It’s officially summer, there’s a heatwave and not a chance you’ll catch me at Manchester airport in those queues. So what’s the next best thing? Putting on your favourite midi dress and picking up some pastries so I can live my best Parisian life in my back garden smothered in factor 50.
This week, I’ve headed back out to the supermarkets not to try and find the best cheap crumpets or lemonade (though I’m sure that’ll come in handy over the warm weekend) - but instead I’ve been scouting out the bakery counters.
There’s nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread being placed onto the shelves, or the sweet sight of pastries lined up in a row. And often, these in-house makes and bakes are often much more exciting than the things you’ll find in the aisles, making them a real treat.
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I headed to Asda, Lidl, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Tesco to compare all of their supermarket bakeries. To do so, I gave myself a rough budget of a fiver per shop, and an idea of what to pick up.
In each bakery, I hoped to find a loaf of posh bread, savoury bakes and pastries, and something to satisfy my sweet tooth - though without wandering into doughnut and cookie territory, because those are worth a review all by themselves.
I managed to get at least three items in every store, with prices for individual items starting at 39p. I was able to stay within my ballpark figure, however, some of the bakeries were more expensive than others, though some were incredibly good value for money.
Bringing my haul home, the contents of my shopping bags filled my kitchen counter front to back and left to right - it’s insane how much bread and pastry a little over £30 can get you. From lemon curd scones and toffee apple crowns, to jalapeno loaves and cheese and onion focaccia - here’s what I picked up in every supermarket bakery, and what I thought of their offerings.
Asda
Asda’s Extra Special bakery selection was pretty full when I arrived at 9am, stacked with tiger loaves, Parisian paves and bloomers. Their pastries mostly came in packs of two rather than self selection, which does have its benefits and downfalls.
On the one hand, it means no-one’s been handling your croissants before you, or squeezing your bread to check its softness. It does, however, mean that you’re obliged to buy two apple turnovers when you may only have wanted one. That said, a handful of items on the top shelf come in singular bags, including pecan and maple plaits and single croissants for 85p.
With my £5 spend, I picked up two almond croissants priced at £1.50, or 75p each, as well as a selection of six small savoury pastries, also for £1.50. These are great for having in the house when you’re peckish, or for those nights when only a picky tea will do, coming in cheese, tomato, and mushroom options.
For my loaf, the Parisian pave caught my attention for £1.75 as it was quite large and I anticipated it making some pretty delicious toast topped with jam.
Craving something sweet, I spotted some pancakes baked fresh in house. This was the only bakery I saw that had pancakes on their bakery counter, and at £1 a pack, how could I resist? The pancakes are also on a buy two for £1.50 deal, but I stuck with just the one pack of white chocolate.
My total spend came to £5.75 and I was satisfied with the amount of choice in store and how everything was packaged, though it felt perhaps a little pricey for some of the items, pushing me over budget by 75p.
Lidl
Lidl’s bakery is often praised on social media, and having visited for the first time this week, I can see why. Though the bakery is open and the food can be handled, there are plastic shields on the front and tongs provided for picking products up and placing them into the bags provided.
I was astounded at the low prices, having paid 75p for an almond croissant at Asda, a butter croissant cost just 39p in the German supermarket, while chocolate hazelnut came in at 49p. And it’s not just breakfast items that Lidl bake, either, they also do a range of pizza slices from 69p, and 39p pretzels.
To complete my shop, I added a sweet lemon bun for 55p, and a well-sized tiger loaf for 75p, 10p cheaper than what Asda was charging. At the checkout, my total came to £3.26, which I thought was incredible value for the amount of food I’d picked up, and could probably have brought three or four more items to tot it up to a fiver.
The tiger loaf is amazing for making eggy bread for breakfast, while the chocolate and hazelnut croissant tasted just like Nutella. The lemon sweet bun wasn’t amazing, and the pizza is best enjoyed fresh rather than after it’s gone cold - but I was still majorly impressed with the variety and quality for the cost.
