15 Best Copenhagen Bakeries

“Copenhagen bakeries are the best in the world.”

This statement, confidently delivered to us by a prominent Copenhagen baker, made us chuckle since we consider Paris to be the epicenter of Viennoiseries and other forms of sugary bliss. We’ve previously flown to Paris specifically to eat Éclairs and Macarons and believe that its patisseries and boulangeries exist in a different orbit.

While we had high hopes for Copenhagen’s best bakeries, we didn’t actually expect them to match or exceed Parisian classics like Jacques Genin and Stohrer. We also didn’t expect the Danish capital to have the same edginess as Paris’ new breed of bakers.

After eating dozens of pastries at 15 Copenhagen bakeries, we now consider the city’s bakery scene to be one of the best in the world. It’s not Paris and that’s okay. Instead, Copenhagen is where we’ll fly to when we crave the world’s best Kanelsnegle, Sourdough Buns and Rye Bread.

During our six-day Copenhagen pastry crawl, we ate as many sweet, soft, round, cinnamon-dusted Kanelsnegle as we could handle and started every morning with crusty, savory sourdough rolls filled with butter and cheese. To our surprise, we also ate some of the best Cardamom Buns baked in the Nordic region.

As we sampled more and more pastries, that confident baker’s assertion, while perhaps a little far fetched, resonated. While it’s not Paris yet, Copenhagen’s bakery scene IS worth a special flight.

Don’t just eat pastries in Copenhagen! Be sure to sample traditional Danish food as well as a range of Copenhagen food favorites at the best Copenhagen restaurants.

We really shouldn’t have been surprised.

We developed an appreciation for Copenhagen-style pastries at the various Copenhagen Coffee Labs located in Lisbon. Those well-situated cafes provided our introduction to Kanelsnegle and eventually motivated us to travel to Denmark’s capital.

Discover the best coffee shops in Copenhagen.

Tasting Danish pastries at the source is what turned us into true believers. Our goal to visit five Copenhagen bakeries quickly grew to ten and finally settled at 15. And, truthfully, we would have gone to 20 if our stomachs hadn’t waved white flags. Yes, even we have butter and gluten limits.

We’re not alone with our appreciation for our favorite Copenhagen bakeries.

Crowds queue for pastries every single morning with many of the best bakeries selling out before the day ends. This is a city where tardiness can lead to pastry disappointment.

We partly blame and thank Noma for this situation. Not only has the three star Michelin eatery, anointed the best restaurant in the world on multiple occasions, raised the culinary bar in Copenhagen, but its reach has also extended to local bakeries.

Many of the city’s best pastry chefs earned their chops at Noma before opening their own smaller establishments. Then there’s that former Tartine baker whom Noma’s chef, René Redzepi, lured from San Francisco. More about him later.

Read about our 18-course dinner at Noma unless you rather see our Noma photos.

Not only did we eat amazing pastries, many straight out of the oven, but we also met many of the talented pastry chefs responsible for creating Copenhagen’s sweetest and most savory treats.

And, after eating several, we learned that sourdough breakfast buns smeared with butter and filled with Comté cheese may be the best breakfast sandwich in the world.

Follow our Danish Morning Bun recipe and make Denmark’s tasty breakfast bun at home.

But it wasn’t all fun. This quest had its cost and we’re not just talking about calories…

Copenhagen is an expensive city and its best pastries aren’t cheap. Instead of counting our pennies, or in this case Danish Kroner, we had to let go of our financial inhibitions for six sweet days. As we learned during recent years, both life and flaky, layered pastries are precious things to be savored.

Fun Fact
While Americans refer to laminated pastries as Danishes, Danish people call them Wienerbrød in deference to their Austrian roots.

Feeling excited yet overwhelmed? Read on to discover our favorite Copenhagen bakeries and the ones you shouldn’t skip during your visit.

Despite its Frederiksberg location slightly off the beaten path, Hart Bageri is far from a hidden gem. Crowds descend upon the bakery every day for one main reason – a hunger for excellent breads and pastries. After joining those crowds twice, we can confidently call Hart Begeri the best Copenhagen bakery.

We don’t make claim this lightly. Our Copenhagen pastry crash course exposed us to many of the city’s best baked goods. This is the bakery that drew us back for a second dedicated visit and where we purchased bread for our flight home. It was also the friendliest, coolest bakery – the one with the highest ‘it’ factor.

That factor starts at the top with über baker Richard Hart who made his reputation as the head baker at the legendary Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. Hart combines his Mission District sourdough skills with Danish traditions to create pastries and breads that taste just a little bit better than the competition.

