Initial critical response to Bavarian Fruit Bread was generally positive. According to Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75 out of 100, based on 15 reviews.^[7]

Many of the positive reviews focused heavily on Sandoval's vocals,^[7] with Q magazine stating that "the glacial tones and chimes that The Velvet Underground modelled on "Sunday Morning" are invoked with absolute perfection. Yet even beyond this, Sandoval's sedated, spellbound voice remains a remarkable presence."^[12] Lori Miller Barrett, in an overwhelmingly positive review of the album for neumu.net, stated "it's magical and mysterious, compelling and complex," before giving the record a 10 out of 10 score.^[9] Alternative Press described the album as "consistently intriguing, haunting and above all, very good," before giving the album a 9 out of 10 score.^[4]

Nathan Rooney from Pitchfork opened his review with the personal assessment that he had "begun to grow tired of the Mazzy Star formula before [the group] dissolved," and that without a solid shift in theme and sound from that of her previous work with Mazzy Star, Bavarian Fruit Bread ended up sounding like "a narcissistic and self-paroding record." However, the opening three tracks and the "gorgeous" Charlotte were singled out for particular praise. Also given a positive summation was the track Around My Smile which, despite being described positively as "psychodelic [sic] soul romp," was ultimately dismissed as being "uncreative." The two instrumental pieces were described as "attempts to break new ground," but again were dismissed for "adding nothing [new] to the course of the album."^[11]

Allmusic, whose review—along with the review from Pitchfork—was among the most critical, complimented the album's use of "child-like bells, cello and piano, alt-country electric and chamber-bare acoustic guitar and harmonica gasps," but ultimately dismissed the "minimal" backing tracks as "unsatisfying" and summarized the album as "[not particularly] compelling, striking or affecting."^[3]

The November 2001 issue of Mojo magazine commented that "[there] is a narcotic quality to these drifting ballads, one that perfectly suits these shell-shocked, terrorised times. As the world gears up for the Apocalypse, I shall take comfort in Bavarian Fruit Bread—a very haunting, beautiful record."^[8] The album was released exactly six weeks after the 9-11 terrorist attacks in New York.

2009 reissue edit

• The 2009 re-release erroneously excluded "Lose Me on the Way."^[13]
• When the album was first uploaded to iTunes servers, the song "Clear Day (Reprise)", a short instrumental interlude, was inadvertently omitted, so that the remainder of the song titles are incorrectly named. "Bavarian Fruit Bread" erroneously became "Around My Smile" and "Around My Smile" erroneously became "Lose Me on the Way" and "Lose Me On The Way" is completely omitted and does not appear on the digital/streaming platforms at all. The members of the band or their management have yet to rectify this issue.

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Bavarian Fruit Bread.^[14]

• Hope Sandoval – vocals and backing vocals, guitars, keyboards, glockenspiel, harmonica and production
• Colm Ó Cíosóig – backing vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, engineering, production and mixing
• Mads Bjerke – mixing on "Drop"
• Alan Browne – bass on "Drop," "On the Low" and "Around My Smile"
• Scott Campbell – engineering
• Elise Collins – artwork (film stills)
• Jill Emery – bass on "Bavarian Fruit Bread"
• Julian Goldwhite – guitar on "Bavarian Fruit Bread"
• Arve Henrickson – trumpet on "Lose Me on the Way"
• Bert Jansch – guitar on "Butterfly Mornings" and "Charlotte"
• Paul McQuillan – guitar on "On the Low" and "Around My Smile"
• Ji-Young Moon – cello on "Feeling of Gaze" and "Down the Steps"
• Nicole Presley – backing vocals on "Drop"
• Mike Prosenko – guitar on "Drop"; artwork (sleeve design)
• Heige Sten – engineering and mixing
• Audun Strype – mastering