Hen & Heifer

All the baked items are absolutely amazing! I went there this past Sunday morning (3-​13-​2016) and there was a sign on the door stating that they would no longer be making croissants! I hope at some point they start making them again– they were the best I have ever had.

I had been dying to visit this shop being a huge fan of all sorts of baked items and working in a cupcakery myself. The shop is quaint, adorned beautifully and the baked goods are just exquisite. It is a little disappointing how quickly they run out of certain items (although I had read reviews and was prepared for it) but what we did have was delicious. The best coffee cake I have ever tasted hands down. We also tried a salted caramel cookie and some of their toffee. Both buttery and delicious with amazing flavor balance. Their Matcha Soda was an interesting and yummy beverage as well. I don’t get down to Guilford often but will definitely make this a pit stop when I do!

Beyong amazing… you must go. Now.

This place is over the top in terms of quality and presentation. All I can say is wow!

The pastries are really, really good. Delicate, flavorful, sometimes surprising combinations. The only reason for four stars is the pricing: it’s very expensive. Something like $ 75 for a (whole) chocolate cake, and (my recollection) muffins/​scones are around $ 4 – 6 each. Still, a wonderful treat on occasion.

Cute place. The only thing that deters me from adding a fifth star is that the service is extremely slow and they run out of stuff by like 8:30 AM. Do they only make 5 plain croissants? Idk.
Anyway, the almond croissants are fantastic — though they could do without the icing — as is the plain shortbread. The iced coffee, from Ashlawn farm (another magical place you should visit) is excellent. I didn’t care for the chocolate pound cake — it was pretty bland — but was pretty satisfied by everything else.
Next time, I want to try the plain croissants and pistachio financier. They’ve got a devastating bakery case full of stuff begging to be sampled.

Amazing discovery in Guilford. Shoreline’s best sweets bakery by far. Hard to believe this place is in Guilford, but thankfully for all of us along the Shoreline, it is! Chocolate hazelnut croissants are to die for, as are the salted caramel cookies.

HOLY CROISSANTS, BATMAN. These croissants are literally EVERYTHING and then some. Best croissants outside of Paris, I swear. I came here at 8am on a Saturday and there was a line… for the croissants. I imagine you have to get here before 9am before they sell out. Completely worth getting up early in the morning.
The place is really adorable, and they seem to have a lot of offerings. The items for sale are not cheap (I think I spent $ 16+ dollars on 4 croissants) but they are totally worth it. I’d like to come back to try some of their other items because you can tell the bakers here have some serious skill. I can’t believe this gem of a place is in Guilford, and pretty hidden at that. Go here before the NYTimes catches on and ruins it with a review haha…

Quaint little coffee/​drinks & pastry shop down town guilford. Owner is friendly and food is delicious

Beautiful, delicious pastries, lovely shop. The shortbread is SO good! I am so glad that Guilford has a fine pastry shop like this! Definitely a source for special event treats!

What a great addition to Guilford Hen & Heifer is. Amazing treats and the setting is just lovely. Hats off to the baker (s) and the staff are wonderful too. Croissants are perfect and buttery, scones have that proper crumble and a slice of the coffee cake is heaven.
There is real artistry at work here and devotion to a craft.
I hope this continues to get great support by the community (it will from me) and stays with us for a good long time to come. Truly the bar has been raised in the sweets department.

A tiny French bakery, tucked in a plaza near the Guilford Green. We found out about this spot through a silent auction. We had to check out the $ 85 chocolate cake. I was warned that they might close at 1:00 pm. I was surprised to find them open, when we showed up around 1:30 pm. Insides, there are a few small tables and a counter. They did a wonderful job on the decorating. It’s really quite charming. There are also a few tables outside on a patio.
We were told that they were open till 4:00 pm, so I was a little upset to find out that they had already run out of 1 of 3 flavors of macaroons. At $ 3 a piece, they were on the smaller side. I chose a coconut; the texture was spot on, and I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. It was not dry, it was actually moist in the center.
I also purchased a lemon Madeleine for my son. It had a light glaze and was sprinkled with lavender. He wasn’t big on the lavender, but loved the buttery little cookie. Maybe next time, I’ll get him the bigger than his head, hen or heifer cookie.
Oh, and that $ 85 chocolate cake was in the case. It looked like it was worth every penny, just not in my budget. Would love to try it one day!

