You know, we don’t always do our own baking! In a neighbourhood like ours, it’s pretty hard to take a pass on the spectacular treats on display in the local windows and shops. Last weekend, we had a piano recital to provide for and lots of practicing to fit in beforehand. So, instead of baking, we built one heck of a cookie tray by scouring our beloved local bakeries for the best of the best treats we could find [without the nuts].
Here’s a pic of our Ultimate Cookie Plate which was emptied by the hands of several hungry pianists faster than a minute waltz
Below, you’ll find our guide to our top three local East End Toronto “treateries” …
Celena’s Bakery
2036 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
(416) 425-2895
Open Tuesday-Thursday, 7am-7pm; Friday, 7am-6pm; Saturday, 9am-5pm; Sunday, 10am-4pm
www.celenasbakery.com
info@celenasbakery.com
orders@celenasbakery.com
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies & Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Celena’s is by far one of my favourite bakeries in the neighbourhood and in the city. Hands down, they make the best, butteriest croissants you will ever taste. They’re habit-forming. You won’t even want to move on to their Pain au Chocolat. Alright, you will definitely want to move on to the pain au chocolate….Their breads are also amazing, as are their little pizzas and pasties. Oh, and did we mention the butter tarts. You cannot go astray…
Alright, alright, so back to the cookies on the plate. The double chocolate chip cookies were the absolute bomb. And the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are a dream. [I’m going to go crazy this summer and make myself a giant ice cream sandwich with two of those while no one else is looking.] Celena’s cookies were the most reasonably priced of our plate. And if you buy 12, they make it a true baker’s dozen.
Viking Bakery
2201 Danforth Ave, Toronto
Open Tuesday-Sunday, 8am – 7pm
Viking Cookies, Coconut Top, Kleinur
The Viking is a new bakery in our neighbourhood, and I’m sooo glad it’s here. It lives up to its name, offering a variety of tasty icelandic treats. People rave about the Oatmeal Biscuits as the perfect complement to their wine and cheese. And the selection of fresh baked breads already has a steady following. My favourite sweet treat, hands down, is the coconut top cookie – a macaroon with the perfect dab of chocolate on the top. The lemony doughnut-like kleinur is also amazing with a cuppa. The kids absolutely adore the ginger-molasses style viking cookie. [I may want to use a picture of that one on the cover of my almost-finished Wagner novel…] Can’t wait to go back for more…
The Sleepy Baker
7 Coxwell Avenue, Toronto
(647) 343-9100
Open Wednesday-Saturday, 8am-8pm; Sunday, 10am-6pm
www.sleepybaker.ca
orders@sleepybaker.ca
Brownie Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
A bit further off of our “danny” strip, and well worth the short ride downhill from the Danforth on the Coxwell bus is the new Sleepy Baker shop. The nutella cookie I sampled with Bea was absolutley amazing. And the brownie “stuffed”cookie-of-the-day was just mind blowing. I can’t wait to go back and pick up my next treat. [The pancakes and bacon cupcakes have my name on them!] Seeing as the SB is around the corner from Burger’s Priest and the Beaches cinema, I have a feeling that this will become a well loved haunt!!
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