London born Hart prefers baking with his hands and uses electronic equipment like dough sheeters and mixers only when necessary. The bakery’s primary logo, inspired by Hart’s octopus tattoo, symbolizes both the many hands in the kitchen as well as Hart’s baking style. Interestingly, Hart Bageri has numerous logos, up to 20, for any and all occasions.

Noma Chef René Redzepi lured Hart to Denmark and partnered with him to open Hart Bageri. Not surprisingly, Noma serves Hart’s City Loaf to diners who request bread. Both Noma and Hart source their coffee beans from Oslo-based Tim Wendelboe and have similar commitments to service excellence.

Overwhelmed by the options during our first visit, we ordered the eye-catching Cardamom Croissant. Originally made with leftover croissant dough and a whole lot of butter and cardamom sugar, the hybrid creation is now the bageri’s sought-out signature pastry. We added a custardy Spandauer and sourdough Breakfast Bun to our order for good measure.

We also tried the bakery’s trendy yet luscious Black Sesame Cookie baked with Tahitian chocolate, Belgian chocolate and French salt. To say we enjoyed the salty, chocolate-filled cookie is an understatement. But it wasn’t the motivation for our return.

Our second visit was more about savory food and included a fennel-flavored Pølsehorn (i.e. Sausage Roll) and more buttered, cheese-filled Breakfast Buns. To this day, Daryl calls the simple, elemental cheese and butter bun his “new favorite thing” and occasionally does his best to recreate the breakfast sandwich at home.

Our Favorite Pastry At Hart Bageri
We loved every pastry we ate at Hart Bageri but the Cardamom Croissant was the standout. This laminated pastry was an over-achiever thanks to its flaky, buttery, sugary layers and hints of cardamom flavor.

Hart Bageri is located at Gammel Kongevej 109, 1850 Frederiksberg, Denmark.

Located in Refshaleøen just one kilometer from Noma and literally around the corner from bucolic (now closed) Amass, Lille Bakery is in good company. Despite its seemingly simple offerings, the little bakery holds its own on an industrial island that’s morphed into a culinary hub and hipster haven.

Starting with its cavernous light-filled industrial space in a former shipyard apprentice school, not much is small at Lille besides its name which translates to little. This is a Copenhagen bakery where long lines and big flavors are the norm.

A trio of owners first garnered attention in 2018 when they opened Lille Bakery with crowdfunding assistance via a Kickstarter campaign. Not novices, the threesome learned the ropes at 108, Noma’s now-closed sister restaurant.

During our visit, we shared a sugary Cardamom Bun, a delicate Sausage Roll, satisfying Egg Toast and Daryl’s new favorite, a Sourdough Bun with butter and cheese. Baked with locally sourced organic ingredients, the mix of bakery and breakfast items was a winner, pairing perfectly with piping hot cups of Prolog coffee.

While we don’t regret our choices, we wish we had added one of the bakery’s signature Berliners to the mix. These two donut fans would have surely loved Lille’s cream-filled bundles of doughy joy.

Our Favorite Pastry At Lille Bakery
The Cardamom Bun gets our sweet vote while the Sausage Roll wins the savory race.

Lille Bakery is located at Refshalevej 213A, 1432 København, Denmark.

Collective Bakery feels like a Copenhagen fixture with its sleek space and sophisticated array of pastries. It’s not. Instead, the Nørrebro bakery, open since April 2021, is one of the newer bakeries in town. But this new kid has some serious credentials.

The bakery’s owner, Coffee Collective, has been a leader in Copenhagen’s specialty coffee movement since 2007 and has since conquered the coffee world. But that’s not all. Collective Bakery’s head baker, Michael Craig, worked at three Copenhagen classics – Amass, Hart Bageri and Lille Bakery – before his current gig.

While Coffee Collective was high on our coffee radar when we arrived in Copenhagen, we weren’t aware of the famous roaster’s bakery operation until after our arrival. Thank goodness for on-the-ground research! Otherwise we would have missed out on some of the city’s most creative pastries.

We knew we were in for a treat when we gazed upon Coffee Collective’s Maritozzo. Flavored with coffee syrup, this version takes the traditional Italian pasty from Rome to new heights. But it was the Citronbølge (i.e. Lemon Wave) that stole our hearts with its intricate wavy layers flavored with homemade lemon syrup.

Our Favorite Pastry At Collective Bakery
The sweet yet tart Citronbølge made these two lemon lovers swoon.

