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Looking for the best bakeries in Kansas City? The Axcet HR Solutions team has plenty of opinions about where to find the area’s best cakes, cookies, pastries, breads, doughnuts, and other baked treats.
Axcet has proudly called Kansas City home since 1988. As a local professional employer organization, we work closely with small and midsized businesses throughout the metro—and we enjoy supporting the restaurants, shops, and neighborhood businesses that make our community distinctive.
That inspired another important office assignment: surveying the Axcet team to identify our favorite Kansas City bakeries.
Our original survey included 15 bakeries representing everything from neighborhood institutions and custom cake shops to artisan bread makers, doughnut counters and specialty bakeries. When the votes were counted, McLain’s Bakery + Market took the top spot, with Best Regards Bakery & Café and Dolce Bakery rounding out the team’s top three.
For this guide, a local bakery is one that was founded in the Kansas City area, maintains strong roots in the metro or has become a meaningful part of the communities it serves.
The bakeries considered by the Axcet team range from independent neighborhood storefronts and family-run businesses to wholesale bread makers and Kansas City-founded brands with multiple locations. Some specialize in one particular treat, while others offer broad menus filled with breads, pastries, cakes, cookies and breakfast items.
What they share is a connection to Kansas City. These bakeries contribute to the local food scene, provide gathering places for their neighborhoods and give residents an opportunity to support businesses with ties to the community.
For our survey, we focused primarily on bakeries offering a broader variety of baked goods, although several specialty businesses also were included because of their longstanding popularity in the Kansas City area.
The results of the Axcet team survey were:
The full group of bakeries considered included:
The survey included locally owned neighborhood shops, specialty bakeries, Kansas City-founded brands, and other bakery businesses with a significant presence in the metro.
One contender has changed since the original survey. Enchanté closed its retail storefront on Main Street in March 2025. The location reopened the following month as Soli Deo Coffee + Bakery under new ownership.
Now, let’s take a closer look at the bakeries that finished at the top of the Axcet team’s list.
McLain’s Bakery began serving Kansas City’s Waldo neighborhood in October 1945. The McLain family built the bakery’s original legacy over more than six decades before the Hirleman family acquired the business in March 2014.
The new owners expanded McLain’s from a traditional bakery and cakery into a bakery, coffee shop, breakfast destination and neighborhood gathering place. Today, McLain’s operates locations in Waldo, Overland Park, Shawnee, south Overland Park’s Stanley area and North Kansas City.
That combination of local history, familiar favorites and an expanded café menu helped McLain’s earn first place in the Axcet team survey.
McLain’s serves cakes, cookies, pastries, breakfast items, lunch, and locally roasted coffee, but one small treat has become particularly connected to its Kansas City history: the cupcookie.
The signature cupcookie starts with a pecan sandy-style cookie base and is topped with either chocolate fudge frosting or vanilla buttercream. Other longtime favorites include butter rolls, cinnamon rolls, birthday cakes and wedding cakes.
McLain’s also offers catering, corporate gifting, custom cakes, private events and bakery cases filled with rotating seasonal items.
Select McLain’s menu items are made with gluten-friendly ingredients, and some vegan-friendly choices are available. Customers with allergies or sensitivities should note that McLain’s is not a gluten-free facility, and cross-contact may occur.
The cakery offers gluten-free and dairy-free cakes with advance notice, but it does not currently offer vegan cakes.
For generations of Kansas Citians, McLain’s has been more than a place to buy dessert. Its familiar recipes, neighborhood locations, and commitment to creating places where people can gather helped make it the Axcet team’s favorite bakery in Kansas City.
Cherrie Duensing launched Best Regards Gift Baskets from her family’s basement in 1993. As the business grew, her husband, Robert, began developing original recipes, reportedly testing dozens of variations before perfecting his signature chocolate chip cookie.
That experimentation helped shape the company’s next chapter. Best Regards opened a commercial bakery in 2002, and Kansas City radio personality Toby Tobin introduced Robert’s cookies to a wider audience in 2007.
The family moved into its Overland Park bakery in 2011 and launched Best Regards Bakery & Café the following year, expanding the menu to include scratch-made lunches, soups, sauces, artisan breads and other café offerings.
Best Regards is known for its large, soft cookies, artisan breads, cinnamon rolls, pastries and scratch-made café menu.
Its cranberry orange cookie has become one of the bakery’s signature items. Other customer favorites include brioche cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting, Texas sheet cake, decorated sugar cookies and rotating seasonal treats.
Everything is prepared from scratch using recipes developed by the owners, giving Best Regards the personal, family-run character that helped it finish near the top of the Axcet team’s survey.
Location: 6759 W. 119th St., Overland Park, Kansas
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Owner Erin Brown opened Dolce Bakery in Prairie Village in November 2007. Since then, the bakery has become known for combining classic American baked goods with imaginative, highly detailed designs.
Dolce’s “every batch from scratch” approach extends across cakes, cookies, cupcakes, breakfast sweets, bars and seasonal collections.
Dolce is particularly well known for decorated sugar cookies and custom desserts created for birthdays, weddings, baby showers, holidays, local sports celebrations and other occasions.
Its wedding offerings include tiered cakes, cookie cakes, dessert tables, iced sugar cookies and handcrafted favors. Customers also can choose from ready-to-order and last-minute cakes when a fully custom order is not necessary.
Dolce also offers a gluten-free-friendly cake collection. Because wheat and gluten are present in the bakery, however, the bakery cautions that those items may come into contact with gluten and are not recommended for people with celiac disease or serious gluten sensitivity.
