A Little Cookie List

Jack's Stir Brew - See the Previous Post

My last few weeks have been speckled with cookie cravings at the random hours of the day. I'll wake from bed at 6am and the first thing that pops to mind is...cooookie! Thank goodness for easy mobility in the city. It guarantees instant satisfaction for this nonsense ^_^


I frequently find myself in front of the display case at Momofuku Milk Bar in the early morning, contemplating my first bite of the day. And while I've certainly had one too many breakfasts of pistachio or chocolate cake, cookies seem a touch more appropriate for a morning meal. Corn, blueberry...take your pick. My heart lies with the Compost cookie (complete with pretzels, potato chips, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips and coffee grounds)...

...with the Cornflake-Marshmallow-Chocolate Chip cookie coming in a distant second.

During the afternoons I like to wander over to Abraço for a buttery cured olive number...

....or the airy light and fragrant rose water meringue. Goodness I love this cookie.

Cookies like the Jacques Torres mudslide cookie fall on my list of things that make me grateful to live in NYC. Dark, and over the top indulgent with plenty of walnuts, and more chocolate than flour, this cookie is certainly a drug in and of itself. It's a fairly well-known cookie - Jacques Torres even sells a cookie mix for it. But the mix is pricey, you're best off making the recipe.

When I'm in a totally flourless mood I head straight for Payard Patisserie where the Flourless Chocolate Walnut Cookie sets me straight. I most often chase this cookie with a short bus ride down 5th Ave for plenty of shopping. Or window shopping at least ;)

Just before training classes this morning I stopped in at nearby Paradis for a chocolate chip cookie - light, almost poofy. A good standard chocolate chip cookie, though nothing particularly memorable.

Those who frequent any NYC location of Oren's must have noticed the jars of single-bite cookies stored near the cash register. I'll often get one or two of the Chocolate-Chocolate Cookie as an afternoon pick-me-up. Dunked in a hot cup of coffee, the chocolate chips get all melty making for a fudge-esque bite. They outsource all their baked goods, but I'm not sure which bakery these cookies come from.

And of course there is always the classic fallback - City Bakery (or Birdbath if you're in the EV or WV) for that big happy chocolate chip disk. And if chocolate chip isn't intense enough, go for the Double Chocolate Cookie. Thumbs up for the Coconut Cookie and the seasonal Gingerbread Cookie.

But everyone knows that the melt in your mouth Peanut Butter Cookies mounds is the single best item at the bakery :)

One cookie I no longer enjoy are the ones from Levain Bakery. I used to like them a lot back around 2004 and 2005, but now I just find them cloying and single dimensional in flavour. They're loved by a number of people, but in all honestly I find the severely under-baked, under-salted and enormous heft of a cookie quite disgusting.

I'm still on the fence about the Ruby et Violette cookies (pictured above: Maple Walnut and Chocolate Chip)- they're pretty swell and warmed upon order. Nonetheless, they're also overly sweet and SEVERELY overpriced. Like ridiculously overpriced to the point where I can't help but break down the cost of each bite.

My attempts at shoe shopping in the Time Warner Center never fails to fail because I am inevitably and immediately drawn to Bouchon Bakery every time I enter the shopping complex. First on the agenda. One chocolate bouchon. Second on the agenda. TKO cookie. Or the Nutter Butter. Depends on the mood. Both are well worth the calories.

Over at Joe the Art of Coffee on Waverly, the Raspberry Thumbprint Cookie by Tom Cat Bakery is my go-to coffee companion. Though once I had a taste of Olivia's Vegan Peanut Butter Cookie (by That Chick Bakes), and that was pretty nice.

But oh yes! How could I forget?! The best peanut butter cookie in this city has got to be the Vegan Peanut Butter Cookie from Cake Shop. I've turned to this huge, floppy, almost cake-like cookie many a nights when I lived on the Lower East Side. Robyn first turned me on to this cookie in Fall 2007 and I've been addicted every since.
While we're on the subject of "healthy" cookies, make sure you stop in at Life Thyme in the West Village. There's a bakery section in the back of the market with some killer cookies. The Vegan Oatmeal Raisin (ingredient list) is my favourite of their selections, though you really can't go wrong with any flavour. A quote from Robyn's blog, "Their ginormous vegan organic cookies (tollbooth cookie, get it!) are better than most regular ones I've eaten. They taste like cookie dough! Deeeelish." Be warned, these cookies are so filling they could easily be passed on as meal.

You "need" to eat at the Redhead to get the free Chocolate-Oat Cookie that comes with the check (see my Serious Eats write-up). But who's complaining when buttermilk fried chicken and a shrimp & grits is on the menu?

At 3 for $1.95, the Chocolate Chip Cookies at ChickaLicious Dessert Club are a hit or miss, often falling on the slightly under-baked side. I like to buy a trio on each visit, and eat one on the walk home, and warm the rest up in the oven - midnight snack! :) By the way, ChickaLicious just started serving Shave Ice! How wonderful is that? Menu here. Condensed milk, azuki beans and mochi ball toppings...dare I say, it's almost like home.

I've always had a soft spot for the crumbly (some might deem it dry) Molasses Cookie at Tisserie. It's a bummer the Union Square location closed, but it's a short trip uptown for this and their Triple Chocolate Cookie, which borders on brownie territory.

And for Black & Whites? My favourite is at William Greenberg's on the Upper East Side! :)

Other cookies worth mention:
- the cookie plate at Gramercy Tavern
- tea infused shortbread at Amai Tea House
- Rose & Black Pepper Thumbprint Cookies from Whimsy & Spice
- Chocolate Dots at Oro Bakery
- Chocolate Chip Cookie from Grounded in the West Village
- Petrossian's Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Milk & Cookie's Chocolate Mint Cookie
- Chocolate Chip Cookie from Pichet Ong's Batch Bakery
- Insomnia Cookies (when delivered from good friends late at night :)
- The super thin Tate's cookies found at most bodegas

OK. Man that was a long post :) Now I have SUPER INTENSE pizza craving. Have an awesome Wednesday!

Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar
207 Second Ave
New York, NY 10003

Abraço
86 East 7th St
NY, NY 10003
(212) 388-9731

Jacques Torres
350 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 414-2462

Payard Patisserie
1032 Lexington Ave
New York, NY 10021
(212) 717-5252

Paradis
114 4th Ave
New York, NY 10003
(646) 416-6709

Oren's
Various Locations

City Bakery / Birdbath
3 W 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
(212) 366-1414

Levain Bakery
167 W 74th Street
New York, NY 10023
(212) 874-6080

Bouchon Bakery
10 Columbus Circle
At 59th Street - Third Floor
New York, NY 10019
(212) 823-9366

Ruby et Violette
457 West 50th Street
New York, NY 10019
(718) 728-6250

Joe the Art of Coffee
141 Waverly Pl
New York, NY 10003
(212) 924-675

Cake Shop
152 Ludlow Street
New York, NY 10002
(212) 253-0036

Life Thyme
410 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10011
(212) 420-9099

Redhead
349 E 13th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 533-6212

ChikaLicious Dessert Club
204 E 10th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 475-0929

Tisserie

William Greenberg
1100 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10028
(212) 744-0304