Chocolate Chip Cookie Death Match

paranoidgarliclover · July 18, 2021, 6:00pm

I never would’ve thought about getting the CCC there. I already feel like such a pig when I order from there, but I guess why not go full glutton?

Never heard of them but will certainly try based on your rec. I wonder if they put them in some sort of insulating bag to keep them warm??? Also interesting about the mix of milk vs. dark. ATK had a test taste (specifically of choc chips), and Julia’s fav was bittersweet, which she thought tasted more “traditional” than the semi-sweet (I hadn’t realized until watching that semi- and bittersweet were diff). So that combo of milk + dark in the cookie is intriguing…

T3t · July 18, 2021, 7:37pm

Had the bourbon chocolate pecan last week, agreed that it’s one of the best cookies I’ve ever had. Did not realize that it was vegan.

TheCookie · July 20, 2021, 3:42am

Love the chocolatey, salted, chewy looking ones.

I’ve had Prime’s cookie a couple times. Yep, tasty cookie.

ElsieDee · August 3, 2021, 1:53am

I am curious as to your preparations for the swiftly approaching holiday?

rlw · August 3, 2021, 2:12am

No idea if anywhere will be celebrating with some specials, but I’ll be on the lookout! Maybe I’ll have a new batch ready…

LAgirl · August 3, 2021, 2:28am

If anybody feels like baking some CCCs, LA Times just dropped some inspiration:

JeetKuneBao · August 11, 2021, 4:54pm

Paderia. Chocolate Walnut Cookie. Ask them to warm it up for you. Perfect 10.

paranoidgarliclover · August 17, 2021, 2:27am

Had it, and I agree, surprisingly good. Incredibly thin and the taste is almost inversely proportional to the thinness. I nuked the cookie for too long, which was not a good move. Leave it as-is.

I had the choc chip sea salt (thanks, @hungryhungryhippos), and it was great. The thickness and shape make you think that it’ll be cake-y (not my preferred type), but it isn’t. If you imagine a less decadent (in terms of butter/fat/grease) and raw version of The Cookie from Bristol Farms, this would be it. Nicely caramelized bottom, and the interior is a nice balance btw raw and baked. Quite crave-able.

hungryhungryhippos · August 17, 2021, 6:26am

Yum glad you enjoyed it. Now I want more lol!!!

mchen · September 10, 2021, 4:02am

Brown butter chocolate chip cookie from Zooie’s is chef’s kiss. Highly recommend if you like savory, smoky flavors. We bought a ton of other cookies as well, but I like to stay on theme. Thank you @rlw for the rec!

lectroid · September 13, 2021, 2:45pm

I’m a year late to this but…

….

You’re a MONSTER!!!

TheCookie · September 26, 2021, 11:28pm

Lodge Miso Chocolate Chip Cookie from BHFM.

Mine was a little different than yours @rlw. It had the faint promise of salt scatter but not enough to counter-balance the sweet. It was soft & chewy but didn’t have crispy edges. I agree it could use more chocolate and that the tasty dough and interesting use of miso almost make up for the lack of chocolate. It’s still a really good cookie, though, that I recommend and would get again.

rlw · November 28, 2021, 2:53am

Batch Nine

Yeah yeah I’ve been really late on these…

FarmShop

Mini chocolate chips and a good wide spread equals a pretty even distribution and overall consistent cookie. The edges aren’t that crisp and crumby, but the center is brought right up to that perfectly done line. It doesn’t look like much, and seems like it could be forgettable in the larger FarmShop bakery line up, but it’s competently executed and an all around solid cookie.

Paderia Bakehouse

Paderia has a good line up of cookies, but we’re focusing on the sea salt chocolate chip here. And wow, it’s a knockout. The crisp edges and exterior create a shell that holds a nearly molten center. It’s an epic cookie (my only gripe is that all the salt is concentrated on middle of the cookie) but that doesn’t take anything away from what amounts to the the apex west side chocolate chip cookie when you do get that salty center bite. It’s phenomenal.

Paderia Bakehouse’s walnut chocolate chip is reminiscent of Levian’s famous cookie. Like the sea salt chocolate chip, it’s perfectly baked. And the balance of choclate to walnut turns out well. It’s easily checks the crisp edges and molten center box.

85 Degrees

85 Degrees is probably better known for their other baked items (for good reason) so I didn’t have high expectations for their chocolate chip cookie in a bag. It’s soft baked, and with an interesting almost oatmeal cookie spice profile, but still not chewy. It’s okay, but just made me want taro bread instead.

