Mary Macleod started baking her famous shortbread in a small shop by the old Capitol Theater on March 24, 1981. Thirty-five years later, the business has grown into a Canadian gem, offering a variety of flavours and packages of gourmet, artisan shortbread cookies.
Toronto Sun image of Mary Macleod when she first opened her doors
When Mary first opened Mary Macleod’s Shortbread, she was the first bakery in Canada that was exclusively devoted to shortbread, and there would be line-ups outside before she even opened her doors, and she would typically be sold out quite early in the morning! Shortly after she opened her first shop, Mary is quoted to having said, “I’ll toddle off quite happily to retirement when I know that I have left people in every country in the world with a good taste in their mouth.” Although Mary’s hardly toddling off (she still sometimes gets into the bakery), she certainly has left a lasting impression around the world, from Mick Jagger and Elton John to the Queen of England singing her praise!
Royal letter thanking Mary Macleod for her shortbread
In 1997. Mary Macleod’s moved to Riverside. She had the bakery on the street level, and lives in the apartment above. At that time the neighbourhood was not the hub it is today, so she was only open Tuesday to Thursdays from January to October and Tuesdays to Saturday from November to December for the holiday season. In 2009 She opened the shop 7 days a week.
Many flavours have been created over the years, though Mary’s signature flavour is Chocolate Crunch shortbread – a traditional shortbread cookie made with Belgian chocolate pieces to give it that added sweetness and crunch. When it first came out, this flavor was considered scandalous, and The Scottish Society of Canada sent Mary a strongly worded letter stating that she could not put chocolate in a cookie and call shortbread! Mary responded to this note, by mailing them a sample, and they replied with an apology and readily agreeing that her Chocolate crunch was in fact an exceptionally delicious shortbread cookie. Other fan-favourites include Cranberry Almond, Dark Chocolate Espresso, Hazelnut Crunch and of course, Traditional shortbread.
The cookies are all baked by experts, in small batches and using the finest ingredients, to ensure customers get the same great quality they’ve come to expect from Mary Macleod’s Shortbread. While Mary Macleod’s Shortbread still runs a retail store of its own, these buttery shortbread cookies can now be found in stores throughout Canada.
The business is now run by Mary’s daughter-in-law, Sharon Macleod, though Mary can often be found in the shop visiting customers or in the kitchen sharing her wisdom. Mary Macleod’s Shortbread has evolved over the years from a small bakery in downtown Toronto to a wholesale and retail business bringing tasty traditional shortbread to people all over the world.
Handwritten notes from Mary Macleod