Satisfy your cravings with inexpensive treats in Toronto

Michael Mackay, manager of Peek Freans cookie Outlet store poses for a photograph in Toronto on Friday, June 8, 2012. A quest for sweet treats in Toronto can take you off the beaten path to sample the flavour of many of the city's neighbourhoods. Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO -- A quest for sweet treats in Toronto is also an opportunity to sample the flavours and ambience of the city's neighbourhoods while uncovering some little-known places that are beloved by locals. Whether it's cookies, chocolate or ice cream, there are some real bargains to be had.

Cookie lovers in the vicinity of East York are often captivated by the scent of baking cookies wafting through the breeze. And they're rewarded for following their noses with deals galore at the Peek Freans Outlet Store across the street from the factory established in 1949.

Selection and price vary daily, but many Canadian classics made at the Peek Freans facility are available, including fruit creme sandwich cookies, bourbon creams, digestives, shortbreads and Chips Ahoy. There are also graham crackers perfect for those s'mores you want to make on your next camping trip.

A colossal bag of slightly imperfect cookies might be priced at $3 to $5. Boxes of Toblerone are $4, while crackers in packages that may have small defects are $1.50.

"Every once in a while the biscuits don't come out looking exactly the way they should -- they're a little too dark or too light or there's a crack on them -- so we bring those over and repackage them for sale here so people can still enjoy them," says store manager Michael MacKay. "They still taste great, but they weren't just that right quality to go into the box for our normal stores."

Goodies come from the Kraft facilities in the Toronto area, including a Cadbury factory, three biscuit factories and two candy facilities.

Seasonal products may have been overproduced, so shoppers might find belated treats related to a holiday such as Easter or Halloween.

"We have anywhere between 10 to 40 different varieties of cookies and biscuits and chocolates, and candies as well," says MacKay. "We move through maybe 10- to 15,000 pounds of product every week. We bring it in pretty much every day or two. The selection will change as we bring in new items."

Most days specially labelled peanut-free cookies can be found, he notes.

There's a constant stream of customers of all ages. "We see 600 or 700 people each day, which can swell to almost 1,000 on a Saturday," says MacKay.

You can also visit the Dad's Cookies Outlet Store at 370 Progress Ave. in Scarborough, which is much smaller and carries a similar selection. As well, there is Christie's Lakeshore Bakery at 23 Park Lawn Rd.

When it comes to getting bang for your buck, it's hard to beat St. Clair Ice Cream, east of the Danforth's Greektown near Main subway station. Owner Arthur (Rosy) Rosenzweig's motto "May All Your Days Be Ice Cream Days," is emblazoned on the shop.

"We're very popular because people know we make it right here, and No. 2 is we serve a gigantic scoop," says Rosenzweig. "You don't need a double scoop. A single scoop is quite a bit to digest."

Indeed, they've been described as softballs and will set you back just $3 (including tax) at the shop, open from mid-April until a week after Labour Day.

The store is attached to the factory, which churns out delicious old-fashioned ice cream for restaurants, hotels and caterers. Of the approximately 50 flavours, pralines 'n' cream, cookies 'n' cream, mint chocolate chip, bordeaux cherry and cookie doughs are the most popular, Rosenzweig says, adding cotton candy is No. 1 among kids.

In a nod to the city's multicultural makeup, St. Clair also dishes up ginger, green tea and red bean.

If it's artisanal frozen treats you crave, Ed's Real Scoop has been serving homemade ice cream, gelato, sorbet and frozen yogurt for 12 years in the charming laid-back neighbourhood called the Beach, 15 minutes east of downtown Toronto between Coxwell and Victoria Park avenues.

You can see Lake Ontario from the corner closest to the store and wander down to the boardwalk, which extends along the lake for several kilometres, or browse the mix of independent specialty shops along Queen Street East.

The gelato/sorbet/frozen yogurt showcase greets customers with a rainbow of 18 intense hues and such flavours as pistachio, green apple, bacio (chocolate hazelnut) and red hot chili.

Taylor Dickinson, who's been scooping at Ed's for seven years, says of the 16 ice-cream flavours, creme brulee is "just the caramel-ly goodness everyone is looking for. Our most recent favourite is burnt marshmallow."

Customers can watch the culinary process in the tiny kitchen behind the showcases. Waffle cones are made daily, Rebecca Jones, another longtime Ed's staffer, says as she busily tempers chocolate in which to dip Oreo cookies. Toppings change daily and reflect the seasons but can also include homemade fudge and chocolate and almond bark.

Cones start at $2.95 for the kiddie size and go up to $5.27 plus tax for large. You get one scoop of a homemade topping per cone; each additional topping is 50 cents.

Cakes, pies, sundaes, floats and milkshakes are available. Customers can also take home hand-packed pints and jarred fudge and caramel sauces ($7.50, tax included).

Owner Ed Francis opened another location about three years ago, also on Queen Street East but in Leslieville, which is emerging as a hip artistic area, with cafes, vintage furniture shops, fashion and design stores. Leslieville is bounded by the Canadian National Railway line and Gerrard Street to the north, Empire Avenue to the west, Eastern Avenue to south, and Coxwell Avenue to the east.

Burn off a few calories as you consume them with Tasty Tours walks around vibrant Kensington Market or Trinity Bellwoods with its burgeoning trendy restaurant scene and Victorian houses (King and Queen West between Spadina and Ossington). Groups (limited to 10), are offered samples of chocolates, cupcakes, pastries and more served up by various stores, bakeries and chocolatiers while discovering tidbits of sweet history.

Audrey Ooi developed the tours as a sideline from her full-time marketing job. Bookings must be made in advance because she has to advise stores how many people to expect as some prepare food especially for the tour.

The $30 two-hour Kensington Market tour includes stops at a Chinese bakery, Mexican bakery, a Middle Eastern store and a regular North American bakery. In May, Ooi began doing the chocolate tour, about three hours around Trinity Bellwoods, which is $35.

Ooi has plenty of trivia to pass on, including how the marshmallow originated as a health food. Unfortunately for those looking to justify certain sweet tooth indulgences, the modern confection doesn't contain any part of the marshmallow plant for which it was named.