Key Takeaways
TL;DR: Ontario’s best butter tarts come from award-winning bakeries like Doo Doo’s in Bailieboro, the bakery at 13th Street Winery in St. Catharines and The Maids’ Cottage in Newmarket, from the Kawarthas Northumberland Butter Tart Tour and from roadside gems in cottage country, and Midland celebrates them every June with Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival.
- The perfect butter tart: The filling is butter, sugar, eggs and syrup in a light, flaky shell; purists insist on maple syrup, others use corn syrup, and the great debates are raisins or no raisins and a set filling or an oozy centre.
- Award-winning bakeries: Doo Doo’s Bakery in Bailieboro, about 90 minutes northeast of Toronto, has won the Midland festival and Royal Winter Fair awards, the bakery at 13th Street Winery, whose butter tart House & Home picked as Canada’s best in 2017, makes a day trip in Niagara wine country, and The Maids’ Cottage in Newmarket bakes a family recipe in classic and seasonal flavours.
- Simcoe County roots: The first known printed recipe, Mrs. Malcolm MacLeod’s mix of sugar, butter, eggs and currants, appeared in a Royal Victoria Hospital cookbook from Barrie in 1900, and Midland hosts Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival each June, where professional and amateur bakers compete in traditional and wild style categories.
- Trails and hidden gems: The self-guided Kawarthas Northumberland Butter Tart Tour has more than 30 stops from Kawartha Lakes to Northumberland County, and gems worth the drive include the Cornball Store in Magnetawan, Hidden Goldmine Bakery in Madoc, The Queen’s Tarts in Sault Ste. Marie, with 30 to 40 varieties, and Grandma’s Beach Treats in Wasaga Beach.
- At home: A private chef can bake butter tarts as part of a Canadian menu in your own kitchen, arriving with the ingredients, serving each course and leaving the space spotless.
Few desserts spark as much passionate debate among Canadians as the humble butter tart. Should the filling be runny or firm? Raisins or no raisins? What everyone agrees on, however, is that Ontario produces some of the finest butter tarts in the country.
From award-winning bakeries in the Niagara region to charming roadside shops in cottage country, the province has embraced this quintessentially Canadian treat like nowhere else. Ontario even hosts dedicated butter tart trails and festivals that attract thousands of enthusiasts each year.
Whether you prefer to embark on a butter tart road trip or enjoy exceptional Canadian baking in the comfort of your own home with the help of a private chef, this guide will point you toward the very best butter tarts Ontario has to offer.
Índice
What makes a perfect butter tart?
The classic butter tart consists of a simple filling of butter, sugar, eggs, and syrup baked in a flaky pastry shell. Yet within this straightforward formula lies endless room for interpretation. Purists insist on maple syrup for authentic flavour, while others swear by corn syrup or a combination of both.
The pastry is perhaps the most crucial element. A great butter tart shell should be light, golden, and perfectly flaky, providing just enough structure to hold the gooey filling without becoming soggy. The ratio of crust to filling matters tremendously, and bakers guard their recipes like treasured family heirlooms.
Then comes the great add-in debate. Traditional variations include raisins, pecans, and walnuts, but modern bakers have pushed boundaries with Skor bar pieces, coconut, maple bacon, and even savoury-sweet combinations.
The filling consistency also divides opinion, with some preferring a set, almost custard-like texture while others demand that characteristic oozy centre.
Award-winning bakeries you need to visit
Ontario takes its butter tarts so seriously that annual competitions crown the province’s finest. The Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival in Midland attracts over 60,000 visitors each June, with both professional and amateur bakers competing for top honours in traditional and wild style categories.
Doo Doo’s Bakery, Bailieboro
This charming country bakeshop sits about ninety minutes northeast of Toronto and has accumulated impressive awards, including recognition from the Royal Winter Fair and CBC’s Butter Tart Taste-Off, and it has won the Midland festival several times, including best in show in 2018. Their secret lies in the perfect pastry-to-filling ratio, with flaky crusts that cradle plump raisins in rich, buttery filling.
The Bakery at 13th Street Winery, St. Catharines
Located in Niagara wine country, in the winery’s original farmhouse, this bakery is best known for its butter tarts, which House & Home magazine picked as the best butter tarts in Canada in 2017. The winery setting makes it perfect for a day trip, with an art gallery and a sculpture garden to explore.
