Food & Drink/Food

As Canada’s quintessential sweet treat it’s only fitting that butter tarts be the centrepiece of your holiday table this year. While most festive desserts are imported, these tarts are a national treasure that are sure to end your turkey dinner with a bang.

When hunting for the perfect butter tart, it is very important that the pastry is doughy yet flaky, the buttery caramel filling is gooey but not so runny that it oozes out of the tart, and the crust must be caramelized enough to ensure that first bite crunch. Whether you opt for raisins, pecans or stick to the traditional tart, these bakeries have got this Canadiana classic on lock and will guarantee you an invite to every holiday party in town.

Hansen’s Danish Pastry Shop (left), Andrea’s Gerrard Street Bakery (right).

TORONTO

Hansen’s Danish Pastry Shop
Hansen’s has been a staple in East York for over 50 years. Located north of Mortimer on Pape Avenue, this family-run shop is pumping out some of the best butter tarts in all of Toronto. Scallop-edged pastry is filled to the brim with perfectly ribboned caramel and topped with a few pecans for that added crunch.
1017 Pape Ave., facebook.com/DanishPastryShop

Andrea’s Gerrard Street Bakery
Another East End bakery is whipping up some of the city’s best butter tarts. Andrea’s Gerrard Street Bakery is taking nostalgic North American desserts and putting its own spin on things. The crisp, yet doughy, pastry is filled with a Kinsip Distillery’s whiskey-barrel aged maple syrup and butter caramel that is truly to die for.
635 Gerrard St. E., gerrardstreetbakery.com

Ba Noi
This Bloorcourt micro bakery is whipping up some of Toronto’s most sought-after butter tarts. Coming in orders of three gooey-centred treats, baker An Tran is slowly becoming a household name after his pandemic bakery took off last year. His classic tarts (no raisins or pecans) are perfectly runny and sprinkled with flaky salt.
806 Bloor St. W., ba-noi.myshopify.com

The Pie Hole (left), A La Mode Granville Island (right).

VANCOUVER

The Pie Hole
Award-winning butter tarts from The Pie Hole are not your average old-fashioned sweets. These boozy tarts are made with Baileys Irish cream, which mellows the rich sweetness of a classic tart. Topped with pecans for that extra crunch, these tarts are exactly what you’ve been craving.
1864 W. 4th Ave., thepiehole.com

A La Mode Granville Island
This bakery has been making some of the best pies on the West coast since 1986. Located in the Public Market, these famous butter tarts are colossal in size and flavour. Bursting with rich buttery caramel and wrapped in tender pastry, these are a must if you’re in the Vancouver area.
575-1689 Johnston St., alamodepie.com

Purebread
With three locations in Vancouver and its flagship in Whistler, it’s safe to say this B.C. bakery has a bit of a cult following. Using their mother’s recipe for this farmer’s market staple, Purebread owners Paula and Mark Lamming’s sweet and salty tart with raisins is a bestseller. Making hundreds of tarts weekly, Purebread is sticking to what it knows and doing it well.
2887 W. Broadway, 5 E. 5th, Ave. & 159 W. Hastings St., purebread.ca

CALGARY

Pearson’s Berry Farm
Pop into Crossroads Market and find your way to the Pearson’s Berry Farm stall for some of Alberta’s best butter tarts. Originally the first commercial Saskatoon berry farm in the world, this family-run business is selling all kinds of baked goods. Using grandma’s recipe, these tarts are preservative-free and come in a number of different flavours. Try the old fashioned, raisin or the Saskatoon butter tarts made with freshly ground Saskatoon berries.
1235 26 Ave. SE, pearsonsberryfarm.ca

Decadent Brulee
When Decadent Desserts and Brulee Bakery came together in 2016 to form Decadent Brulee, Calgarians knew this was the new mecca for desserts. With an ode to the traditional and a flare for modernization, Decadent Brulee’s butter tarts are a must-order here. With flavours like maple bacon with pecans, these butter tarts may be a little indulgent, but as the saying goes: go big or go home.
722 11 Ave. SW, decadentbrulee.ca

Glamorgan Bakery
Since 1977, Glamorgan Bakery has been bringing a “touch of Dutch” to the community with its homestyle baked goods. The butter tarts here are as classic as can be. Made with farm-fresh butter and eggs, these ooey-gooey tarts are the epitome of the old-fashioned classic.
3919 Richmond Rd. SW #19, glamorganbakery.com

Learn to bake butter tarts at home