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Flour Bakery + Cafe treats
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Where to Find the Best Pastries, Cakes, and Other Sweet Treats in Boston

20 essential local bakeries

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Flour Bakery + Cafe treats
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Bakeries are the perfect destination when you're on the hunt for some sweet treats, fast, and Boston boasts a wealth of options for those in need of a sugar fix. Whether pastries, cookies, or cakes are the order of the day, each neighborhood has an abundance of offerings for the discerning and dessert-loving palate.

From Mike's Pastry and Modern Pastry Shop in the North End to other classic spots like Lyndell's Bakery in Somerville, here are 20 essential bakeries around the Greater Boston area that offer everything from designer cakes and cupcakes to Italian pastries and cookies, not to mention brownies, cinnamon rolls, and more.

For the purposes of this map, we've focused on multi-purpose bakeries that offer a wide range of sweet products; we've skipped places that mainly specialize in a single treat, such as doughnut shops, cupcake shops, and bread-focused bakeries. (Doughnut fans may be interested in this illustrated guide to some of Boston's best doughnuts or this map of good, cheap local doughnut options.)

Dessert lovers: How many of these bakeries have you visited? Did we leave out your favorite place? Rave about your own picks in the comments below.

For more dessert-related stories and maps, check out Eater Boston's Sweets Week 2016 archive.

Note: Map points are ordered alphabetically, not ranked.

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Athan's Bakery

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Athan's Bakery brings European pastries and cafe fare to Boston with a selection of handmade treats, from pound cakes and gelato to baklava, gateaux, and chocolates. There's also a location in Brighton.

Bova's Bakery

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This decades-old bakery in the North End is a family-owned operation open 24 hours a day, a rare schedule in Boston. The bakery has bread, cookies, pastries, tarts, and even sandwiches (aka "spuckies") and pizza.

Cafe Madeleine

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Classic French viennoiserie pour out of this relatively new South End bakery, elegantly finished and quickly devoured. Croissants, cinnamon rolls, muffins, fruit tarts, cookies, brownies, and madeleines abound in this cafe, alongside La Colombe coffee beverages.

Cheryl-Anns' of Brookline

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This is the spot for challah and assorted Jewish pastries. Founded by two sisters (Cheryl and Ann) and their mother, the place has been around since 1985, and its products are available at assorted grocery stores and markets in the area. Breads, cakes, turnovers, and rugelach are all sold at Cheryl-Anns'. Boston-area natives who head out of state for college have been known to request that their parents ship them Cheryl-Anns' challah.

Clear Flour Bread

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If you're not leaving Clear Flour with a chocolate chunk cookie, you're doing it wrong. This bakery is tucked away near Packard's Corner and has a full range of breads, along with decadent pastries from the cookies to the tarts, tea cakes, morning buns, croissants, and much more.

Flour Bakery & Cafe

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This local group of bakeries has a loyal following in Boston, for a good reason. Founder Joanne Chang and her team craft a menu of rich pastries, including the famous sticky buns that you won't want to share but may have to. Other sweet options include cookies and tarts, a Boston cream pie cake, and a line-up of gluten-free desserts as well. There are currently four locations around Boston and Cambridge; three more are set to open in late 2016-early 2017.

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Greenhills Irish Bakery

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This Dorchester bakery churns out plenty of Irish soda bread alongside pies, custom cakes, cupcakes, and eclairs. If that's not enough, there are also Irish biscuit cakes and sponge cakes with strawberry and fresh cream.

Hi-Rise Bread Company

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Say hello to fresh pies, coconut macaroons, baked breads, doughnuts, cupcakes, cookies, meringue pies, and so much more from this Cambridge bakery, which has two locations. Hi-Rise also serves non-sweets, like salads and sandwiches, if you're into that sort of thing.

La Sultana Bakery

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Founded in 1992, this Eastie bakery specializes in Latin American treats, from buñuelos to flan, rolled cakes, croissants, and churros. There are also cupcakes, cookies, and beverages.

