Don’t you dare tell me I never listen to you guys.
Two weeks ago, I did a taste test with chocolate chip cookies, and I got slaughtered in the comments for not picking up the “right” cookies.
You asked demanded, so I’ve delivered.
This time, I’ve included JD’s Chippery, Creme de la Cookie, Potbelly, Starbucks, Baby Cakes by Samara, and a very special cookie from Margaux Anbouba. (She writes our Pour Judgment column and she’s a reporter for People Newspapers.) Margaux likes to bake and she wanted to see how her cookies would fare. Her cookie and the one from Starbucks are the only classic chocochips.
All the other ones have walnuts or oatmeal (or both!) in them. Obviously, this taste test is not very scientific with all the cookies being different, but I don’t care. Bring on the hate. I decided to have a little fun and do a variety. So here it is, guys and gals: chocolate chip cookies with a little somethin’ extra.
THE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
A. JD’s Chippery’s semi-sweet cookie with walnuts – University Park
B. Baby Cakes by Samara oatmeal chocolate chip cookie with walnuts – provided by Samara Garth (thank you!)
C. Potbelly’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookie – Uptown
D. Starbuck’s chocolate chunk cookie – Uptown
E. Creme de la Cookie’s chocolate chip cookie with walnuts – University Park
F. Pour Judgment columnist Margaux Anbouba’s chocolate chip cookies
THE TASTE TESTERS
The web team + D CEO team + Cristina Daglas and Krista Nightengale + newcomer Jessica Jones from D Home
TASTING NOTES
A. JD’s Chippery – white, buttery, kind of small
- “Surprisingly sweet and melts in your mouth”
- “Nice texture and taste. Slightly grainy (sugar)”
- “Not good. Vegan? Not okay.”
- “Weirdly flaky.”
- “Almost no flavor. Needs some salt. Not worth the calories.”
B. Baby Cakes by Samara – almost perfectly round, tiny walnuts equally distributed
- “Chips are good. Not too sweet. Cookie is tasteless.”
- “Tastes healthy. Certainly not.”
- “Surprisingly flavorless.”
- “Oatmealy. I like it.”
- “Oaty, pretty alright.”
C. Potbelly’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookie – flattish, soft to touch, felt like it could break easily
- “Chock full of chips, good cookie texture and taste.”
- “Really chewy and delicious, which surprised me because it’s not very sweet.”
- “Good: lots of chips. Bad: too doughy.”
- “Really good. Soft, but with a little crunch.”
- “Undercooked filth.”
D. Starbucks’ chocolate chunk cookie – super crunchy on the outside, pretty crumbly
- “Not memorable.”
- “Pretty darn good.”
- “Soft, packed with chocolate.”
- “I love the big chocolate chips, but nothing else about this.”
- “That’s a cookie, a pretty good cookie.”
E. Creme de la Cookie’s chocolate chip cookie with walnuts – almost perfectly round, arguably had one of the best textures
- “Didn’t like the taste at first, but the aftertaste was better…?”
- “Liked the nuts. Pretty good overall.”
- “A little too chocolate-y. Makes me thirsty.”
- “Very, very good texture and taste!”
- “Cookie cake consistency. Nuttier tasting.”
- “Too nutty.”
F. Margaux Anbouba’s chocolate chip cookies – on the thinner side, small, white-ish
- “Too chewy, blech.”
- “Why are they so pale?”
- “Entirely too chewy.”
- “Buttery, yummy.”
- “Don’t like the flavor of the chocolate.”
- “I liked the crunchiness of this one. Reminds me of the cake box cookies, which I love.”
THE RESULTS
2 votes for (A) JD’s Chippery
2 votes for (C) Potbelly
1 vote for (D) Starbucks
2 votes for (E) Creme de la Cookie
2 votes for (F) Margaux Anbouba
CONCLUSIONS
I thought JD’s Chippery would whoop all the other cookies out of the water, but I was wrong. It turns out that everybody has different cookie preferences. The results for the first chocochip cookie taste test were the same way, too. Votes were pretty even across the board.
Not one cookie stood out last time. That happened again today.
Overall, though, the taste testers seemed disappointed with this batch of cookies compared to the first one I did. Maybe they’ve run out of cookie steam? Maybe JD’s isn’t all it’s cut out to be? I don’t really see what the big fuss is about. Sure, it’s a nice, buttery cookie, but I’ll take the Zodiac Room’s chocochip cookie over it any day of the week.
(Yeah, yeah, I know. JD’s snickerdoodle is supposed to be mind-blowing.)
I’m surprised that Baby Cakes by Samara didn’t get any votes. Truthfully, I liked the fact that they weren’t too sweet. They weren’t too sweet, too salty, too crunchy, or too soft. There’s no way to predict how the wind will blow, I guess.
On that note, I’m all chocolate chipped out. Hope y’all enjoyed our cookie time together.
