SWEET TREATS FACTORY PUMPING OUT COOKIES AND BROWNIES

A home-based bakery in Penetanguishene which specializes in cookies and brownies has seen sales spike since opening in early January.

Matt MacKenzie and Tara Leadbetter were finally able to relaunch the Sweet Treats Factory out of their home this year, after their initial plans were derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The husband-and-wife duo are baking up chocolate, marshmallow, Skor and M&M's brownies, brownie cakes, and a variety of cookies including chocolate chip, triple chocolate, cinnamon sugar, M&M's and Skor.

Sweet Treats Factory, a small home-based bakery in Penetanguishene, specializes in cookies and brownies.

"I have been baking since I was 15 years old. It has been an on-and-off business for a long time,"

said the now 33-year-old MacKenzie.

"I liked brownies, but my mom didn't make them

enough, so I learned how to do it."

His recipes, which he has developed over the course of

the past 15 years, are scientific. He doesn't measure ingredients. Instead, ingredients are weighed to ensure consistency. Each cookie is 30 grams.

"I want to make sure that if you order cookies today or in three weeks, it will taste the exact same," said MacKenzie.

The father of four had been working roughly 65 hours a week at Canadian Tire and Boston Pizza. After the busy holiday season his hours were cut, and the couple needed to find a way to make up for the lost income.

"It always goes back to the baking," said Leadbetter. "We have been talking about it for a while, so we thought we would start it back up again and see what happened."

So far, they've been kept busy as sales have taken off.

If interest keeps up, the couple is hoping to expand the menu and start offering a variety of other delicious treats.

"We are just trying to keep it simple," said MacKenzie. "If the menu is too big, there is too much variety and no specialty."

The bakery is one of several local businesses participating in Georgian Bay General Hospital Foundation's Kickstart Your Heart initiative. They will be donating 20 per cent of sales from their valentine's heart cookies and heart brownies to the Midland hospital.

Treats can be ordered through the Facebook page or by emailing sweettreatsfactorymidland@gmail.com.