We polled Canadian Living Facebook fans and Twitter followers to find out who serves up the best butter tarts in Canada, and the results are in. 

 

This tiny storefront, nestled in a commercial area of Barrie, received the most votes from our readers for Canada’s best butter tarts. Each day, you’ll find every flavour, from the standards (plain, pecan and raisin) to the extreme (peanut butter, blueberry and even coffee). The pastry is flaky but sturdy enough to contain the filling, which happens to have the perfect balance between runny and firm.

 

At this family owned and operated bakery on the shores of Lake Huron, the butter tarts fly off the shelves during summer months: The bakery sells, on average, 80 dozen each day. The tarts are sweet (but not too sweet) and are chock-full of raisins and pecans. 

 

Starting at 4:30 a.m. every day, thousands of butter tarts are handmade and baked, filling the street with an enticing aroma. Pick some up at the storefront in Trenton, or buy them at one of many food shops in the surrounding area. Whether you choose plain (the top seller, but not by much) or pecan- or raisin-filled tarts, you’re in for a tasty treat.

 

There’s nothing pretentious about this family-owned bakery – or its butter tarts. But according to readers, the tarts are delicious. Humble and modest owner Joe Schweiger attributes this to two things: a pie dough made entirely from scratch and a basic filling with raisins. Being baked in a decades-old brick oven instead of a modern deck oven can’t hurt either!

 

When we asked Marcel Hooimeyer, the baker at Grandin, how his butter tarts compare to others, he couldn’t answer – because he only eats his own. Now that’s a testament to a good tart! Their popularity is perhaps because he uses honey instead of the more common corn syrup in the filling. Whatever the case, readers love these tarts. And the fact that they come from an entirely peanut– and tree nut–free bakery only adds to their appeal.