The bakery that made headlines for the “Obama cookie” — and later the “Biden biscuit” — is offering a new design to commemorate King Charles III’s visit to Ottawa.
Le Moulin de Provence, a legacy bakery in the ByWard Market, famously designed a maple leaf cookie for then-United States President Barack Obama’s visit to Ottawa in 2009.
The bakery then followed suit in 2023 with a cookie to mark former president Joe Biden’s visit, coined the “Biden Biscuit”, which featured a printed design on Le Moulin’s classic shortbread cookie.
Now, the royal visit has also been commemorated at the local bakery. Nicolas Bonnet, social media and marketing manager at Le Provence de Moulin and son of owner Claude, said the new treat has been affectionately named the “Royal cookie” and aims to be a “sweet little welcome to Ottawa, made with love and a bit of royal flair”.
The cookies are also classic shortbread, but made in a smaller “tea-size” as a nod to the United Kingdom. They also feature an edible print.
“It’s royal,” said Bonnet. “We kept it simple but mixed the concept with a bit of an English tradition.”
The bakery made 170 cookies for the visit on Tuesday and planned to bake 100 more on Wednesday before retiring the limited-edition treat.
There were rumours that the King might stop by to try one, but the royal visit was barely 24 hours in total, with a packed itinerary.
“When we do something like this, of course we hope they’ll come by,” he said. “But we’re a bakery, they’re here doing important stuff, so it’s okay.”
He said people were excited to see the cookies, particularly an English couple who now live in Ottawa.
“I’ve been hearing people say it’s not as exciting because it isn’t [Queen Elizabeth II],” he said. “But people seem really excited about the King.”
The original Canadian maple leaf cookie was first created by Bonnet’s father Claude, who came to Canada from France and wanted to create his own cookie line as a gesture towards his new home, said Bonnet.
Bonnet was about 6 years old at the time, and said he remembers the cookies always being popular.
But they became famous when Obama stopped in during his trip to Canada, and the cookies were then forever known as the Obama cookies.
Today, the bakery has a dedicated corner to display the Obama cookies that features photos of Obama’s visit.
“Sometimes people ask why we’re still doing it, all these years later,” he said. “But we still have people ask for them, still have tours buses come in with people who want them. as long as people want them, we’ll make them.
“Everybody has their monuments, their souvenirs, their symbols,” he added. “These are ours.”
