Bleeding Heart Bakery
Coffee/Tea/Juice, Grocery/Bakery/Deli
American
A vegan-friendly bakery
An entirely organic and self-proclaimed bleeding heart liberal bakery featuring numerous vegan items, including cakes, cookies, scones, and even freshly made vegan marshmallows, although many of the items are not marked vegan and you'll just have to ask the employees to show you what is vegan. At least one of their daily soups is also vegan.
They also now serve brunch from 9-3 on Saturday and Sunday.
On the corner of Belmont and Damen.
- (Mostly) Organic
- Brunch
- Kid-Friendly
Added by Eric Purdy on Dec 13 05 (updated Sep 16)
Reviews
Dang, I sure wish they had vegan marshmallows when I visited here. They had a great selection of scones and cupcakes (and both soups of the day were vegan), so I was pretty happy with that. Unfortunately, the "take a hike" scone that I got (with flax seed, pepitas, and dried fruit), was pretty dry and not very flavorful.
I'm also disappointed to learn that despite being "bleeding heart" liberals, they think that selling organic chocolate-dipped bacon is acceptable. Chocolate-dipped pigs ass is cruel whether it's organic or not. Go veg! :)
This bakery is cute little find in the Ukrainian Village! They have a nice assortment of vegan-friendly goodies. I myself tried two big cookies (chocolate chip and gingersnap) which were quite good and comparable if not better than their non-vegan counterparts. I also tried a scone, which was also good. I wasn't so crazy about one of the brownies they had, but I was quite happy overall. The prices I think are a little high, but they do use organic ingredients, so it's justifiable. Definitely make a trip here if you have the chance.
So I went back recently and after trying one of their sandwiches to go, I was even more impressed. I look forward to trying their brunch as well.
This place is amazing. It's one of the few places in Chicago where vegans can get desserts that don't taste "vegan." Make sure to show up on a Saturday to sample their vegan quiche. It's the best quiche that I've ever had. The fruit tarts are also fantastic. They usually make them with some sort of cream, but often they have a few jam-filled ones in the back that are 100% vegan. The lavendar lemonade is another one of my favorite Bleeding Heart specialties.
As for the other desserts, here is how I would rate them:
Tofu Chocolate Mousse Cake - I was not the biggest fan of this, namely because I don't like my desserts to taste like tofu. In fact, I think this might have been the only item that I have ever bought something from the Bleeding Heart Bakery that I didn't like.
Brownies - I like the ginger brownies, although they tend to be somewhat brittle. I have never tried the banana nut.
Cookies - The chocolate chip cookies are amazing. The ginger cookies are also quite good. My favorite cookies are the Earl Gray Tea cookies - they have actual flecks of Earl Gray Tea in them.
Blueberry Buckle - These little cakes remind me somewhat of muffins. They're excellent breakfast food.
Flavored vegan marshmellows - These range, depending on the flavor that you choose. I am a big fan of the vanilla bean marshmellows .
Fruit candies - these are gummy and sweet and they really taste like fresh fruit.
Bleeding Heart is a nice little cafe with cool decor and a cozy atmosphere. They have more than a few vegan options by way of baked goods.
I had a triple chocolate cupcake, a "Ginger Rogers" cupcake, and a scone which is supposedly their best-selling item in the whole shop. The cupcakes were 2 for 1, which is a great deal, though I'm not sure when that promotion is valid.
The triple chocolate cupcake was good, though it had a buttery flavor that I didn't like. The Ginger Rogers was much better and had a soft, moist cake bottom and creamy chocolate frosting. On a whole, I would say it's my favorite vegan cupcake in Chicago, now that I've tried a few different places.
The scone was tasty, though it seemed more like a crumbly pastry filled with nuts and other goodies. It's definitely large enough for two people to share over a few cups of tea.