bakery in Scotland in both 2022 and 2023.
Talented bakers use ‘long-fermenting traditional methods’ and claim that the secret to a great loaf is simply “time and a little bit of patience”.
Archipelago Bakery
39 Dundas Street, Edinburgh
The team at Archipelago are ‘huge fans of sourdough’ and on a regular basis have an incredible selection of up to 12 different varieties on offer at their city centre bakery.
Whether it’s walnut and raisin, tomato and rosemary or a hearty wholemeal, each loaf is ‘100% pure’, meaning there is no added yeast and they are leavened entirely from wild yeast and bacteria.
Deanston Bakery
167 Deanston Drive, Glasgow
It’s a tiny little spot just off the main thoroughfare of Pollokshaws Road in Shawlands, but the Deanston Bakery team work hard to keep their shelves stacked with bagels, baguettes and of course plenty of freshly prepared sourdough loaves.
If you fancy a challenge, try leaving without adding a sugar-dusted cinnamon bun to your order. It’s almost impossible.
Bandit Bakery
51H Rose Street, Aberdeen
Plant-based pastry fans will be glad to hear that plenty of vegan options are available at this Aberdeen-based bakery.
They are known to experiment with different flavours and flours for their sourdough loaves, although when it comes to bread it’s a slow prove focaccia finished with Blackthorn Scottish Sea salt that is their best seller. Why not try both?
The Newport Bakery
54 West Port, Dundee
The Newport Bakery from chef Jamie Scott has locations across Dundee, St Andrews, Newport-On-Tay and Arbroath.
At each of the shops, you’ll find a selection of handmade Danish-style pastries, viennoiserie and long-proven sourdough, as well as baristas serving Sacred Grounds coffee to jump-start a lazy morning.
The Bakery
72 Tomnahurich Street, Inverness
First established in 2012, this family-run bakery has become known as one of the best spots in town for a huge variety of sourdough breads and dainty bakes.
Making sure you’re fully kitted out for weekend breakfasts; they also offer a deli and dairy section showcasing leading Scottish producers from Connage cheese to Stornoway black pudding.
Cottonrake Bakery
497 Great Western Road, Glasgow
Often referred to as a Glasgow institution, and rightfully so, the Cottonrake Bakery has been creating some of the city’s best baked goods for over a decade.
If you’re craving a sourdough sandwich, but really want to leave all of the hard work to someone else, venture just a little further down the road in search of the Cottonrake Café for grilled Gruyere and ma-ture cheddar toasties or sesame seed ciabattas stuffed with bacon from Ramsay’s of Carluke.
Casella & Polegato
40 George Street, Perth
This traditional bakery in Perth is serious about the art of creating the perfect sourdough, using hand-crafted ‘mother dough’ and organic flours before allowing soon-to-be loaves at least 24 hours to rest before baking.
The process is carefully supervised by Italian-born master baker Denis Casella, who claims to have ‘grown up dusted with flour’ amongst a family of skilled bread makers.
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