Lakota Bakery

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This 25-year-old bakery specializes in butter cookies. In addition to decorated options, there's a hefty list of other cookie varieties, including florentines, shortbreads, sandwich cookies, linzers, and much more. There are also flourless, nut-free, and egg-free options available. And there are cakes.

Lulu's Sweet Shoppe

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Lulu's has a cupcake menu longer than the street it sits on: everything from red velvet to chocolate peanut butter to blueberry cheesecake can be found inside the display cases at this shop, which recently relocated to Parmenter Street from its previous location around the corner. Lulu's also has house-made ice cream and assorted candies available.

Lyndell's Bakery

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Dating back to 1887, Lyndell's is a storied baked goods provider in Greater Boston. It specializes in everything from cupcakes to Italian pastries, black and white cookies, eclairs, breads, pies, cookies, and more.

Maria's Pastry Shop

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This Italian bakery fills the North End with cannoli, baba rum cakes, lobster tails, marzipan, and so much more. Family-run since 1982, Maria's also offers seasonal specialties, including Thanksgiving pies, Easter pastries, and Osse di Morti for All Soul's Day.

Mike's Pastry

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While best-known for its cannoli, Mike's is also well-known for the bitter debate that wages among Boston residents over whether they are "Mike's people" or "Modern people." The two bakeries sit on opposite sides of Hanover street, and Mike's churns out piles and piles of cannoli, lobster tails, cream puffs, biscotti, gelato, marzipan, and more. Mike's expanded to Cambridge's Harvard Square in 2014 and will expand to Somerville's Assembly Row in 2017.

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Modern Pastry Shop

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The other half of the Mike's/Modern debate, Modern also has cannoli, lobster tails, cakes, chocolates, cookies, and pizzelles, along with coffee beverages and other Italian treats. There's also a bar and restaurant downstairs.

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Oakleaf Cakes Bake Shop

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As the name implies, this spot specializes in cakes, in all forms. There are customizable cakes, sculpted options, designer cakes, and gourmet buttercream options, thickly frosted. Oakleaf also has cookies, muffins, brownies, and specialty house-made pop tarts.

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Royal Pastry Shop

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This Italian pastry shop first opened in 1942 and serves pastries, cakes, cookies, and special occasion cakes that are customizable. There are two locations, one in East Cambridge and one in Lexington.

Sofra Bakery & Cafe

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All manner of foods inspired by the cuisine of Turkey, Lebanon, and Greece can be found at Sofra, including plenty of sweet pastries. With multiple kinds of baklava, pies, turnovers, tarts, and doughnuts, there's something to satisfy every taste.

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Sweet 'n Nasty

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If themed erotic cakes are the order of the day, Sweet 'n Nasty is ready to deliver. This recognizable bakery in Back Bay has been around for more than 30 years, producing naughty cakes, cupcakes, and chocolates that are sold alongside party supplies, toys, and more.

Tatte Bakery & Cafe

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Another locally-grown bakery and cafe, Tatte offers fine European-style pastries, cookies, pain au chocolat, kouign amann, croissants, brioche, and so much more. With a newly opened cafe in Harvard Square and a handful of others around the city, Tatte bakes pastries and breads fresh daily and serves a range of coffee beverages along with cafe fare and weekend brunch.

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Athan's Bakery

Athan's Bakery brings European pastries and cafe fare to Boston with a selection of handmade treats, from pound cakes and gelato to baklava, gateaux, and chocolates. There's also a location in Brighton.

Bova's Bakery

This decades-old bakery in the North End is a family-owned operation open 24 hours a day, a rare schedule in Boston. The bakery has bread, cookies, pastries, tarts, and even sandwiches (aka "spuckies") and pizza.

Cafe Madeleine

Classic French viennoiserie pour out of this relatively new South End bakery, elegantly finished and quickly devoured. Croissants, cinnamon rolls, muffins, fruit tarts, cookies, brownies, and madeleines abound in this cafe, alongside La Colombe coffee beverages.

