Before there was a bakery, there were hazelnut trees. Several of them, growing quietly on our property in Langley, BC. Their gnarled branches would blossom each spring, and by late summer, the squirrels would beat us to the harvest. Still, we gathered what we could. There’s something special about cracking a hazelnut grown just a few feet from your back door.
Like so many hazelnut growers in the province, we eventually lost all but one of our trees to Eastern Filbert Blight in the 2010s. It was heartbreaking, but not surprising. The blight swept through BC like a slow fire, devastating orchards, backyard growers, and an entire corner of our agricultural history. Hazelnuts may not be BC’s most famous crop, but they’re one of its most resilient—and most delicious.
A Hazelnut Adventure
After we lost our trees, we found ourselves on a different kind of hazelnut adventure. One autumn, we packed up the car and headed east toward Agassiz. There, nestled between the mountains and fields, we visited one of the few hazelnut farms still operating—and producing some of the best nuts we’d ever tasted. We bought several bags, wandered through the trees, and made our way to Harrison Hot Springs for a night of soaking and nostalgia. It was, hands down, one of our favourite getaways.
That trip—and those nuts—stuck with us. There’s something undeniably special about BC-grown hazelnuts. While Oregon grows the lion’s share of North America’s supply, and Turkish nuts dominate the global market, BC’s hazelnuts carry a distinct flavour of place. The climate here—cool winters, warm summers, and well-drained valley soil—produces rich, full-flavoured nuts with a satisfying snap and buttery depth.
And these aren’t just any hazelnuts. Today’s BC orchards are being replanted with blight-resistant varieties bred through years of careful research. Growers, researchers, and passionate nut-lovers have worked together to bring this crop back from the brink—tree by tree, orchard by orchard.
So this year, when we thought about which ingredient could best represent British Columbia in our Taste of Canada shortbread collection, we skipped the obvious Nanaimo bar. (Don’t get us wrong—we love it too.) But we wanted something with a little more soul. A little more story. A little more squirrel trouble, road trip magic, and back porch nostalgia.
So this year, when we thought about which ingredient could best represent British Columbia in our Taste of Canada shortbread collection, we skipped the obvious Nanaimo bar. (Don’t get us wrong—we love it too.) But we wanted something with a little more soul. A little more story. A little more squirrel trouble, road trip magic, and back porch nostalgia.
So we turned to hazelnuts.
Our BC Hazelnut Shortbread is a tribute to those trees we lost, the new orchards rising up, and every grower who’s fought to keep this crop alive. It’s buttery, toasty, and proudly local—just like the hazelnuts themselves.
Sometimes the best souvenirs aren’t souvenirs at all. Sometimes they’re cookies.
