Brunch doesn’t always have to be a sit-down affair, but it should always be delicious. Even if you’re not up for dressing up and drowning in bottomless mimosas, these on-the-go weekend sweets still feel special. Here are some of our favorite quick breakfast spots for all things buttery and flaky:
A Baked Joint
430 K St., NW
This bread bakery’s freshly made cinnamon rolls, topped with melty frosting, are only available on Saturdays and Sundays (they often sell out by 11 AM). Another weekend special: crème brûlée French toast made with challah and served with fruit and bacon.
Baker’s Daughter
1402 Okie St., NE; 675 I St., NW; 1201 K St., NW
Pick up a slice of cinnamon-crumble coffee cake or a raspberry crumble bar from one of this cafe’s three locations. If you’re in the mood for something heartier, try the avocado toast, which is constructed on house-baked super-seeded rye bread and topped with micro basil, espelette, and pickled red onions.
Black Market Bakers
2436 Solomons Island Rd., Annapolis
An early wake up is worth it for the blueberry-maple scone at this mobile bakery. Pastry-fiends can be found lining up as early as 6 AM, as items on their rotating menu (like last week’s chai cruffin and raspberry-fig danish) often sell out. The selections are posted on Instagram and Facebook every Friday afternoon before the food truck opens at 7 AM (it closes at 11 AM) on Saturdays and Sundays in the Chevy’s parking lot. If you’re feeling sleepy, the truck serves Rise Up coffee.
Junction Bakery
238 Massachusetts Ave., NE; 1508 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria; 5471 Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase
Last week, Washingtonian senior editor Andrew Beaujon stopped by Junction in Del Ray for coffee and a pastry. He went all-in on the peach cruffin—a peaches-and-cream-filled, muffin-shaped croissant. “It was definitely one of the best things I’ve eaten lately,” he says. There’s also a peach danish made with croissant dough and topped with frangipane and huge slices of the stone fruit.
Mah-Ze-Dahr Bakery
1201 Half St., SE; 1550 Crystal Drive, Arlington
Stop by this New York-based bakery for pain au chocolat—layers of yeasty dough wrapped around a bar of semi-sweet valrhona chocolate. Or, try a tender brioche donut with vanilla pastry cream dipped in sugar mixed with vanilla bean.
Pluma
391 Morse St., NE
Try a fresh chocolate, almond or pistachio croissant from this bright and airy bakery near Union Market. Add a cup of Ceremony or Small Planes coffee.
SakuSaku Flakerie
3417 Connecticut Ave., NW
This bakery, which runs out of the Cleveland Park Al Volo, offers unique breakfast sweets. Recent hits have been a kouign amann with brown-sugar syrup and Thai-milk-tea pastry cream; a lemon-meringue-pie cruffin; and a layering of matcha crepes.
Sunday Morning Bakehouse
11869 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda
This summer marked the return of the peach tartine — a croissant base topped with vanilla pastry cream, yellow peaches and a buttery brown sugar crumble. Luckily, the Pike & Rose bakery is open every day (not just Sundays) from 8 AM to 6 PM.
Yellow
1346 Fourth St., SE
At this shop, which is part of the Navy Yard Levantine restaurant Albi, visitors can find freshly-baked favorites both sweet and savory. We’re partial to the labne croissant and golden-date coffee cake.
Anne Tate, originally from Annapolis, MD, joined Washingtonian in July 2021. She is a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she studied journalism and psychology.
