Chocolate Chip Cookie Death Match

Batch Two

Botanica

The chocolate pecan cookie is a neighborhood cookie from a neighborhood restaurant. First though, a tangent on nuts in chocolate chip cookies… there are people out there that are opposed to nuts in cookies and brownies if it’s not specifically built around that nut, like a peanut cookie. I’m not one of those people—if a cookie wants to have nuts in it let it be—at the very least it adds another dimension. Now that’s out of the way, this cookie does multiple things to tweak the formula. It’s soft baked and doesn’t have much crisp, but the spelt and whole wheat flour create a depth of flavor that goes in a different direction than what’d you’d expect from a neighborhood spot. In addition, the chunks of bittersweet chocolate and toasty pecans show it’s reaching just higher than your expectations while staying in your comfort zone.

Go Get Em Tiger

Soft, appropriately salty, and so so greasy. Picking it up, it’s basically shouting there’s a lot of butter in here, as if the spread wasn’t enough to tip you off. This also sort of leaves the chocolate clumped together and unevenly distributed as @film_score2 points out. That means you get some epic bites loaded with chocolate, and other bites you wish were those epic bites.

Clementine

As @paranoidgarliclover, @mchen , and @TheCookie, pointed out, this cookie is a masterclass in the fundamentals. It’s not getting cute with any of the ingredients, but it does everything right from the crisp edges, layered chocolate chunks, and chewy center. It’s the level of execution on each individual element with no flaws that is incredible.

Patisserie Chantilly

These small cookies push against all other mainstream chocolate chip cookies. They share the same basic ingredients (plus walnuts) but whereas others are large, wide, and flat, these are tiny, narrow, and tall. The result is a highly consistent, uniformly cooked cookie. That fits the MO of Patisserie Chantilly, where high quality bites demand precise execution. While that means the entire pack (there are 5 small cookies) doesn’t have any duds, it also looses that spontaneous excitement of other cookies. Moreover, it also just doesn’t feel indulgent, and when placed among all of Patisserie Chantilly’s other offerings, this cookie is really only for your 2 year old niece that only has the pallet for dino chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and chips-a-hoy. Though she might still be upset at the walnuts.

Lemonade

The corporate cookie. But also quite a tasty cookie. I got to hand it to Lemonade who really could have just coasted with a checks-the-boxes cookie for the office working crowd just trying to get some afternoon sugar after eating their desk salad (no shade to Lemonade—I actually love them). So yes, this is really a paint by the numbers cookie in taste and flavor, but it’s also outstanding in texture. It’s packed with chocolate and perfectly underdone throughout until just the edges. It also comes wrapped in plastic and if they’re baked fresh this might actually keep it wonderfully soft. It may not be a cookie you go out of your way for, but when it comes to a dessert that will ruin the healthy lunch you just had, it’s worth the hit.

Kismet Rotisserie

I wanted to check out the tahini chocolate chip cookie at @lilmikey’s recommendation, and I definitely tasted the nuttiness of the tahini, which makes me wonder about the consistency between batches. The tahini is a nice complement to the chocolate and salt. The most interesting thing is it’s a bit airy and feels lighter than others, yet still is not crispy or crunchy or hard. It gets the job done and the texture exceeded my expectations.

Sqirl

A solid all around cookie with bittersweet layers of chocolate and no traces of mold. I get the sense that this cookie really is just filler in the pastry case, because there are lots of other great, more interesting things that Sqirl turns out. At least that means there won’t be any debate over who’s recipe this is, just because it’s so middle of the road. Though the rogue spreading does give it an extra charm.

Whole Foods

The Brown Butter Chocolate Chip cookie from Whole Foods is probably easy to overlook. However, it’s got a great flavor from the browned butter and actually has one of the deepest pure chocolate flavors of cookies sampled. Add on a great texture and all of a sudden it’s an extremely competent cookie. It’s probably not one you’ll go across town for, but also one you won’t need to with the number of Whole Foods in town.

Gjusta

When I opened this up, it was immediately apparent that this cookies shares the same DNA as the Fat + Flour chocolate chip cookie. This makes sense since Chef Rucker used to run the show there, but Gjusta’s version is just not quite as good. It has those same elements: quality chocolate, little flecks of oats, nice spread, but there’s also a je ne sais quoi that separates them. Maybe it’s that the Fat + Flour version is a little bit buttery-er or a little bit saltier or a little bit chewier :man_shrugging: The Gjusta chocolate chip oatmeal cookie is by no means a miss and still great, and if that’s what’s in your neighborhood you can’t go wrong. It’s also just that there’s another one on the other side of town that’s essentially the same but better.

Ototo

Noticing the young cookie as part of Ototo’s new ice cream sandwich, I asked Courtney if I could get one sans ice cream to get a pure take on it. It’s billed as a miso chocolate chip cookie, and the miso is immediately apparent, creating the most unique and incredible flavor of the cookies I’ve had. It’s got an interesting orange hue and is also cakier, which I really dug. I know pastry chef Gemma Matsuyama has been crushing it lately, but with the ubiquity of the chocolate chip cookie, it’s easy to see how this one could go overlooked. Cream puffs will get all the attention, but this cookie might be her most under the radar item. Don’t sleep on it.

The journey continues…

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