The Maids’ Cottage, Newmarket
Sisters Pam and Debbie bake their late mother Jackie’s recipe at this Main Street cottage, now one of Ontario’s most celebrated butter tart stops. Their tart shells hold inventive flavours that push boundaries while respecting tradition.
Alongside the classics (original, pecan and raisin), the cottage rotates seasonal flavours like Biscoff, gingerbread and pumpkin. At the Midland festival, its pecan tart and a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake tart won both professional categories in 2022, and its Black Forest Mocha tart won the wild style category in 2024.
Bring local flavors to your kitchen
From market-fresh ingredients to traditional recipes, a private chef turns your home into a true local experience.
Explore Ontario’s butter tart trails
For dedicated enthusiasts, Ontario offers self-guided road trips that transform butter tart hunting into a full adventure.
The Kawarthas Northumberland Butter Tart Tour
It features more than 30 stops spanning from Kawartha Lakes to Northumberland County, including the City and County of Peterborough. In 2013, Wellington North, which already ran its own Butter Tart Trail, sent Kawartha Lakes a cease-and-desist letter over the tour’s name; the tour kept it and has grown since.
Wellington North’s Butter Tart Trail
Launched in 2006, Wellington North’s trail was later folded into Butter Tarts and Buggies, a wider route through the area’s Mennonite communities. It has seen little promotion in recent years, and the township has said it wants to revive it. Stops like Misty Meadows Market in Conn still sell butter tarts year-round alongside local produce, so the area offers not just tarts but a complete farm and food experience.
Hidden gems worth the drive
Beyond the well-known trails, Ontario hides exceptional butter tart bakeries in unexpected places.
- The Cornball Store in Magnetawan has earned passionate reviews as making perhaps the best butter tarts in history.
- Hidden Goldmine Bakery in Madoc offers traditional, raisin, pecan, and raspberry variations that have visitors raving.
- In Ottawa, Frank’s Catering & Baked Goods on Greenbank Road is a deli whose butter tarts many customers call the city’s best.
- The Queen’s Tarts in Sault Ste. Marie bakes 30 to 40 varieties, from classic raisin and pecan to salted caramel and turtle, for adventurous palates.
- Grandma’s Beach Treats in Wasaga Beach took second place among professional bakers at the Midland festival in 2015 and third in 2014.
Sometimes the best discoveries come from the most unexpected places.
A sweet piece of Canadian history
The butter tart’s origins trace back to the resourcefulness of early Canadian settlers. With fruit and vanilla scarce in rural communities, pioneer bakers adapted traditional European recipes using readily available pantry staples: butter, sugar, eggs, and maple syrup. The first known printed recipe appeared in the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook from Barrie around 1900.
That simple two-line recipe from Mrs. Malcolm MacLeod called for one cup sugar, half cup butter, two eggs, and one cup currants, with instructions simply reading: Mix. Fill the tarts and bake.
From these humble beginnings, the butter tart has evolved into a symbol of Canadian culinary identity, with Simcoe County proudly hosting the country’s largest butter tart festival.
Enjoying butter tarts at home
While road-tripping through Ontario’s butter tart destinations creates wonderful memories, you can also bring exceptional Canadian baking directly to your table. Private chef services like Take a Chef connect you with culinary professionals who create restaurant-quality experiences in your own home, complete with customized menus that can feature freshly baked butter tarts alongside other Canadian favourites.
Over the last two years, the median Take a Chef booking in Ontario came to CAD 250 per person for one or two guests and CAD 175 for groups of 13 or more, with everything included. Your private chef in Toronto or elsewhere in Ontario arrives with fresh ingredients, prepares everything in your kitchen, serves each course, and leaves your space spotless, letting you focus entirely on enjoying the experience with your guests.
Your butter tart adventure awaits!
Whether you set out to conquer the Kawarthas Northumberland trail, discover hidden gems in cottage country, or attend the legendary Midland festival, Ontario offers endless opportunities to indulge in this beloved Canadian treat. The province’s bakers continue to innovate while honouring tradition.
For those who prefer to celebrate at home, Take a Chef can help you create a memorable gathering featuring the best of Canadian cuisine. However you choose to enjoy them, one thing remains certain: the perfect butter tart is always worth the journey.