This is a teeny tiny little bakery tucked away by the Guilford Green. You head inside and see a beautiful bakery case with what they have available. Their friendly and polite staff will help you make your selections. Everything is always delicious, but I highly recommend the salted caramel cookies, croissants, and their fruit/​yogurt/​granola parfaits. Their drinks are also delicious, the fresh squeezed OJ is my favorite and their iced tea gets an honorable mention. There is an outdoor patio to sit at during nice weather.

If you want to feel like you’re having breakfast in Paris without getting on a plane, this is the place for you. Perfect location on Green. The décor is precious. The croissants are extraordinary and the other pastries are unique, beautiful and delicious! Outdoor seating in good weather is a treat. If you want to bring something impressive to give to a hostess, something from here would be excellent. Bön Appetit

This cute French patisserie brings me back to France! I love coming here. The people are so nice and what I have had I have enjoyed. I kind of wish that their chocolate croissants were made with a thin layer of chocolate and not the éclair like filling. But, that is the only negative. LOVE!

We’re here at least once a week. Addicted to their coffee, Ashlawn Farms. Best croissants outside of Paris (yes, better than Aux Delices croissants). Too bad they don’t make baguettes. The best baguettes in CT are from Aux Delices. H&H chocolate loaf cake and coffee cake are good too. And their hen shortbread cookie and heifer chocolate shortbread cookie. Can’t really go wrong with any of the pastries, delicious. Best cream puff I’ve had in my life. Period. How is it possible that it tastes even better than it looks? I’m still licking the wrapper. See my photo. Yes, it tastes better than it looks. Tiramisu is delicious but skews heavier on the coffee flavor. I still like Whole Foods tiramisu, as mundane as that sounds… crème brûlée I’d rather have the one at Café Routier.

Purely and simply fantastic French pastries in CT. The star of the show (for me at least) is the croissant. Hen & Heifer makes a true, real butter croissant that is of the same greatness as those found in Paris. If you want a croissant, come early! They open at 8 and are generally sold out by 9:30, barring inclement weather.
Their other baked goods are quite good as well. Excellently made and not pressing too high on the sweet scale. It’s hard to go wrong here, and if you like chocolate I recommend the Chocolate pot de Crème. The Alfajor is also worth a try. It melts in the mouth and tastes very much like a complete thought. (Also, yes, the Alfajor is not actually a French pastry, but who cares)

ONE STAR?! what the?! yah. . so, i am not crazy. really, i went to Hen & Heifer after hearing so much great stuff about them. Before I left i checked out their facebook and website and then drove the 30 miles or so. and. they. were. closed for vacation??? what? i re-​checked the facebooks and internets and there was no mention of this. Usually in this modern day and age the little white paper sign on the door isn’t the only way to notify your customers that you are closed for vacation. I really want to go back to here, but next time i will email and call and fax them just to be sure they are open. big parking lot. looks like a cute place. wish i got some baked goods.

