The bakery rankings Merseyside didn’t ask for

There’s nothing better than the rich, deep, slightly nutty smell of rising yeast, toasted crust and melting butter upon entering a bakery… unless you can stick the food on expenses, too. But there’s purpose behind our profligacy: a substantial batch of independent, artisan or specialist bakeries have sprung up around Merseyside over the last few years.

This isn’t exactly unprecedented — Liverpool and flour have a long history. After the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846, Liverpool’s port became a key destination for cheap North American wheat. But fast-forward to the present day, and bakers have fallen on harder times. Sayers has all but disappeared from their Merseyside home; then there’s Crosby’s beloved Satterthwaites closing down after generations of the family-run bakers keeping customers happy to the north of the city — only for it to be re-launched, in name at least, by new owners. So it’s been heartening to see a surge of independent bakeries, many of which were set up during the pandemic.

This pastry-naissance demands our attention — so we set out to rate and rank the nine best bakeries across Merseyside. Agree, disagree or want to hunt us down and tear us up like focaccia because we omitted your favourite? You’ll find us in the comments.

9. Bonbon Bakery

“We’ve been here, wha’, 13 years and you’ve never popped in!?” Janice Zhen gently chides in faux-outraged scouse. Right on Chinatown's precipice, Berry Street's Bonbon lends some much-needed East Asian variety to the city’s bakes, with more melon cakes and bean pastries than you could shake a coconut paste bun at. 

A lotus paste cake, a coconut cream bun and a walnut biscuit hopefully begin to rectify my past negligence. Like a lot of Chinese baking, they are sweet, light and fluffy — maybe a little too much for my tastes, which is the only reason Bonbon isn’t higher.

8. S0lobread

S0lobread started life in former chef and founder Harry Doherty’s garage in 2023. While we’re loathe to cite another publication’s list (what is this, Muffinception?), there’s a reason they made the Good Food Guide’s 2026 top 50 bakeries in the UK. For one thing, all their bread is made with organic stoneground flour: more nutritious and aromatic than the roller-milled variety. Head to their Bebington Road site for a medialuna — an Argentine croissant, but so honey-soaked and enriched with butter that it makes your average Parisian pastry taste like a piece of overdone Kingsmill toast by comparison. Alternatively, try the porridge loaf — a rustic cob with oats tenderly folded into its bready flesh. 

7. Tuile

Maybe it’s the helpful staff or the layout with the busy on-site bakers at the back, but West Kirby's Tuile reminds me of Mon Petit Chou. (More on them later.) Although it can’t boast quite the continental variety of Aigburth’s finest, Tuile's more familiar fare of croissants and sausage rolls make up for that with the elaborate care with which they were clearly made. 

“My mum absolutely loves these,” front-of-house Katie says, plying me with a pecan and maple plait. It’s the right combination of crispy and moist, and the sausage roll is a veritable battering ram of puff pastry and pork. Tuile has been a Banks Road favourite since it opened three years ago — here’s to many more.

6. The Wild Loaf
Words by Abi Whistance

Away from the hustle and bustle of town and the queues of Lark Lane, the Wild Loaf on Sefton Street has a great selection of sourdough loaves, all made with organic and stoneground Yorkshire flour. On the sweeter side of things, we’d recommend the vanilla and blackcurrant puff, the chocolate and hazelnut bear claw (which looks sickly, but is actually filled with a light creme) and a French almond and jam pastry called a Bostock. All are roughly £4.80, which, while pricey, isn’t too dissimilar from what you’d pay at Lunko or Pastille. 

The Bostock is the standout here. Like a fancy almond bake, the pastry is soft and squishy, the toasted almonds on top crunchy, with a generous layer of raspberry jam running through the middle.