With Glaser’s Swedish heritage in mind, we couldn’t skip his Kardemommesnurre, a Cardamom Bun that immediately evoked memories of the Kanelbullar we’d previously eaten during fika breaks in Stockholm. However, Glaser’s buttery version, served fresh out of the oven with cardamom specks and sugar crystals on full display, was better than any we’d eaten in Stockholm.

We also ordered a Spandauer stuffed with plums based on Glaser’s recommendation and a Cream Bun with a super creamy center that reminded us of a Berliner on steroids. Then we went next level with a Surdejsbolle (i.e. Sourdough Bun) slathered with butter and filled with Comté cheese. It was our very first Sourdough Bun of the week but certainly not the last.

Our Favorite Pastry At Juno the Bakery
Despite its seeming simplicity, Juno the Bakery’s Kardemommesnurre is the bakery’s most famous pastry and the one that best blends Swedish tradition with Danish ingredients.

We can’t ignore the elephant in the room. While seks is the Danish word for six which happens to be the cafe’s street number, it’s an intentional homonym for sex at this self-proclaimed ‘organic and orgasmic’ Copenhagen cafe. Without doubt, the cafe’s name is purposefully provocative and warrants a chuckle or two.

Despite its cheeky name, Seks Bakery & Eatery stands out from other top bakeries in Copenhagen since owners Jan and Monika Pawlak never worked for Noma or any Noma-related restaurants. Instead, the married duo’s resume involves traveling around the world and operating a cafe in Poznan, Poland. Beyond the kitchen, their striking food and portrait photography skills are on display in gorgeous cookbooks on the cafe’s shelves.

Beyond the Cheesecake we ate during both visits, we also enjoyed a duo of Sourdough Buns separately topped with locally sourced Danish cheese and imported Polish cheese. Also worth noting – Jan’s flat whites and batch brew coffees were as well crafted as cups we imbibed at many of the city’s best specialty coffee shops.

Our Favorite Pastry At Seks Bakery & Eatery
Unless you’re lactose intolerant, ordering Cheesecake at Seks Bakery & Eatery is an absolute must. We tried two different versions and adored both.

Seks Bakery & Eatery is located at Krystalgade 6, 1172 København, Denmark.

As its name suggests, Mirabelle Bakery & Eatery serves more than just pastries But its pastries, among the best in Copenhagen, are smashing. We wouldn’t expect less from a chef who formerly cooked at Noma as well as at Ferran Adrià’s el Bulli and and his own Michelin-starred Relæ, both now closed.

Chef Christian Puglisi has impressive credentials that simply can’t be ignored. The same goes for his cafe which serves fresh sourdough bread, a huge range of house-cured Italian-style charcuterie and fresh mozzarella produced with Danish milk. Many of these specialties are also available at Bæst, a Puglisi’s pizzeria that we visited on a separate occasion.

Mirabelle’s Nørrebro cafe is a stylish spot with a funky tile floor and several outdoor tables. At night, locals convene to sip Negroni cocktails and eat heaping plates of pasta. After all, in addition to his credentials, Puglisi’s roots are in Sicily.

But, since pastries were our primary motivation, we ordered a special Hasselnødde Croissant – a double baked hazelnut beauty with housemade hazelnut spread, chocolate chunks and caramelized nougatine.

The Hasselnødde Croissant sounds excessive and it was exactly that. It was also flaky, crispy, sweet (but not too sweet) and divine. Pairing it with freshly squeezed apple juice was a good move though we would have been happy with a cup of coffee or tea had we not already reached our caffeine limit for the day.

Our Favorite Pastry At Mirabelle Bakery & Eatery
We only ate one pastry, a Hasselnødde Crosisant, and it was mind blowingly good.

Mirabelle Bakery & Eatery is located at Guldbergsgade 29, 2200 København, Denmark.

Andersen & Maillard is a fairy tale destination for pastry loving coffee drinkers and not just because one of the original owners shares a name (albeit spelled differently) with Copenhagen’s most famous resident. While the 19th century Hans Christian Andersen gained global fame for writing The Little Mermaid and Thumbelina, the modern-day Hans Kristian Andersen has achieved local notoriety by roasting coffee.

But its Noma alum Milton Abel who completes the Andersen & Maillard’s story with fanciful pastries like the cafe’s popular, eye catching chocolate-filled Chocolate Croissants pictured above. The two came together to create a signature Espresso Glazed Croissant that combines the best of their two worlds.

During our first visit at the original Nørrebro location, we paired the cafe’s signature Espresso-Glazed Croissant with espresso-based Flat Whites. It was a good move. We enjoyed drinking coffee crafted with freshly roasted Guatemalan beans as much as we appreciated the Croissant’s sugary espresso glaze and flaky layers.

