What I recommend: The brown sugar oatmeal cookie…read more Little Barb's Bakery is a small but mighty spot inside the Durham Food Hall. My go-to item every single time is the brown sugar oatmeal cookie. It's thin, crisp, and baked to the perfect level of brittleness while still keeping that classic oatmeal sweetness. When you get the right one, it's absolute perfection. As always, staff is very friendly, and since it's located right at the food-hall, it makes for a perfect spot to grab a sweet treat after your meal.

Love the choices at Littje Barb's Bakery. Got a vegan bar for a friend. Then s'mores bars,…read morecheesecake bar, chocolate chip cookie and a sugar cookie to share. Staff always helpful and nice. Easy to get to in the food hall.

This is our favorite bakery in the area for several reasons. There is a wide variety of baked goods…read moreto choose from and nothing is too sweet. They make cookies, pastries, breads (pan loaf and hand-formed ones), soups, hand pies, and sandwiches. The variety is amazing. During the holiday season, they offer larger pies and have various seasonal goods to offer. But what's also wonderful is this bakery gives back to the community in many ways. During the height of the pandemic, they offered free bagged lunch to anyone who needed one. They also were (are?) part of the pilot project for Durham's guaranteed income. It looks to me that the owners/company are concerned about being good citizens of the community and that's a great thing. These days, so many companies get bought out by private equity companies. I hope this bakery continues to be locally owned and operated! (Also, generally this bakery isn't offering the very fancy European/European-ish style pastries which is fine by me. The prices are very reasonable, possibly in part because they aren't trying to make their baked goods a "high end" item. There are other good local bakeries that offer "high end" pastries, but they are also much less affordable and for my taste, too rich.)

The muffins at 9th St Bakery are my favorite. They are not too sweet and have a nice cakeyness to…read morethem. I swing by here for a snack, loaf, or just a sandwich for lunch very often and love their day old bread section as well.

Beautiful, unique, delicious chocolates! Go! They made a lovely gift and we had so much fun trying…read morethe flavors!

Miel Bon Bons is a cute little artisanal chocolate shop and bakery nestled within Brightleaf…read moreDistrict! We got a pack of 8 chocolates (admittedly they did cost a pretty penny haha), which ranked from my most to least favorite are: 1. Horchata: So good, the horchata essence hit me as soon as I took a bite. Very cinnamony, very milky & creamy. 2. Passionfruit: I'm a sucker for anything passionfruit. The curd-like filling did not taste artificial at all. 3. Almond cardamom: Topped with a real almond, but more cardamom forward, reminded me of chai. 4. Hazelnut sassy monkey: Distinguished more coffee than banana, but it was there. Also liked the layer of crunch. 5. Raspberry lychee: The raspberry jam was strong and tasty, the floral essence from lychee was subtle. 6. Sesame matcha: Surprisingly citrusy? I did taste some bitterness from the matcha and appreciated the earthy sesame crust. 7. Ube: Sadly did not detect much ube flavor. 8. Earl grey lavender: Definitely the prettiest, but tasted like what I imagine soap would taste like. In terms of whether the chocolate is worth the price: I've never had this experience of trying such diverse and interesting chocolate flavors before so it was for me. Ambiance is nice, I think there was only outside seating. There's good parking nearby in the Brightleaf lots or on W Pettigrew St. Service was fast and friendly. 8/10 would recommend!

We had been here years ago and I was in the neighborhood at Costco and decided to stop by. I…read moreunderstand it is owned and run by an actual French baker although when I stopped in most of the staff appeared to be Latino. The location is a little hard to find but just GPS it. There were several patrons sitting and eating but there aren't many tables. I got a croissant and sourdough loaf to go. Croissant was good but the sourdough tasted more like refined white bread than the rustic kind that we prefer. We're not in this area too often but I'll need to remind myself this place is here.

The bakery itself is cute, clean, and always a joy to visit. The food is delicious and the…read moreemployees are super friendly and polite! I love coming here even though it's a bit out of my way, it's worth it! Can't wait to try what we got this time! The pastries are great and the mini quiches and cookies are tasty too!

Great vibes and great food! Stopped by for brunch on a Sunday morning. They don't open until 9…read morewhich was surprising. We got there early enough that parking and the wait wasn't an issue, but on our way out it looked rough. The vegan breakfast sandwich was great! I was impressed with the iced vanilla latte as well. Overall a great breakfast spot.

On a road trip with my friend and we wanted a light snack before lunch. We saw Guglhupf bakery and…read morerestaurant so we decided to stop by the bakery section. We went during early lunch hours. It is busy here,seems like a locals favorite for brunch. There is indoor and outdoor seating. The outdoor patio is beautifully decorated. The bakery shop sold alot of in house food products such as housed German sausages and jam. Also local made beverages;the kombucha "Lavendar Dreams" is light and refreshing to drink etc.. I tried the chocolate croissant (crisp but not too crispy,chocolate stuffed filling not jam) and the ham and cheese pretzel( delicous pretzel:ate everything;bread part is savory and soft). Our first visit here I'd say this place makes a great brunch place. You can either stop by for breakfast,lunch or a light snack from the bakery shop. Service wasnt the best here. We informed the cashier that it was our first time here. Knowing that,they kept on stating is that all?.. Everytime am asking about a item and deciding what to try. I understand it is rush hour and can get busy but I felt truly rushed.