Dolce’s combination of scratch baking, creative design and welcoming Prairie Village storefront helped it earn a place among the Axcet team’s favorite Kansas City bakeries.
Location: 3930 W. 69th Terrace, Prairie Village, Kansas
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McLain’s, Best Regards, and Dolce topped the original Axcet survey, but Kansas City’s bakery scene continues to offer far more than three choices.
The following businesses were not additional winners in the Axcet poll. They are included as current local options readers may want to explore.
Blackhole Bakery specializes in scratch-made French pastries, doughnuts, croissants, puff pastries, cinnamon rolls and mochi doughnuts.
Located on Troost Avenue, the bakery operates on a first-come, first-served basis and is known to sell out of popular items.
Location: 5531 Troost Ave., Kansas City, Missouri
Ibis Bakery produces artisan breads and pastries available at Messenger Coffee Co. in the Crossroads and Black Dog Coffeehouse in Lenexa, as well as through several restaurant and hospitality partners around Kansas City.
Its offerings range from naturally leavened breads to laminated pastries and seasonal baked goods.
Locations: Messenger Coffee Co., 1624 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Missouri; and Black Dog Coffeehouse, 12817 W. 87th St. Parkway, Lenexa, Kansas
Banksia brings an Australian perspective to Kansas City’s bakery and café scene. Its menu combines multicultural Australian influences with elements of a classic European bakery and café.
The bakery case includes croissants, pain au chocolat, danishes, muffins, cakes, cookies and other pastries. Banksia currently operates a South Plaza café and a downtown bistro.
Locations: 4800 Main St. and 1183 Main St., Kansas City, Missouri
One reason it is difficult to name a single best bakery in Kansas City is that the metro’s bakeries specialize in dramatically different products.
For fresh bread and European-inspired pastries, consider:
Farm to Market is primarily a wholesale bakery rather than a traditional walk-in bakery. Founded in Kansas City in 1993, it supplies naturally leavened breads, rolls, and buns to grocery stores and restaurants throughout the metro.
For birthdays, weddings, office celebrations and custom desserts, the original survey included:
These businesses offer different combinations of cakes, decorated cookies, pastries, dessert trays, catering, and custom orders.
Kansas City-area options for doughnuts and early-morning bakery runs include:
Fluffy Fresh is particularly known as an old-school neighborhood doughnut shop where popular items may sell out early.
The Upper Crust specializes in pies, while Opera House Bakery offers a rotating bakery case featuring items such as muffins, cookies, cupcakes, cakes and cinnamon rolls.
Kansas City also has bakeries focused on particular dietary needs.
Mud Pie Vegan Bakery in Mission is a 100% plant-based bakery offering vegan pastries, baked goods, and a growing selection of gluten-free options. Its products contain no dairy, eggs or other animal-derived ingredients.
Three Bears Bakery KC in Lenexa became completely gluten-free in 2024. It specializes in gluten-free, sugar-free or no-sugar-added, and low-carb baked goods.
Customers managing celiac disease or food allergies should always speak directly with the bakery about ingredients, preparation areas and cross-contact risks before ordering.
Kansas City’s bakery community includes historic neighborhood institutions, wholesale bread companies, specialty dessert shops, family-run cafés and newer bakeries introducing different culinary traditions to the metro.
Whether you need a custom cake, a loaf of artisan bread, a box of office treats, or simply a pastry to enjoy with coffee, supporting a Kansas City-area bakery helps sustain the businesses that add flavor and character to our community.
The Axcet team’s survey may have produced a clear favorite, but the variety throughout the metro means there is no shortage of bakeries left to try.
Axcet HR Solutions has been headquartered in Kansas City since 1988. As a certified PEO, we help small and midsized businesses manage human resources, payroll, employee benefits, workplace safety, and risk management.
We’re also committed to supporting the local companies, nonprofit organizations, and community initiatives that make Kansas City a better place to live and work.
From helping employers solve complex workforce challenges to recognizing the bakeries and restaurants our employees love, we’re proud to celebrate the community Axcet calls home.
Written by
Jeanette Coleman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is the Director of Human Resources at Axcet HR Solutions, where she has contributed her expertise for over 21 years.
As a leader in the HR industry, she holds advanced certifications as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and SHRM-Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). Jeanette oversees HR strategy and operations, ensuring Axcet delivers exceptional HR services that help small and mid-sized businesses stay compliant and grow.
With a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from Keller Graduate School and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Kansas State University, Jeanette is well-equipped to lead and support clients in navigating complex HR challenges.
Throughout her 15-year tenure as Director of Human Resources, she has been instrumental in positioning Axcet as the Midwest’s largest and premier Professional Employer Organization (PEO). Her previous roles at Axcet include Director of Employee Benefits and Senior HR Consultant, where she gained extensive experience in HR outsourcing, and employee risk management.
Jeanette’s expertise has been recognized through industry and regional publications. She co-authored the article “High-Touch in the Age of High-Tech: How PEOs Can Embrace AI Without Losing Their Humanity” (https://peoinsider.org/articles/high-touch-in-the-age-of-high-tech-how-peos-can-embrace-ai-without-losing-their-humanity/) for PEO Insider (March 2026), alongside Jo McClure, and was featured in Ingram’s Magazine in a Q&A (https://ingrams.com/article/qa-with-jeanette-coleman/) discussing generational change, technology, and workplace culture. These contributions reflect her perspective on balancing innovation with the human side of HR.
Jeanette’s leadership reflects her deep commitment to helping businesses thrive through strategic, compliance-driven HR solutions. Through her writing, she shares insights on HR strategy, compliance, and best practices to help employers confidently manage their workforce.
Published in: PEO Insider and Ingram's
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