There has been a silent bread revolution happening in Copenhagen over the last couple of years – a bakery boom, if you will – which intensified in 2018 with four new grand openings. Some call it the third wave of bakeries, probably with reference to what has happened in the specialty coffee industry. What’s even more unique is that, for the first time ever, people in the Nordics are actually queuing up to get their hands on freshly baked bread and sweet pastries. While lining up for food may be normal many places in Asia and the U.S., it’s not something we see much of here in Scandinavia (partly due to the cold weather, which makes it a nightmare in the autumn and winter months). During the Corona lockdown when bakeries were some of the few places that still could be open for take-away, their popularity intensified – and the city saw even more openings.
All over the city, new bakeries have popped up – each with a specialty of their own. Østerbro has Juno the Bakery, Nørrebro is home to a slew of great bakeries (Bageriet Benji, Collective Bakery, Andersen & Maillard, Mirabelle, Rondo, and Bageriet B), and Bageriet Brød is found in Vesterbro. Frederiksberg just added Hart Bageri, Amager has Alice, and Refshaleøen sports Lille Bakery. You simply cannot travel to the Danish capital without paying a visit to at least a few of these spots.
Looking for more great spots for food and drinks in the Danish capital? Check out our city map of Copenhagen!
The Best Bakeries in Copenhagen
The top three bakeries in our guide are in a league of their own. Each of them has their own style and has perfected certain pastries, taking them to a new level that we’ve never experienced anywhere else. We’d venture to say these bakeries are among the best in the world.
Juno the Bakery
Our favorite pastry in the world is not found in Paris, the viennoiserie capital, but in Copenhagen, at Juno the Bakery. Swedish-born baker Emil Glaser, a former Noma chef, has perfected the art of pastry – Juno’s croissants are buttery, laminated things of beauty. But perhaps their most impressive treat is the kardemummabulla – a traditional Swedish pastry that is typically dense and heavy, but here is transformed into a light and airy miracle of a cardamom bun. It’s fluffy and buttery and oozing with cardamom and sugar, but not in a syrupy sweet way. The best part? Juno bakes their buns all day long, so they never sell out, and they’re pretty much guaranteed to be warm and fresh from the oven. Juno’s almond croissant must be tried as well (it’s simply the best we’ve ever had), and the sourdough bread is also one of our favorites in town. We’d be lying if we said Juno wasn’t a huge factor in our decision to move to Copenhagen. Pro tip: If the line is too long outside Juno, they also have another café around the corner, At the Counter, which has some of the same pastries for sale (and a few exclusive to the location).
JUNO THE BAKERY Address & Contact Information Århusgade 48, Østerbro, Copenhagen, Denmark Instagram Facebook
Alice
Despite having been open since 2017, Alice has remained a bit of a hidden gem in the Copenhagen food scene. Noma alum Anders Lorenz started making small-batch, artisanal ice cream at his cozy Amager shop, but when the winter season came he decided to start making pastries. Although he had no training or experience with baking, he managed to craft the most perfect butter croissant we have ever tasted. And we’re not the only ones who think so – last year, Alice won the “City’s Best Croissant” in a blind taste test. The croissants are extremely moist on the inside, with a crunchy exterior made of many thin layers. Alice also makes cinnamon rolls using croissant scraps, and twice-baked almond croissants if there happen to be leftover croissants from the day before. Don’t miss the brunsviger (a sinful brown sugar, coffee cake-like pastry made with croissant scraps and a hint of orange zest) or the cardamom swirl. Their fastelavnsbolle was one of the top scorers in our 2021 Semla + Fastelavnsbolle Guide.
ALICE Address & Contact Information Markmandsgade 1, Amager, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram
Bageriet Benji
In the summer of 2021, a slew of new bakeries opened in Nørrebro, all within about a kilometer of each other. (Ah, the post-lockdown bakery baby boom!) One of these new additions was Bageriet Benji, from Noma alumni Rasmus Kristensen. Benji serves exceptional sourdough bread and incredible pastries. One of our favorites is the vanilla spandauer, which is speckled with Mette Ravn vanilla – it tastes like biting into a crème brûlée. In the fall, they also offer a seasonal twist, a pumpkin spice spandauer, which tastes like pumpkin pie. The lamination here is impeccable, layer after layer of buttery perfection. The last must-order treat here is the kartoffelsnurre, a twist on the Danish kanelsnurre, that substitutes savory ingredients like potatoes, cheese, and garlic butter in place of the traditional cinnamon or cardamom-stuffed bun.
BAGERIET BENJI Address & Contact Information Fælledvej 23, Nørrebro, Copenhagen, Denmark Instagram
Other Great Spots For Pastries & Sourdough Bread
Once you’ve tried our favorite bakeries in the city, you should check out these other great shops which also do really good pastries and/or sourdough bread.
Hart Bageri
Richard Hart, formerly of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, joined forces with René Redzepi of Noma to open a sourdough bakery in Copenhagen. In addition to the bread at Hart Bageri, they also serve a variety of incredible pastries that change seasonally. Our absolute favorite is the “cardamom bun,” which is made using leftover croissant scraps and lots of extra butter, so it caramelizes like a kouign amman. Another delectable pastry is the drømmekage, a twice-baked “dream cake” croissant with coconut, brown sugar, and caramel. Hart Bageri also serves international dessert favorites like American doughnuts, a Basque cheesecake, Italian panettone for Christmas, and Danish kransekage for New Year’s Eve.
