If you have a sweet tooth, spring brought some sour news.

Herman’s Bakery, an art deco Dundalk shop known for its strawberry shortcake and marshmallow doughnuts, is closing Wednesday. Maillard Pastries, which serves fluffy, buttery croissants and pastries in Hamilton and Hampden locations, announced that both its shops will close after Easter.

Maillard’s Hamilton location replaced another beloved bakery, Bramble Baking Co., which closed in 2023 with the owner citing burnout and high operating costs. Those factors hurt Maillard, too.

Those closures followed the demise of the beloved Hoehn’s Bakery in Highlandtown, which shut its doors in 2021 after 94 years. And some Baltimoreans still pine for the strawberry pie they’ve missed since 1999, when the vaunted Haussner’s closed.

The increased cost of fresh ingredients, coupled with the proliferation of grocery store bakeries, has harmed the old standbys. But plenty of locally owned bakeries remain in Baltimore County. These are places your grandmother would love — maybe even did.

You can find a great cake at Graul’s or Giant. But when nothing but a sticky raisin bun or a drippy strawberry cheesecake will do, these shops take you back in time.

Yia Yia’s Bakery

9415 Philadelphia Road, Rosedale

410-238-2253

On a recent Friday evening, Heather and Chris Haddix were waiting at this Greek bakery in eastern Baltimore County for an assortment of cookies and cheesecake slices. They’d already braved the drive from Pennsylvania to get there. Yes, there are bakeries in York; no, there are none as delicious as Yia Yia’s, they said.

Assorted Greek pastries, cookies, cheesecakes, ice cream, fruit tarts, and wedding and birthday cakes are popular here.

For those who miss Herman’s strawberry shortcake, Yia Yia’s has a beautiful version. The other side of the bakery has a pizzeria and sandwich place; you can grab dinner and a breakfast pastry at the same time. They also offer coffee drinks and prepackaged fresh-baked goods.

Croustille Café

1404 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville

(410) 559-6940

As befits a French bakery, the stars here are Parisian: buttery croissants, sticky pain raisin and a chocolatey pain Suisse so delicious that you probably should get one for someone you really love.

Croustille’s dedicated staff believe that kosher food should be beautiful and delicious. Like Yia Yia’s, Croustille offers coffee and a kitchen that turns out savory foods — pizza, sandwiches and omelets.

Your grandmother would recognize its pastry game, but your college-age niece or nephew would, too. It’s a quiet place to hold a business meeting, study or work remotely. Whatever you’re doing will be more fun if you can eat a croissant while doing it.

Fenwick Bakery

7219 Harford Road, Parkville

410-444-6410

You can smell the nostalgia at this 100-year-old family bakery, which Swiss immigrants opened in the city and then moved to Parkville. The menu is on black boards with white letters; bring your reading glasses.

Fenwick is where Baltimoreans buy their peach cake in early summer. Otherwise, the menu is simple: pies and tarts; pastries and cookies; breads and rolls; decorated cakes. The marshmallow doughnuts are a favorite, but all of the dozen doughnuts I bought for the office went quickly. The coffee’s free and so is the parking in the adjacent lot.

Fenwick continues to make 25th- and 50th-anniversary cakes for couples who celebrated their weddings with one of its three-tiered cakes. That’s customer loyalty. They’re running a special on strawberry shortcake, for those who will miss Herman’s, for $2 a slice.

Simon’s Bakery

582 Cranbrook Road, Cockeysville

410-667-9832

This small Cockeysville bakery is known for super-thin sugar cookies, marshmallow doughnuts, muffins, pies, smearcase (German) cheesecake and jelly turnovers. It’s not a place for bread, other than skull-sized croissants. Free coffee comes from the pot behind an old-fashioned mixer.

Simon’s still has the wood paneling you probably remember from your grandparents’ basement. It is so beloved that a woman commented on their Facebook page that she considered moving back to Baltimore just to eat their baked goods. Simon’s doesn’t ship. It doesn’t have a website. It’s the kind of shop whose favorites are passed down from family to family.

Call it old-fashioned, call it old-school. Just call early, because your favorites are probably other customers’ favorites, too. When we arrived admittedly fashionably late on a Sunday, only one marshmallow doughnut remained. We bought it, but it wasn’t my favorite.

I agree with the Baltimoreans who adore their thin sugar cookies. Divine.

Pariser’s Bakery

6711 Reisterstown Road, Park Heights/Pikesville

(410) 764-1700

Chances are decent you’ve sampled some of Pariser’s cookies, challah or cakes. This kosher bakery, which opened in 1889, sells products through more than two dozen Giant supermarkets in the region. It’s known for custom-made cakes and cookies for celebrations, as well as traditional Jewish favorites like hamantashen and black-and-white cookies.

I was hoping to grab some bourekas — flaky pastries filled with potatoes, spinach or mushrooms — but they only have those on Fridays. I enjoyed an apricot hamantashen, a triangle-shaped cookie Jewish families bake on Purim. My office-mates devoured the rugelach, small pastries rolled in chocolate, raspberry or poppy filling.

Fresh Bakery

10351 Reisterstown Road, Owings Mills

(410) 530-0098

Sleek and modern, Fresh Bakery delivers within 40 miles. It does corporate events. Its mini cupcakes look made for Instagram. Its cakes are square, but its marketing is hip. Fresh Bakery’s cake designers can present an elegant wedding cake, or a fun kids’ cake.

Your grandmother might not recognize this 21st-century shop, but when she tastes Fresh Bakery’s pies or pull-apart cakes, chances are she’ll have no complaints.

On a recent visit, Demitria Scott was picking up several cakes to celebrate her 59th birthday. She recommended the cake slices over cupcakes, saying they were moister. The coconut, chocolate, vanilla and banana slices I left in the office kitchen disappeared quickly.

The peach cobbler, though? That’s what I’d drive around the Beltway for, any day of the week.