What to know
- Craig’s Cookies’ ByWard Market location partnered with Ottawa queens Saltina, Karamilk and Sunshine on three limited-edition cookies.
- The Saltina, Karamilk and Sunshine cookies each feature flavours inspired by the Canada’s Drag Race stars.
- A portion of sales from Aug. 24 to 30 will be donated to Kind Space, an Ottawa 2SLGBTQIA+ community organization.
- Founded by queer entrepreneur Craig Pike, Craig’s Cookies has grown from its Parkdale beginnings to 24 locations across Canada while continuing to support 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
Saltina, Karamilk and Sunshine are bringing a little extra sweetness to Pride Week, one cookie at a time.
What do you get when three of Ottawa’s drag queens team up with a cookie shop? A very Queer (and very delicious) Pride collaboration.
For Pride Week, Craig’s Cookies’ ByWard Market location has teamed up with superstar drag queens Saltina, Karamilk and Sunshine of Canada’s Drag Race to create three limited-edition cookies inspired by their personalities.
Drag queen-inspired cookies, all for a good cause
So what does the lineup of drag queen-inspired cookies look (taste?) like?
There’s The Saltina, a sweet-and-salty Skor and toffee cookie sandwiched between crispy saltine crackers; The Karamilk, a brown butter cookie packed with toffee and chocolate chips and stuffed with gooey caramel; and The Sunshine, a raspberry lemonade cookie rolled in shimmering pink and yellow sugar.
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But the treats aren’t just about satisfying your sweet tooth. From Aug. 24 to 30, a portion of proceeds from the collection will be donated to Kind Space, an Ottawa community centre providing resources, events and programming for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
“It was important that this campaign also gave back to the community we’re celebrating,” Craig Pike, founder of the popular cookie shop chain told Queer & Now.
“Kind Space has been supporting Ottawa’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community for decades, providing programming, resources and spaces for people to connect and find community. Supporting a local organization doing meaningful work for the Queer community felt like a natural fit.”
Craig’s Cookies: Queer confection from coast to coast
Craig’s Cookies has Queer roots baked right into its story. Founder Craig Pike started selling cookies from his Parkdale apartment before opening the brand’s first shop on Queen Street West in 2018. As a Queer business owner, Pike has said he wanted Craig’s Cookies to be a place where 2SLGBTQIA+ employees and customers could feel safe, welcomed and celebrated.
What started as one small Parkdale shop has since grown into 24 locations across Canada. But even as the cookie empire has expanded, its Pride programming and support for Queer organizations have remained part of the brand, from annual Pride cookies to fundraising partnerships with local 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations.
Pike says that for his business, supporting Queer communities is something that goes beyond is important.
“As a member of the Queer community myself, it means a lot to see our teams find ways to celebrate Pride in their own communities,” Pike said.
The collaboration is a particularly Ottawa way to mark Pride: local queens, local community and a whole lot of cookies.
“Our ByWard Market team really wanted to do something that felt uniquely Ottawa for Pride, and I love what they came up with,” he continued. “Collaborating with Karamilk, Sunshine and Saltina gave the team a chance to have fun creating flavours inspired by three amazing local personalities, while celebrating the community and supporting Kind Space. It feels very Craig’s — local, playful and all about bringing people together.”
So cookies and a good cause? It looks like we’ll be taking our Pride extra sweet this year.
