Best Bakeries in Toronto — A Glimpse Of Meagan's Journey

As much as I love to bake, sometimes I’m just a little too lazy to bust out my mixer and all the ingredients to bake myself something. Then I realized I had a week off of school coming up and decided it was time to try out some of the best bakeries here in Toronto. So on a surprisingly sunny and warm day in February I ventured out to see what Toronto’s finest had to offer! After extensive research I came up with a list of 5 bakeries that consistently made lists of the best bakeries. So which of these bakeries really are the best of Toronto? Keep reading to find out!

BUNNER’S

Location: Kensington Market

Must Haves: Cupcakes, cinnamon buns and cookies

Unique Feature: Vegan and Gluten-Free

Bunner’s Bake Shop’s vivid pink sign stands out amongst the shops located in Kensington Market. The pink theme is continued throughout the store, but their wide variety of cakes, cookies and other treats immediately draws your eyes as you enter the bakery. I wanted to see if you could taste the difference of a gluten-free cookie! My chosen goodie: Ginger Molasses cookie. I took a seat on their bright pink bench and took a bite immediately - rookie mistake… I forgot to take a picture of the whole cookie before doing my taste test.

Now as for what I think about Bunner’s Bake Shop’s cookie? I think it was a good cookie, however I picked a cookie flavour I wasn’t a fan of. I think that the molasses flavour was a little too strong for my preference and I wish I had picked a different type of cookie.

BLACKBIRD BAKING CO

As soon you walk into Blackbird Baking Co. you are hit with the aroma of freshly baked bread. As much as I love my sweets, I absolutely love a good loaf of bread so I couldn’t wait to have a sandwich from here. But right when I walked in, I saw pizza and I just could not say no to that. Now some may wonder why I decided to include a bread shop into my bakery tour, but I don’t think it would be a fair taste test without some bread!

My thoughts? You can really taste a difference in the pizza dough and it is a definite must for people looking for pizza in Kensington Market!

BAKERBOTS BAKERY

Location: Next to Ossington Station

Must Haves: Cookies and the Summertime Classic Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich

Unique Feature: This store started as a catering company and eventually evolved into a bakeshop

When I walked right up to the counter, my eyes went straight to their butter tarts and I knew I had to try that. I tried their Butter Tart with Pecans, which reminds me so much of a classic Southern Pecan Pie.

Fun fact: Pecans are the official state nuts of Texas

Fun fact 2.0: Southerners pronounce Pecan differently than people here in Canada so I always get a weird look when I pronounce it as “pe-kan”

They make a great butter tart and I think I’ll be going back to try out one of their specialty ice cream cookie sandwich!

LE GOURMAND

Location: Spadina and Richmond

Must Haves: Chocolate Chip Cookie

Unique Feature: Home of the GIANT 1.5kg Chocolate Chip Cookie

I could describe to you the atmosphere, the staff and location but I need to jump right into the taste test. Let me tell you, this cookie was hands-down the BEST chocolate chip cookie I have EVER eaten! I have eaten my fair share of cookies from testing my own creations or from other stores. This cookie is the definition of a crunchy outside with a warm and chewy center cookie.

Prior to eating this cookie I had already eaten a whole slice of pizza, half a cookie and butter tart so you could say I was a little full at that point. Despite that I gave it a fair taste test and I want you to leave your seat or wherever you are right now and go try this cookie!

ROSELLE DESSERTS

Location: Corktown

Must Haves: Any of their French-inspired Desserts

Unique Feature: The owners both learned many of their culinary skills from their time spent in Paris

Roselle Desserts was the final stop on my Toronto bakery tour. The huge window at the front of the store illuminates the whole place. Being the end of my tour I was pretty stuffed, to say the least, so the idea of even eating anything else seemed daunting. Going to a French pastry shop, you’d think I would try a French dessert, but anything with a cream filling was just too much for me to indulge in. So I instead opted to try one of their many cookies and my eyes were immediately drawn to the cookie oozing with caramel. But then I saw the name of it and was slightly apprehensive about the combination of flavors – Salted Caramel Coffee Cookie.

I am so glad I decided to try something new because it was a phenomenal cookie! I definitely will be going back to Roselle’s to try out some more of their baked goods!

There you have it, Megs the Baker became Megs the Taster for the day and I really enjoyed it! If I had to pick only 1 bakery from this list for you to go to I would tell you I couldn’t. However, I can narrow it down and say try Le Gourmand’s chocolate chip cookie or Roselle’s delightful mix of cookies! Thanks for joining me on my taste testing tour of Toronto Bakeries! If you want to explore some other places in Toronto check out my Megs Rediscovers Toronto post. Please don’t forget to check back for more of a Glimpse of Meagan’s Journey!