Oddly I can’t help but think of Hogs & Heifers whenever I see the name of this place. Yes Hogs & Heifers is the Manhattan bar that the mega blockbuster hit movie Coyote Ugly was largely based on. Other than having somewhat similar names fortunately the two businesses have nothing in common.
Hen & Heifer is a tiny French Pastry shop located behind the main shops along the Guilford green. And when I say tiny boy do I mean tiny. Even the offerings behind the counter are tiny. Tiny as in slim pickings. But hey, in their defense, the town of Guilford is small and customer traffic can’t be expected to be as high as some of the bigger pastry shops like in NYC.
The small sampling of French pastries I tasted were all OK. I just wish their selection offered a little more bang for your buck. IMO sizes were small and prices were inversely high. But I get it. I get that French cuisine requires extra special attention and special ingredients. I also get that any food item with the slightest association to France automatically commands a 33% upcharge in price. French restaurants. French bakeries. They all do it. What I don’t get how everyday French people can afford to eat their own food on a continuous basis and still have money left over for anything else.
By the way, I hope this new shop doesn’t succumb to the curse of this location. The curse is that no business ever lasts here more than a couple years here. Perhaps if they find themselves in dire straits they can hire scantily clad females to dance on their countertops. Heck, it worked for Hogs and Heifers ;-)

Hen & Heifer is an excellent addition to the shoreline, particularly Guilford, with it’s delectable array of French pastries. When I learned of their upcoming opening several months prior, I began stalking their opening and, finally, two Thursdays ago, they opened their doors for business. I went today to find out what this place is about.
I walked in a couple of hours before closing. Immediately, I noticed the macarons, They had vanilla, raspberry, salted caramel, and milk chocolate. They weren’t as puffy as I have seen at other places but they still looked very good. Since it was just about the end of the day, they’d sold out of some things (like croissants — which they explained they make 4 – 5 dozen of every morning but they tend to sell out within a couple of hours).
There were still plenty of treats left such as charming, good-​sized, sugar cookies in the shape of chickens (they’d sold out of the cows earlier), a chocolate tart, lemon olive oil cakes, whole wheat carrot muffins, banana financiers, coffee cake, madeleines, and a yogurt jam granola parfait that looked that looked exquisite. They make their own rhubarb jam and granola while the yogurt is made fresh at a farm nearby.
Beverages available today included coffee from Ashlawn Farm in Lyme, CT, hot and iced (iced coffee brewed Japanese style, which is a hot brew placed immediately over ice), housemade lemonade infused with cardamom and black pepper, fresh squeeze orange juice, and bottled beverages: Fever Tree Ginger Ale, Saratoga natural spring water, and Coke/​Diet Coke.
I was curious about both the iced coffee and the lemonade so the owner and his employee, Brett, gave me a sample of each over ice. While cold brew is my preference for iced coffee, theirs was quite good with some vanilla + caramel syrup mixed in, and a splash of milk. The lemonade was sweet and tart, the black pepper and cardamon adding an extra element of interest to the strong lemon presence.
After much deliberation, I finally, with the help of the owner, decided to try the cannele, which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. He was absolutely on point with his recommendation. This new-​to-​me (I’ve never seen it elsewhere and he noted that it’s even difficult to find in French bakeries in NYC) pastry was described by him as custardy, like crème brûlée, but also bread-​like. I took it outside to enjoy at one of the outdoor tables. The outside seating area is small but wonderful, having an intimate feel similar to sitting on a friends deck or patio while soaking in the sun.
The cannele was impressively delicious. With each bite I was met with a firm, slightly crunchy exterior delicately scented with a touch of honey — the result of lining the uniquely shaped copper baking pan with a combination of butter and beeswax. This contrasted beautifully against the soft and custardy interior that was speckled with vanilla bean. It was amazing. After finishing, I immediately went back in to get another for my boyfriend, because something this good needs to be shared! In addition, I picked up a salted caramel macaron for myself, and it was fantastic as well.
The inside space is quite small with minimal seating. There is more seating outdoors. The owner, trained at the French Culinary Institute, was a pleasure to talk with as was Brett. I’m thrilled to have Hen & Heifer join the Guilford food scene. I will be living here full-​time by next month and I’ve a feeling I will be coming to Hen & Heifer quite regularly.
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6÷2÷13 Update: Tried the almond croissant, chocolate croissant, and yogurt parfait today. Heavenly.