Where to find the Seattle area’s best hidden gem bakeries

Over the last few years, many of the most interesting and innovative or hard-to-find baked goods from abroad have come from the slew of Seattle pop-up bakeries.

From buttery ensaymadas to tender empanadas, Seattleites have been placing their orders and standing in lines for all kinds of pretty pastries. But the drawback to pop-ups comes in the inconsistent hours or necessity of ordering ahead, and this time of year, sometimes you just need your rugelach, and you need it right now. Or maybe your craving calls for samoon or stollen – either way, Seattle’s brick and mortar bakeries also have you covered – and sometimes have more to offer than you might notice on first glance.

If you don’t want to miss a single buttery bread or pinoyshki mashup of Filipino flavors and Eastern European buns, this list has you covered. Keep reading.

Piroshki on 3rd

When Aly Anderson took over this longtime Seattle business in 2016, she was only 23. But in the five years since, she has woven her own Filipino heritage into the menu of the Eastern European baked goods she learned working there. In addition to the classic potato, meat, and cheese piroshki and other Eastern European dishes – pelmeni, pirogy, babka, honey cake – she makes Pinoyshki, filled with Filipino flavors: garlic beef asado, chicken adobo rice, and pork sisig.

Alida’s Bakery

The fluffiest pitas, sweetest baklava and most flavorful flatbreads come from the kitchen of this Iraqi-Kurdish bakery in Everett. But beyond the more common dishes, they offer the pillow-soft pita as diamond-shaped samoon, bake the cheesy, crunchy Middle-Eastern sweet kanafa, and make Iraqi holiday pastries filled with nuts and dates called klecha. Their manakish – topped flatbreads – come in classic flavors like tomato, za’atar and cheese, as well as their own versions like the cheddar and jalapeño, while their thick barberi bread comes with parmesan garlic butter coating in addition to the classic sesame seeds.

Golden Wheat Bakery Cafe

The best rugelach in Seattle come from this rather ordinary-looking eight-year-old Central District bakery, which belies the treasures within. The family-owned spot opened by a baker from Jalisco, Mexico, serves specialties from his own home country, including tamales alongside typical American pastries such as muffins, croissants, and coffee cake. But then, hidden among the multitude of cookies and pastries, are the specialties the owner learned working for a Jewish bakery: challah, blintzes, and more.

Rila Bakery & Cafe

This five-year-old spot in Lynnwood comes from two coffee and restaurant industry veterans, so every detail is sharp, from the décor to the boba and croissants – and even the boba-filled croissant. All the French, Italian, Chinese and Japanese pastry techniques sit together in the same pastry case, offering a little something for everyone, but what everyone should order is the puff-pastry crusted Portuguese egg tarts.

SUSU Dessert Bar

Susu started out life as a pop-up, working the farmers market circuit with its rolled ice cream, but has now evolved into a takeout window in the International District and, as its website says, “So I guess we’re a bakery ... for now.” But despite the casual attitude, the tiny shop turns out precise, stunning, and creative treats, including peach miso caramel tarts, durian mooncakes, chocolate yuzu cookies with marshmallow and matcha, and vegan coconut passion fruit cakes. They even occasionally foray into savory goods with a kimchi blue cheese scone.

Setsuko Pastry

Don’t look for the sign for this Japanese bakery – there isn’t one. You just have to head into the lovely Phinney Ridge Japanese restaurant Modern and know that the front case of the sushi and udon shop is devoted to the airy, stunning cakes and terrific mochi. Soft strawberry roll cakes, fluffy baked cheesecakes and creamy yuzu panna cotta sit alongside seasonal specialties like kabocha squash cheesecake with an Oreo crust.

Kaffeeklatsch

This unassuming bakery in Lake City has been around for more than a decade, turning out German-style baked goods all year for their own coffee shop and for restaurants around town. Even if you haven’t heard of it, there’s a chance you’ve tasted their pretzels over a beer at local bars. But for a wider selection, head to the mothership, where they’ve got various styles of pretzel, German breads, and seasonal treats like pfkaumenkuchen (plum cake). Most importantly, this time of year, they are one of the few places in town you can reliably count on to make an excellent stollen.