The Central Coast offers an enticing range of fresh bakeries, bakehouses and cafés to order pastries, pies, rolls and hot loaves fresh out the oven. So it's only fair to share these humble bakeries of the Central Coast with you and your travelling sweet tooth, featuring delicious sit down, takeaway or delivery options.
The cool (and sustainable, socially conscious) kid born in Copa has made a name for itself with incredibly unique pastries, breads, cakes and other baked goodies. Couple Hayley and Jo head up Burnt Honey Bakery, both relocating to the Central Coast after working for known Sydney establishments including cult-favourite, Black Star Pastry. Don’t miss an order for their Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake with Cream Cheese Icing, a classic Copa Queen, or their secret special, the ‘honey cake’… keep an eye on their socials for the latest weekly treats and arrive early as they always sell out!
A luxury on-site bakery now resides permanently at fine dining restaurant and accommodation, Bells at Killcare, a destination in its own right with its boutique stay options and The Wild Flower Dining and Bar. The team experimentally introduced Bells Bakery during the Covid-19 restrictions of 2020, with a daily baked selection of mouthwatering sweet cakes, pastries, breads and pantry goods available for takeaway. Amazingly, out of the lockdown rose a very buttery, warm and tasty pop-up bakery that is here to stay from 2021 onwards!
Bells Bakery & Larder offers freshly baked speciality breads, coffee to-go, local milk, pre-cooked heat-at-home dinner packs, an assortment of sweet treats and a range of delicious gourmet pantry and deli goods. New head baker Brad, comes with a wealth of experience, including working with Gordon Ramsay in the UK – so your tastebuds are in very good hands! Stop in for a quick take home or post-bushwalk treat, as this bakery is located right next to Bouddi National Park.
A local favourite and an iconic-yet-discreet shopfront of the Avoca Beach village fabric. Catering for many establishments, Ludo’s also sell direct to the public with beautiful breads, pies, quiches cakes and patisserie items. If you have a hankering for a sweet fruit tart or flan, a delectable jaffa chocolate or cheesecake – then Ludo’s should be on your Central Coast foodie radar.
Located just off the scenic Pacific Highway at Mt White, you will find a saddlery and garden centre perched around one the Coast’s hidden hinterland secrets – Saddles café & restaurant. When visiting during the morning you can enjoy a range of incredible flaky pies, sausage rolls, breads, Daintree-chocolate lamingtons and other sweet luxury treats are available in this hinterland hideaway cafe. If you’re touring the Pacific Highway scenic route, pick up fresh bread, coffee, baked goods and more for your onwards road trip.
Bouffant is from the creators of much-loved vibing café, Ooomph, located in the East Gosford village alongside the first of its growing family, The Bakery on Victoria St. Since first launching on the Coast, Bouffant is a popular sweet spot described as bringing “fluffy goodness” to all who enter.
Visit Bouffant at the Heritage-listed building at Gosford to build your own box of goodies featuring caramel doughnuts, lemon meringue Portuguese tarts, croissants, cronuts, mini pain au chocolats… there are hundreds of fresh pastry items available daily! This is accompanied by toasties, pies and savoury items too. Bouffant is like the Willy Wonka of baked goods on the Central Coast and priced from $1.50 + to go.
This is the colourful corner coffee locale with the famous (and Instagram-able) sunny 'Welcome to Long Jetty' wall mural on its hip. Offering a varied selection of delicious handmade breads and baked goods daily, these guys also supply direct to hungry local clientele. Namely, they collaborate with neighbouring café Flour & Co. in Toowoon Bay, just minutes away, as their breadmaker. Flour & Co is a pint-sized seaside cafe with a strong history as the neighbourhoods bakery which has been kept in the Picot family for decades. This personal touch shows, with friendly staff selling fresh loaves and pies to go - perfect for fuelling a day spent at Swadling Reserve with the family.
Head to RISE Artisan Bakery first thing in the morning to grab a coffee and enjoy the smell of freshly baked, hand-made bread and pastries. You'll find a range of sourdoughs, croissants, danishes with seasonal fillings, flans and more to make the mouth water after a busy day browsing cute local boutique shops or swimming at the nearby family-friendly beach.
A local secret; originally from France, the team have been baking their handcrafted, organic sourdough on the Central Coast for decades, providing to venues all across Sydney. Weekly La Tartine open their bakehouse selling fresh early morning bread to the public, a great chance to drop by on your way through the hinterland to buy a loaf and support local directly. Check their socials or website for the bakery open door times, or keep a lookout for them at local produce market stalls.
Located in the main hub of The Entrance, between the channel to the sea and Tuggerah Lake, you will find a local institution for hot, fresh bakery items. There is often a line-up into Ken’s for their range of incredible pie varieties, pelican-shaped novelty meringues and other traditional baked goods. Though the stand-out for the sweet-tooth has to be their jaw-droppingly fabulous profiteroles baked fresh on-site daily – in both chocolate and toffee varieties (hey, why not buy both?). Get in and order your pack of 8 by the lake, before you’re too late!
A fan favourite in ‘The Bay’, this bakery-café produces a range of pastries, breads and bakery items on-site fresh daily. Chocolate croissants, cannoli, cheese and bacon scrolls are just a few of the treats available, which are regularly switched up with fresh flavour combinations. Order a pie and sit in with a salad on the side for the proper lunch experience, or grab one to go and devour at one of the foreshore picnic spots looking out the Hardys Bay and Ettalong beyond.
Located in the heart of Gosford CBD, discover a charming local café with a delicious bakery element in its offering. As well as supplying local cafes with freshly baked items, The Good Bits pastry chefs start baking at 4am to create all the classics in house, including danishes, croissants, Nutella cronuts, Portuguese Tarts, and much more. Whether you’re arriving for business or pleasure in Gosford City, this café-bakery will set your day off to a tasty start!
Don’t forget a stop-in at the former corner post-office in one of the key villages surrounding Brisbane Water! This slice of local history, which was once a post office from 1945-1990, is now a humble local café serving a range of yummy bakery goods alongside their regular brunch menu. Sweet and savoury muffins, cookies, cakes and bagels are available, as there’s a beautiful fresh flower depot next door – The Petal Sisters – so you can make someone’s day and take them sweet sustenance and a pretty handmade posy.
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