HART BAGERI Address & Contact Information Gamle Kongevej 109, Vesterbro, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram Facebook
Lille Bakery
Situated in Refshaleøen – undoubtedly the hottest neighborhood in town at the moment – is Lille Bakery. When you see the surrounding area and building, you might ponder about the strange choice of location. That’s before you realize the closest neighbors are restaurant Amass, restaurant Noma, La Banchina, Reffen (Copenhagen Street Food), and Copenhagen’s newest two Michelin-starred restaurant, Alchemist. Lille Bakery is a great place to have breakfast or early brunch, and you wanna get here early before they sell out of their famed sausage rolls. Don’t miss the Berliner doughnut or their take on a cardamom bun – buttery pastry swirled into a roll and covered in cardamom sugar. Their brioche bread with mascarpone and pickled plums reminds us of Sqirl in Los Angeles, and their whole wheat sourdough bread is one of our favorite loaves in town.
LILLE BAKERY Address & Contact Information Refshalevej 213A, Refshaleøen, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram Facebook
Andersen Bakery
Andersen Bakery is a spot that tends to fly a bit under-the-radar in the Copenhagen bakery scene, but this Japanese / Nordic bakery in Islands Brygge took the number one spot in our 2021 Semla + Fastelavnsbolle Guide! Andersen showcased impressive technique and pastry skills, and gained creativity points to the max with their eye-catching presentations of their “luxury” fastelavnsboller. All had a buttery croissant bottom, were filled with a jam or spread of some kind, topped with a flavored cream, finished with a crispy, buttery cookie lid, and dusted with some kind of powdered sugar – the rhubarb jam, vanilla cream, and raspberry powder variety was our favorite. It should also be noted that Andersen Bakery bakes the signature potato buns for our favorite burger joint in Copenhagen, Gasoline Grill.
ANDERSEN BAKERY Address & Contact Information Thorshavnsgade 26, Islands Brygge, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram Facebook
Collective Bakery
Another one of the five new bakeries that graced Nørrebro with its presence in 2021 was Collective Bakery, from the Coffee Collective team. Head baker Michael Craig works with only local Danish ingredients and farms to craft his pastries and sourdough bread. Lots of their baked goods are specifically designed to go with a cup of coffee, like their signature citronbølge (lemon wave), a buttery pastry with a nice acidic zing from the lemon glaze, and the kardemommeflet (cardamom braid). You’ll find their goods in all of the Coffee Collective locations around town, and also at their stand-alone bakery in north Nørrebro.
COLLECTIVE BAKERY Address & Contact Information Nørrebrogade 176, Nørrebro, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram Facebook
Bageriet Brød
Located on Enghave Plads in Vesterbro, Bageriet Brød is more of a neighborhood spot, but this bakery has actually been around since 2012, making it the oldest on this list! We were really impressed by the high level of both the pastries and the sourdough bread. The twice-baked almond croissant has just the right amount of gooey almond filling, and the pastry layers are moist and deliciously buttery. Go on a Wednesday to try the Berliner doughnuts!
BAGERIET BRØD Address & Contact Information Enghave Plads 7, Vesterbro, Copenhagen, Denmark Instagram Facebook
Andersen & Maillard
With two locations in Nørrebro and Nordhavn, Andersen & Maillard’s espresso-glazed croissants and sleek interior design have drawn a crowd since their opening in 2018. From that point on, they’ve added one Instagram-worthy item after the other, from a croissant acting as the cone for an espresso soft serve (made from the leftover milk from the coffee bar) to a chocolate-swirl croissant (filled with more chocolate) that looks like it has been 3D-printed to perfection. How do they make those impeccable chocolatey twists?!
ANDERSEN & MAILLARD Address & Contact Information Nørrebrogade 62, Nørrebro, Copenhagen, Denmark Göteborg Plads 19, Nordhavn, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram Facebook
Mirabelle
Mirabelle is an organic bakery and coffee shop that turns into a pasta restaurant for lunch and dinner. As part of Christian Puglisi’s restaurant empire, the place supplies sourdough bread, baked goods, and pizza doughs to Bæst (and previously to Manfreds, and Relæ, before they closed). The croissants are flaky, and the focaccia is fluffy and topped with seasonal farm produce.
MIRABELLE Address & Contact Information Guldbergsgade 29, Nørrebro, Copenhagen, Denmark Website Instagram Facebook
What is your favorite bakery in Copenhagen? Please leave a comment below.
Note: Previous versions of this guide included Democratic Coffee Bar (removed due to a drop in quality), and The Corner at 108 (removed due to closure).
You missed one of the best Batting, Ordrupvej in Charlottenlund
Well, that’s some distance from Copenhagen, but thanks for the tip! 🙂
Next to try! The Breda Station at Charlottenlund station. You will love!
Thanks for the tip!
Andersen Bakery in Islands Brygge has incredible pastries and cakes. Definitely one of my favorites!
Yes, we’ve been there to check it out. Classic Danish bakery. Such a cool story as well with the Japanese founder.
Hahnemanns Kokken is amazing. Great Cardamom buns.
Thanks for the tip!