M&S
I expected M&S’s bakery purchases to be the most expensive of the bunch, and unsurprisingly, it was. For my loaf I picked up a Cheddar and Red Leicester cob which was an eye-watering £2.50 for the size, though their white boule is much better value.
Meanwhile I bagged up four other pastries in the provided paper wrapper, not really calculating the costs in my head. At the checkout, I was hit with something of a shock and pulled a Liam Gallagher when he saw the price of Robbie Williams’ gig tickets.
‘HOW MUCH?’ I though, when the till displayed a total of £6.85. For that, along with the cob, I grabbed a chocolate twist for £1.25, a cheese scone for 85p, a cheese twist for £1.25 and a £1 pretzel.
The chocolate twist didn’t travel too well in my hot car and was a bit floppy by the time I got home, but the cob made a beautiful cheese and chorizo toastie while the scone accompanied a bowl of tomato soup the following day. The bakeries at large M&S stores definitely feel like more of an experience when visiting, but at a small Marks and Sparks, it just felt a bit overpriced.
Sainsburys
Sainsbury’s bakery sees a number of wrapped bread and baskets of uncovered bakes, but a handful have been packaged in duos or bundles of little Danish pastries. This time I went for a Pain de Campagne, which is a lovely French country loaf, as well as a cheese twist, cinnamon whirl and butter croissant.
The loaf came in at £1.80 while the cheese twist was 90p. I paid 80p each for the croissant and cinnamon roll, and was well within my £5 limit so threw in a pack of two lemon curd scones for £1.25, taking my total to £5.55. The cheese twist was the perfect comfort lunch with a bit of soup, and cinnamon rolls are the ideal indulgent Saturday morning brunch choice, while the scones were enjoyed in the sun with some clotted cream - what could feel more like summer?
Morrisons
It was Morrisons bakery where I felt there was the most originality, choice and value, and managed to get eight items for under £5. The supermarket has an offer where you can pick up six pastries or rolls for £2, making each one 33p each - even cheaper than Lidl.
I went for a beetroot roll as well as a ciabatta and a sub-style roll, as well as a pretzel, croissant and a bagel. Even their bread bakes were pretty cheap, paying £1.25 for a cheese and onion focaccia that Paul Hollywood would be proud of.
Then, to satisfy my sweet tooth, I grabbed two toffee and apple crowns for £1.65, having spent just £4.90, despite picking up the most items.
Tesco
Tesco had the second most expensive bakery - though this does entirely depend on what you pick up. Like at Asda, Tesco’s bakes were all pre-wrapped to avoid any germs, with a pack of two pretzels costing £1.50.
The jalapeno and three cheese bloomers sounded like something my dad would love, so I picked up a loaf of that for £1.80, which seemed fairly standard in price. It was my third item, however, which bumped up the price significantly. The cinnamon bun tear and share smothered in cream cheese frosting would serve around four people, but at a cost of £3.25, it pushed my total spend up to £6.55.
Verdict
Each of the supermarkets had some pretty tasty loaves on offer, but for me the best ones were the jalapeno and cheese from Tesco, and the cheese and onion focaccia from Morrisons. M&S would have been a contender with their cob, had it not been so wildly expensive.
In terms of pastries, I really enjoyed the chocolate and hazelnut croissant from Lidl, as well as the cheese twist from Sainsburys and the pretzels from Tesco, though I found some of Tesco’s offerings to be on the expensive side, especially when compared to Lidl and Morrisons.
My sweet tooth loved the toffee and apple crowns from Morrisons and the Sainsbury’s lemon curd scones. Overall, it was really difficult to choose between Lidl and Morrisons bakeries for the top spot.
Morrisons saw great deals and variety, while Lidl’s products cost literally pennies and were still warm when I picked them up. It’s a tough choice, but Lidl may have just cinched it with their pizza offerings and tasty croissants.
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