Bakeries are my favorite places to visit in the whole world. Nothing can compare to walking into a bakery and being wrapped up in the warm, cozy smells of whatever baked good just came out of the oven. As a carb-and-dessert lover, I’ve done plenty of research on which bakeries are worth visiting. Here are the bakeries in SLO you should check out ASAP!
- Madonna Inn Bakery
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Madonna Inn Bakery’s cakes are legendary. One slice of a Madonna Inn cake will change a bad day into a good one and a good day into an even better one. These cakes are made up of layers of fluffy, airy cake with smooth frosting that is sweet, but not too sweet. They have eight signature flavors, but their most popular (and my favorite) is their Pink Champagne cake.
A slice of cake costs about $8.95, but they are big enough to share with a friend!
- Seabreeze Cupcakes and Treats
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If you prefer cupcakes to cake, then you should head to Seabreeze Cupcakes! This bakery has moved into a store front at the Creamery Marketplace, the same plaza in downtown SLO where Nite Creamery is. They sell a variety of cupcake flavors in shop, such as lemon and birthday cake. They also sell tasty treats like gluten-free brownies. My advice? Get some of their chocolate cookie dough cupcakes; they are life-changing.
Prices for cupcakes and treats range from about $2.00 to $3.25.
- SloDoCo
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This trendy bakery sells donuts 24/7 and is located fairly close to campus. They even offer vegan and gluten-free options, which means that there’s something here for everyone!
While they offer all the traditional flavors you know and love, SloDoCo specializes in trendy donuts with exciting new flavors you’ve probably never seen before (like their marshmallow galaxy donut). They also create new seasonal specials every month, so you will always find something new to try.
If you really love SloDoCo’s donuts, you can request custom donuts online; your donuts can be personalized with cute messages like, “Happy birthday!” or “Good luck on finals!”
Their prices range from around $1.25 to $2.75 (with the exception of their speciality donuts), so what’s stopping you from heading over right now?
- Brown Butter Cookie Company
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Located right off the beaches of Cayucos, this bakery is known for its delicious cookies. Their original cookie — a hand-rolled, crumbly brown butter cookie sprinkled with sea salt — is the perfect balance of salty and sweet. It’s hard to not want to eat as many as you possibly can in one sitting.
Also, they offer a variety of brown butter cookies in flavors like cinnamon, espresso, and almond. The best part…you can ask to sample as many flavors as you’d like right there in the shop!
A pack of three brown butter cookies range from around $3.25 to $3.75.
- Pagnol @ Third Street Bakery
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This bakery is in Los Osos, but their crusty-on-the-outside but soft-on-the-inside bread is 100 percent worth the drive there. The bakers at Pagnol go to great lengths to make quality loaves of artisanal bread: milling fresh flour, using wild yeast, and proofing dough for 36 hours. Their bread comes in different flavors (garlic-cheddar and sourdough rye) and shapes (torpedo-shaped Pain Au Levains or round Sonora Loafs). If you have a sweet tooth, you can try some of their pastries as well, like their sourdough chocolate chip cookies.
But trust me, you won’t regret buying a loaf of Pagnol bread. In fact, you’ll probably wish you had done so sooner.
Bread ranges from about $6 to $9, and pastries ranges from about $2.75 to $5.
The next time you need a break from school, grab a friend and head to a bakery to pick up something delicious that will soothe your worries (if only for a little bit). With this list of local bakeries, you’ll be set no matter what type of baked good you’re craving.