While we enjoyed a classically cylindrical Canelé during our second visit at the sleek cafe, it paled in comparison to that Espresso-Glazed Croissant. Our only regret is that we missed Andersen & Maillard’s summertime mashup that tops the signature Croissant with housemade espresso soft serve ice cream.

Our Favorite Pastry At Andersen & Maillard
While we liked the Canelé, we liked the Espresso-Glazed Croissant even more.

Andersen & Maillard has multiple locations. We visited the Nørrebro bakery located at Nørrebrogade 62, 2200 København N, Denmark.

Open since June 2021, Rondo may be one of the newer bakery on our Copenhagen bakery crawl but it held its own magnificently. With a commitment to using locally sourced, organic ingredients, the corner bakery shines with its selection of freshly baked sourdough bread and inspired pastries.

Bags of flour fill the simple Nørrebro space but Breakfast Buns and Focaccia are the main attractions. Since our visit was in the morning, we shared a Morning Bun (not to be confused with a Breakfast Bun) with an abundance of sugar crystals and subtle flavors of orange and cinnamon.

Our Favorite Pastry At Rondo
We highly recommend Rondo’s Morning Bun. We’ll order it again ourselves unless we order Focaccia.

Our visit at the original Meyers Bageri was fortuitous. We had intended to visit a different location but our plans changed when we walked by the Jægersborggade shop and saw a crowd. Since bakeries can sell out quickly in Copenhagen, we promptly joined the queue.

The reward for our spontaneity was an array of pastries that included traditional Tegirkes and Spandauers as well as Brunsviger Croissants and Høj Kanelsnegle. We opted for the latter, a laminated cinnamon snail shaped pastry notable for its gooey chocolate center.

Discover more cinnamon pastries around the world.

Now owned by Løgismose Meyers, Meyers Bageri has a Noma connection of its own. Claus Meyer, the prolific pioneer of the New Nordic Cuisine movement opened Meyers Bageri in 2010, seven years after he opened Noma with Rene Redzepi in 2003.

Our Favorite Pastry At Meyers Bageri
We only ate one pastry, a Høj Kanelsnegle, and we loved it.

Meyers Bageri has multiple locations. We visited the Nørrebro bakery located at Jægersborggade 9, 2200 København, Denmark.

Brageriet Benji has made a splash since it opened in February 2021. This success is nothing new for Rasmus Kristensen, a sourdough savant who was Noma’s head baker for two years. Things change and Noma now relies on Richard Hart for its bread. As for Kristensen, he’s more than busy running Brageriet Benji with Agnese Negrini, not to mention raising a little boy named… you guessed it… Benji.

Far from a secret, Brageriet was practically sold out when we made it to the front of a late morning queue. Unlike the young woman in front of us who literally teared up at the sight of an empty Spandauer rack, we happily ordered an Æbletærte (apple tart) without crying.

Eating the sponge-like tart was the opposite of a tragedy thanks to ingredients like Danish Esltar apples, tonka beans, Piemonte hazelnuts and whipped creme fraiche. We’d be more than happy to eat one again.

Our Favorite Pastry At Bageriet Benji
While the Bageriet Benji’s Spandauer looks smashing on Instagram, our Æbletærte tasted delicious in real life and was an enjoyable change of pace from the layered pastries sold all over the city.

Bageriet Benji is located at Fælledvej 23, 2200 København, Denmark.

Located at the public library and just a two-minute walk from Rundetaarn, Copenhagen’s Round Tower, Democratic Coffee Bar doesn’t just brew specialty coffee. It also bakes some of the best Almond Croissants in Copenhagen and provides free WiFi with no password necessary.

It’s a ‘democratic’ approach and why shouldn’t it be. This is a city where people have decided that coffee, pastries and internet are equally integral to their daily lifestyle.

We were autocratic with our dedication to ordering an Almond Croissant after we viewed a baker working dough behind the counter. However we went rogue with our beverage selections – Daryl voted for filtered coffee brewed with Kenyan beans while Mindi casted her bid for a cappuccino crafted with Brazilian beans.

Freedom rang and our taste buds celebrated as we devoured the lush, flaky pastry filled with sugary almond cream and topped with more almonds than we could count on all of our fingers and toes. It was a happy moment for both democracy and our mouths.

Our Favorite Pastry At Democratic Coffee Bar
In case you couldn’t tell, our love for the Almond Croissant is both dictatorial and sincere.