Cheryl-Anns' of Brookline

This is the spot for challah and assorted Jewish pastries. Founded by two sisters (Cheryl and Ann) and their mother, the place has been around since 1985, and its products are available at assorted grocery stores and markets in the area. Breads, cakes, turnovers, and rugelach are all sold at Cheryl-Anns'. Boston-area natives who head out of state for college have been known to request that their parents ship them Cheryl-Anns' challah.

Clear Flour Bread

If you're not leaving Clear Flour with a chocolate chunk cookie, you're doing it wrong. This bakery is tucked away near Packard's Corner and has a full range of breads, along with decadent pastries from the cookies to the tarts, tea cakes, morning buns, croissants, and much more.

Flour Bakery & Cafe

This local group of bakeries has a loyal following in Boston, for a good reason. Founder Joanne Chang and her team craft a menu of rich pastries, including the famous sticky buns that you won't want to share but may have to. Other sweet options include cookies and tarts, a Boston cream pie cake, and a line-up of gluten-free desserts as well. There are currently four locations around Boston and Cambridge; three more are set to open in late 2016-early 2017.

Facebook

Greenhills Irish Bakery

This Dorchester bakery churns out plenty of Irish soda bread alongside pies, custom cakes, cupcakes, and eclairs. If that's not enough, there are also Irish biscuit cakes and sponge cakes with strawberry and fresh cream.

Hi-Rise Bread Company

Say hello to fresh pies, coconut macaroons, baked breads, doughnuts, cupcakes, cookies, meringue pies, and so much more from this Cambridge bakery, which has two locations. Hi-Rise also serves non-sweets, like salads and sandwiches, if you're into that sort of thing.

La Sultana Bakery

Founded in 1992, this Eastie bakery specializes in Latin American treats, from buñuelos to flan, rolled cakes, croissants, and churros. There are also cupcakes, cookies, and beverages.

Lakota Bakery

This 25-year-old bakery specializes in butter cookies. In addition to decorated options, there's a hefty list of other cookie varieties, including florentines, shortbreads, sandwich cookies, linzers, and much more. There are also flourless, nut-free, and egg-free options available. And there are cakes.

Lulu's Sweet Shoppe

Lulu's has a cupcake menu longer than the street it sits on: everything from red velvet to chocolate peanut butter to blueberry cheesecake can be found inside the display cases at this shop, which recently relocated to Parmenter Street from its previous location around the corner. Lulu's also has house-made ice cream and assorted candies available.

Lyndell's Bakery

Dating back to 1887, Lyndell's is a storied baked goods provider in Greater Boston. It specializes in everything from cupcakes to Italian pastries, black and white cookies, eclairs, breads, pies, cookies, and more.

Maria's Pastry Shop

This Italian bakery fills the North End with cannoli, baba rum cakes, lobster tails, marzipan, and so much more. Family-run since 1982, Maria's also offers seasonal specialties, including Thanksgiving pies, Easter pastries, and Osse di Morti for All Soul's Day.

Mike's Pastry

While best-known for its cannoli, Mike's is also well-known for the bitter debate that wages among Boston residents over whether they are "Mike's people" or "Modern people." The two bakeries sit on opposite sides of Hanover street, and Mike's churns out piles and piles of cannoli, lobster tails, cream puffs, biscotti, gelato, marzipan, and more. Mike's expanded to Cambridge's Harvard Square in 2014 and will expand to Somerville's Assembly Row in 2017.

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Modern Pastry Shop

The other half of the Mike's/Modern debate, Modern also has cannoli, lobster tails, cakes, chocolates, cookies, and pizzelles, along with coffee beverages and other Italian treats. There's also a bar and restaurant downstairs.

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Related Maps

Oakleaf Cakes Bake Shop

As the name implies, this spot specializes in cakes, in all forms. There are customizable cakes, sculpted options, designer cakes, and gourmet buttercream options, thickly frosted. Oakleaf also has cookies, muffins, brownies, and specialty house-made pop tarts.

Official Site

Royal Pastry Shop

This Italian pastry shop first opened in 1942 and serves pastries, cakes, cookies, and special occasion cakes that are customizable. There are two locations, one in East Cambridge and one in Lexington.