Bakeries in Boulder Creek: Four Bakers, Four Ways to Buy

Local Guides

May 6

Boulder Creek has four bakeries, and not one of them keeps a walk-in storefront of its own. Each of the four has settled on a different way of getting baked goods to you, and between them the town has fresh local baking most days of the week. One sells from a farmstand on weekends. One loads up for the farmers market. One bakes to order from a licensed home kitchen. One is the established cake bakery working out of the back kitchen at a downtown cafe. Here's how you buy from each.

Doughlicious Farmstand: preorder for a weekend pickup

The simplest model of the four: bake at home, sell to the neighbors. Doughlicious is run by a baker named Liz from a home on the north side of Boulder Creek, and it works on preorder. A weekly order form goes up on its Facebook page, you place your order, and you pick it up Friday or Saturday. The form runs to sourdough loaves in a handful of flavors (pesto parmesan, jalapeno cheddar, and roasted garlic and artichoke among them, $6 to $8 a loaf at this writing, sliced on request), plus cinnamon rolls, banana bread, and a rotating cast of cookies and sweet treats. Questions go to doughliciousbyliz@gmail.com. Because it operates from a home, we don't publish the address; the Facebook page is the front door.

Wildstone Bakery: catch the market stall

Wildstone is the closest thing Boulder Creek has to a dedicated bread bakery, and its model is the market circuit. The bakery is based in town, but the naturally fermented loaves, sourdough bagels, pastries, and seasonal tarts go out to farmers market stalls rather than a shop counter. Its published schedule currently lists the Downtown Santa Cruz Farmers Market on Wednesdays from 12:30 to 5 p.m., and the Ben Lomond Village Market on Mill Street on first Saturdays, June through October, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The loaves come with names like Raisin Hell and Olive Another Day alongside plain sourdough and ciabatta, and you can call 831-252-0706 or email info@wildstonebakery.com to ask about ordering ahead. It isn't a regular at Boulder Creek's own Thursday market at Junction Park, so plan on Santa Cruz or Ben Lomond for the stall.

Butter Late Than Never: order ahead

Butter Late Than Never Baking Co. skips the stall and the stand entirely. It's a licensed cottage bakery working from a Boulder Creek home kitchen, and everything moves by order: an online shop at butterlatethannever.com for the standing lineup, email for custom requests, and local delivery to get it to you. The lineup leans sweet and playful, with fresh-baked cookies in ice-cream-inspired flavors like Orange Creamsicle and Root Beer Float, plus s'mores cookies, brownies, mini donuts, and cookie cakes. Custom orders go to butterlatethanneverbakingco@gmail.com, and the phone is 510-390-5548. Under California's cottage food rules it can distribute within the state only, which makes it the one Boulder Creek bakery that can send a box to a friend in Sacramento. There's no storefront and no published address, by design.

Dessert First Bakery: order through the counter at Jenna Sue's

Dessert First is the established one, and its business is custom and wholesale baking, specializing in wedding and celebration cakes and desserts made with all-natural ingredients, no preservatives or additives. It has no storefront of its own: it operates out of the back kitchen at Jenna Sue's Cafe, at 13090 Highway 9, Suite 2, and the cafe's counter and phone line are how you reach it. Call 831-338-7008 (the same line as the cafe) or start at dessertfirstbakery.com. This isn't a walk-in bakery with a case to browse; it's an order-ahead operation, so come with a date in hand, especially for a wedding, and ask about delivery for large orders when you book.

Four models, one small town

Towns several times Boulder Creek's size support one bakery or none. Boulder Creek supports four because none of them is carrying the fixed costs of a shop. The farmstand bakes to a weekly preorder list. The market stall goes where the customers already are. The cottage kitchen bakes only what's ordered. The established bakery works out of a cafe's back kitchen and puts the overhead into the cakes. Four different answers to the same problem, and the result is a town where fresh local baking is available most of the week, once you know which form, stall, inbox, or counter to go to.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a walk-in bakery in Boulder Creek?

No. All four bakeries work by preorder, market stall, or custom order rather than a shop counter. For fresh-baked goods without ordering ahead, Jenna Sue's Cafe bakes on site, in the same kitchen Dessert First works from.

Where can I buy sourdough in Boulder Creek?

Through Doughlicious's weekly preorder form for a Friday or Saturday pickup, or from Wildstone at its farmers market stalls. Our sourdough guide covers the full picture, including a Ben Lomond option.

Who makes custom cakes near Boulder Creek?

Dessert First Bakery takes custom wedding and celebration cake orders, and Butter Late Than Never takes custom orders for cookies, brownies, and cookie cakes. For the full wedding picture, see our wedding venues and vendors guide.

Do any Boulder Creek bakeries deliver?

Butter Late Than Never delivers locally and can ship within California. Dessert First handles delivery on large orders; ask when you order. The other two are pickup operations.