Caution. No self control? Then you better avoid the Pecan Chocolate Chip cookies at Loaf…read moreBakey...delicious, addictive, delightful

Loaf is tucked away on a not so popular street but thanks to their yummy treats, they are known all…read moreover Durham as the place to grab a sweet or savory when you need it. What I also love about Loaf is that if I am unable to go downtown, Loaf items are all over Durham, namely at the Coop and so many other businesses. It makes it easier to access and grab when you are on the go. Staff are always so friendly and welcoming. We always appreciate their warmly decorated business that is cozy but also smells of fresh, newly baked bread (or cookies!) We always look forward to stopping by to see what they have for the day!

The desserts were absolutely delightful & tasty. We look forward to returning & trying something…read moredifferent. The owner was very nice and welcoming. There was also a refreshing corner nook to sit, eat and enjoy coffee

We recall this shop and owner when it was in the Durham Food Hall. We had read he had relocated and…read morepopped in while we were wandering around Brightleaf Square. It was mid-day and we weren't starving so we only got the cookie cake bites and ate it at the counter in the shop. It looks like another customer was there picking up a larger order (catering maybe?). They have various -- I would call -- artisan baked goods and limited coffee options. It is branded as a dessert cafe after all, so you're not going to get breads, bagels, etc., here. I'm glad we popped in.

Sweets by Shayda is one of my fave bakeries in Durham Shayda knows my face now. I purchased two of…read moreher AMZING chocolate croissants. Always a 10/10. She has so many great desserts to choose from and is known for her macaroons. They offer coffee and tea as well. They are so sweet and welcoming. It's such a cute shop, with pink and white decor.

This bakery is amazing! I stopped by here on a random weekday and loved the strawberry and cream…read moremacaron and it was SO delicious I had to come back for a box! Truly, these are the most delicious macarons I've ever tasted, and I've had way too many! These have a great bite to them, slightly chewy texture and the smoothest, TASTIEST filling ever. I tried the Bridgerton themed Early Grey one to the double chocolate and black sesame, my favorites are the nutella (not too sweet but tastes heavenly) and strawberries and cream. I think everyone in the rtp should try these at least once!! I know it's going to be the hostess gift I grab whenever I visit friends from now on. They've got also a great selection of baked goods and the chocolate crThey've also got a great selection of baked goods and the chocolate croissants are perfectly flaky and delicious!ssiants are perfectly flaky and delicious!

"VERY hole-in-the-wall Middle Eastern patisserie"…read more This gives hole-in-the-wall new meaning. The location is in a strip-mall that's set back a ways from 55, so it's not really visible from the street at all. However, it's weirder than that-- you have to drive AROUND the strip mall to the back, past the various loading docks for other stores, and they you see this place is open just from the BACK of the strip mall. I heard the owner is Algerian, but there are many Palestinian references and flags around the shop, so if that's triggering, then know this in advance before coming in. Still, the place is brightly lit and airy, with tables to eat. They do custom cakes, cupcakes, and other desserts, but we just wanted to sample some sweets. Hours are funny-- just midday Friday through Sunday. We ordered a pecan brownie and a pistachio chocolate dish with kunafa (shredded Middle Eastern pastry), as well as a mocha coffee. The mocha coffee was rich and delicious, as expected. The pistachio chocolate dish with kunafa was to-die-for... SO delicious. Super thick and messy, as you'd hope it would be. And of course the pecan brownie was amazing. I will say the pastries are not "cheap". I got a single tahini chocolate chip cookie to go for a friend, and that was $4.50 for a modest sized cookie. The other dishes above were in the $6 range. But these are unusual custom-made dishes, so it's fair.

Finally got to try La Recette Patisserie, a Middle Eastern-French bakery in South Durham! We got a…read morebunch of pastries (Apricot gateau, Opera cake, Tahini majesty, Makroud, Ghriba, Mchewek), all of which were delicious. To drink, we got the Sahlab (only comes warm)- this was so delicious (milky and perfectly floral, very comforting). This spot has a very unassuming exterior, but the inside is pretty cute and spacious with lots of seating (you actually need to walk to the back of the building to find the entrance). Would be a great spot to hang out and do work at. Service was fast and friendly. 9/10 would recommend!

Pro tip: We always order a big box of cookies and brownies and they keep very well for the whole…read moreweek if we transfer them to an airtight container. Everything here is amazing. I ordered a personalized cake recently and requested they leave it plain/ugly bc I had bought decorations I wanted to use. Darn them, they still gave me a gorgeous cake!!!! It was a large cake for two people (especially when one doesn't like chocolate) but my partner was brave and destroyed it in 2 days. EVERYTHING is delicious. Try it all.

So my husband and I were nearby enjoying lunch when I decided I needed to end my meal with…read moresomething sweet. I did a search for nearby dessert spots and came across Bull City Bake Shop. Firstly, it smelled delicious, and secondly, we were greeted by the nice young man behind the counter. While there were many cupcake options, the cake slices drew my attention. I'm a chocolate gal so I knew I had to try the chocolate on chocolate cake slice. My husband, who is also a cake snob, immediately noticed that it looked moist, so hopefully it would be. I waited until our 50 minute drive to try a little bit. Well, I almost ate the whole thing! Let me tell you, this cake melts in your mouth. The frosting is perfect and not too sweet. Just the right about of chocolate flavor. I had to fight with myself to have the rest after dinner for my treat. We have found a new dessert spot when we're in Durham. Do not sleep on this bakery! We will be back! No pic since I wouldn't do it any justice since I ate half!