File photo. Courtesy of Unrefined Bakery.
Unrefined Bakery, which has a location in the Medallion Center, has been nominated for best gluten-free bakery in USA Today’s 10 Best 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards.
Unrefined joins 17 other bakeries on the list of nominees, and it seems to be the only bakery from Texas. This was Unrefined Bakery’s first year to be nominated in this contest.
“These bakeries have been nominated by an expert panel as the best in country for cooking up desserts and baked goods that are just as indulgent as their traditional counterparts,” according to the website for USA Today’s 10 Best 2025.
Unrefined Bakery previously was named “Best Bakery” in the Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate’s Best Of 2025 contest. Unrefined, which originally opened as Wholesome Foods Bakery in 2010, was started by Anne Hoyt and her daughter Taylor Nicholson. They first operated as a pop-up in Lake Highlands, then in a more permanent space in Old Lake Highlands and now they have multiple locations in the Metroplex, including at the Medallion Center on Northwest Highway. In addition to being gluten-free, their products are also organic, non-GMO, dye-free and soy-free. Vegan, Paleo and Keto options are also available.
“It’s just been a really big honor,” Nicholson said of the USA Today nomination. She doesn’t discount the local fanfare from the Advocate’s contest but also acknowledged that being recognized “on a national level is amazing.”
The contest isn’t over yet. Nominated bakeries are collecting votes online to determine which ones make the Top 10 list. Polls close on Monday, Sept. 15 at noon, Eastern Time (or 11 a.m. our time). Winners will be announced Sept. 24.
Last week, Nicholson noticed that Unrefined Bakery was at the top of the leaderboard in what looked like a tight race.
“We’re at the situation where every vote absolutely counts,” she said.
Click here to vote for Unrefined Bakery.
