Batch Eight
It’s been awhile, and I’ve got a bunch stashed away in the pantry for another batch, so this is reaching back in time a bit. Anyway, let’s get it.
Hail Mary
Atwater darling Hail Mary is known for their pizza (it’s kind of stunning to see the amount of pies they were churning out during lockdown) but they shouldn’t be overlooked for their other vegetable dishes and their desserts. They of course have a chocolate chip cookie that is up to that same standard they hold for their pizzas (and is also quite a looker). The cookie itself is cooked through, with an interesting crisp to it’s edges that has an almost airy texture. The center is fairly chewy but not gooey or undercooked, and with a well balanced flavor, it’s is a perfect dessert for pizza.
Sinful Indulgence Chocolate Chip
I stumbled across Sinful Indulgence at a farmers market and had to know what they had up their sleeve, because they had quite a number of interesting flavors. Their cookies are cakey and have an interesting uniformity suggesting it was baked in a round. They’re not very chewy but have a solid flavor and isn’t overpoweringly sweet. But to be honest, seeing the rest of their menu (such as red velvet with cream cheese and strawberry cheesecake) you’d probably be better off going with something a bit wilder than the typical chocolate chip cookie that’s more of a fast ball down the middle.
Sinful Indulgence Milk Chocolate Caramel
I did want to give the slightly different take on the traditional chocolate chip cookie a look, and it did confirm that Sinful Indulgence’s game is probably better when it’s doing something different. The milk chocolate caramel is definitely the better of the two chocolate chip offerings. It adds more chewiness, punches the sweetness up a tad, and lends a slight nuttiness to the buttery base of the cookie dough. Go with this one or something crazier.
Corner Bakery
The first bad office worker lunch spot cookie. And honestly, just a bad cookie in general. Stay away.
Prime Pizza
I’ve covered the sneaky good corporate lunch chocolate chip cookies, and now I’m thinking that pizza joints may have the most underrated chocolate chip cookies. Prime Pizza’s is thin and chewy, with fantastically crisp edges. There are some flecks of oats (a bit reminiscent of Fat & Flour’s) and has a rock solid classic flavor. Really, it’s kind of like the pizza at Prime–just what you want, well executed, not going to let you down, not stepping outside it’s lane.
Superkind Cookies
Birthed through the pandemic, these shockingly fresh chocolate chip cookies are delivered in fours inside a pizza box to different parts of the city each week. I was a bit skeptical how they’d turn out, but damnit these were still hot like they were fresh out of the oven. It goes so far as striking me as even fresher than ones I’ve picked up at various other places that were presumably baked that day. The center of each cookie is taken right to the edge of cooked through but the edges are amazingly crisp. And cutting it to taste, it’s indeed a very tasty cookie overall. The dough’s flavor is similar to a shortbread, which is interesting but fitting with the crispness of the edges. However, the most notable element is the alternating layers of milk and dark chocolate discs that’s perfectly bittersweet. I definitely admire chefs that make their cookies and pick a side—it creates consistency across the entire cookie and makes it clear that the chef believes this chocolate is the best for the job. Yet the mixture here works, because let’s be honest you kind of want it all at the same time. It adds up to a cookie that’s in the upper tier of Los Angeles chocolate chip cookies, but the USP of having it delivered so fresh and hot is something that not even many bakeries out there can guarantee unless they’re constantly baking new batches through the day. Find them through Instagram at @superkindcookies.
Rose Wilde / Red Bread
Another veteran baker that also makes some stellar cookies. These are harder to get than they should be, since Red Bread only ships or does pick up on Sundays in Santa Monica, but they’re worth it when you can grab them. They’re tasty with a hint of nuttiness in the base and superbly layered milk chocolate, and another example of a bakery that just nails its cookies. I hope that once Superfine Pizza opens back up, that these cookies will be on the menu there, as Chef Wilde is Rossoblu’s pastry chef as well.
Gemini Bakehouse
Recently opened in it’s new Silver Lake brick and mortar location, Gemini Bakehouse has become popular for their bread, pies, and recently a weekend breakfast sandwich. But on to their cookies–they’re lookers with some standout vanilla flavor in the base. With a great craggily surface, balance of chocolate chips, slightly crisp edge, and a chewy center, it doesn’t break the mold in any way, but it feels wholesome and satisfying.
Fat and Flour Bourbon Chocolate Pecan
Stop the presses. Chef Rucker’s new-ish vegan cookie is possibly better than the OG chocolate chip. It’s one of those that you wouldn’t notice is vegan if they didn’t tell you, which is possibly covered by the hint of bourbon to give it an extra layer of complexity. The toasted pecans add a nice nuttiness and crunch, and are restrained to a balanced ratio that compliments the chocolate and salt. This is a flex, where Chef Rucker is basically throwing down saying she doesn’t need dairy to still have the cookie championship belt.
Next batch coming soon!