Democratic Coffee Bar is located at Krystalgade 15, 1172 København, Denmark.

Visiting Tivoli Gardens is a dream for many including us. But our dream is different since it involves eating fanciful confections inside the magnificent park that has inspired a myriad of visitors including Hans Christian Andersen and Walt Disney since it opened in 1843.

Sadly, we have not yet fulfilled this particularly dream. Tivoli Gardens was closed for the entirety of our visit as it was being decorated for the Halloween season.

Pro Tip
Save time and money by buying a 24-hour Copenhagen City Card if Tivoli Gardens is open during your visit. This card includes access to 80 attractions including Tivoli Gardens plus unlimited public transportation.

Not wanting to miss a bite, we swapped our goal of eating cake with champagne at Tivoli Gardens’ Cakenhagen to eating cake with coffee at Crème, Cakenhagen’s sister cafe located steps away from the famous Copenhagen attraction. It was our version of making lemonade out of lemons but, in this case, we ate a Lemon Tart and a miniature Pjerrot Cake instead.

Between the two sweet treats, the wreath-shaped Pjerrot Cake won our hearts. Ingredients like buttermilk, mango and cookies combined to create a pleasing light dessert with a crunchy base.

Our Favorite Pastry At Crème by Nimb
Pastries change daily. During our visit, the Pjerrot Cake was impossible not to love.

Cakenhagen is located at Vesterbrogade 3, 1630 København, Denmark.
Crème by Nimb is located at Vesterbrogade 1, 1620 København V, Denmark.

Located inside Torvehallerne, Copenhagen’s buzziest food hall filled with dozens of vendors, Sweet Valentine pulled us in like moths to the flame. Can you blame us considering that this Danish patisserie’s counter is filled with luscious layered cakes and colorful macarons?

Despite its many temptations, the compact shop’s selection of Flødeboller called our names. Skipping coconut, almond and peanut butter Flødeboller options, we instead shared a chocolate-coated Flødebolle with a marzipan base, a vanilla marshmallow center and gold flecks on top.

It was a good move with one exception. Next time, we’re not sharing.

Our Favorite Pastry At Sweet Valentine
We only ate Sweet Valentine’s Flødebolle and would eat one again without hesitation.

Sweet Valentine has multiple locations. We visited the Torvehallerne bakery located at Linnésgade 17, 1361 København, Denmark.

14. Alice Ice Cream & Coffee

Eating at 15 Copenhagen bakeries in six days was a grueling endeavor which is why we opted to eat a Popsicle instead of a pastry at Alice Ice Cream & Coffee. It sounds like an obvious choice based on the name. However, this ice cream shop’s laminated pastries have achieved acclaim since Anders Lorenz, yet another Noma alum, hired Cathleen Hall as head pastry chef.

Our chocolate coated milk ice cream Popsicle was simultaneously simple and sublime. We probably would have chosen a sea buckthorn Popsicle if it hadn’t sold out for the day but the chocolate gods had other ideas. We’re not complaining.

Our Favorite Pastry At Alice Ice Cream & Coffee
Our research reveals that Alice Ice Cream & Coffee’s Croissants are amazing. As previously noted, we ate a refreshing popsicle instead.

Alice Ice Cream & Coffee is located at Markmandsgade 1, 2300 København, Denmark.

Conditori La Glace warrants a visit for lovers of both pastries and history. This delightfully decaying patisserie provides a glimpse into Copenhagen’s past before Kanelsnegle and Croissants dominated the city’s bakeries.

Despite its old school atmosphere and luxury pricing, Conditori La Grace has a perpetual queue that must be conquered before accessing a glass counter filled with cakes and pastries that look almost too pretty to eat. But, make no mistake, eating has been the main event since Nicolaus Henningsen first opened the doors in 1870.

After waiting in line and snagging a tiny table, we ordered a slice of the patisserie’s signature Sportskage. A macaron base topped with whipped cream, crushed nougat and caramelized choux pastry, it was a show stopper but it wasn’t our favorite…

That honor goes to the simple yet tasty Mazarin, a shortcrust pastry decorated with lemon icing. Other icing flavors included chocolate and rum during our visit, but the lemon’s yellow hue spoke to us. We’re glad that we listened.

Our Favorite Pastry At Conditori La Glace
After eating a slice of Sportskage and a lemon Mazarin, the Mazarin gets our prize.

Conditori La Glace is located at Skoubogade 3, 1158 København, Denmark.

Are you interested in discovering if Copenhagen’s bakeries are the best in the world? If so, check out one or all the additional spots as you explore the answer to this question:

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