Porto’s Bakery & Cafe

Super strong QPR out of the gate, Porto’s chocolate chip cookie is the perfect size and a textural bullseye. It’s probably likely to be overlooked amongst Porto’s more popular and well known items, but this is a real sleeper. It’s an interesting point of comparison to the 85 Degrees down the block, which is also has a big menu of other bakery items, but this cookie is so much better. That said, it’s not destination worthy, but if you’re coming for other things and want something classically satisfying that you won’t regret, this will do it.

Le Pain Quotidian

This is perhaps the biggest cookie I’ve had. It’s absolutely massive. It’s also absolutely forgettable. The flavor is fine, and it’s got a good amount of chocolate chips, but it’s also just so mediocre that the only thing going for it is that you could buy one and split it with three friends. It’s definitely still better than Corner Bakery though.

Sprinkles

You can probably see the trend here of trying chocolate chip cookies at places known for things other can cookies, but this is all fair game since it’s on the menu. Sprinkles’ chocolate chip cookie is soft baked so that it started to come apart as I picked it up. I should have known I’d be in for a sugar bomb, but to its credit, there is a really nice amount of salt to balance it out a bit. There is a slight graininess to the base, but overall it’s a really solid cookie, and actually quite dense and chewy in the center. It’s still going to punch you in the face with sugar, so I can’t really say that’s the move at Sprinkles if you don’t want a super bougie cupcake that’s also packed with sugar.

Goodboybob

Another soft baked cookie with a great salt topping with some significant crystals. The base is buttery with a slight nuttiness, and a complexity that indicates some other flours like rye or buckwheat. It’s a heater down the middle, and compared with other coffee shop chocolate chip cookies, it’s up there though probably just outside that top tier belonging to GGET and Largwa/Thank You Coffee.

Largwa

Speaking of… let’s check in on Largwa. munch munch Yup, still a banger.

Baker’s Bench

Clear the decks, since I first had it back in June, Baker’s Bench’s vegan chocolate chip cookie has become one of my favorites (ie: I get one almost once a week). And clearly I can’t describe it as buttery because it’s not but it’s like almost like it is so I just don’t know. It’s one of the best vegan cookies I’ve had in my life because it feels like it’s cakey still substantial and again I can’t believe it’s not butter. The edges are firm and a bit crunchy, but just past that it’s soft and chewy, and so damn flavorful. I’m confident to call it a top tier cookie, one of the best on the east side, and a must get alongside your other Baker’s Bench pastries.

Death & Co.

Huh? A bar selling chocolate chip cookies? Alright, well they’re a good, average cookie. I was hoping for a bit more knowing Death & Co.’s creative cocktail program, but they’re flat, a bit chewy, and just fine overall. The most admirable feature is the good sprinkling of giant salt crystals (perhaps that’s the cocktail influence?). So if you want something sweet to pair with your drinks, it’s passable, but also who care’s when you’ve got drinks.

I’ve got enough stashed for batches ten and eleven, so hopefully I won’t take so long between them…

JeetKuneBao · November 28, 2021, 3:20am

Glad you liked Paderia!

rlw · November 28, 2021, 5:31am

I’ve always managed to find my way there when I’ve been out on the west side!

rlw · December 13, 2021, 3:30am

Batch Ten

Double digits let’s gooooo

Lei’d Cookies

Lei’d Cookies has been popping up at Smorgasburg on Sundays since the restart, and they have a few variations on the good old chocolate chip. The LA Local is a straight up take on it, which is soft and chewy with edges that are trying to be crisp. The flavor of the dough is quite complex, with notes of coffee and hints of caramel. Best part: it’s thicc and wonderfully undercooked in the center with a big bonus of salt crystals sprinkled on top too.

The Mayan is the same well executed chocolate chip cookie, but has a Mexican flavor profile with added cinnamon and some spicy heat.

Then there’s The Hawaiian. It’s a bit more brittle with a supremely nutty flavor both from the dough and macadamia nuts. There’s not much chocolate (coconut adds just a slight flavor) so I wish it just amounted to more of either one.

Stella Barra

Checking in on one of the cookies that kicked this all off, and yup it’s still massive. It’s a bit crumby and cooked through, but the flavor is on point and actually adds up to a great bite. Stella Barra still delivers

There are of course (somewhat confusingly) two chocolate chip cookie options–I’m guessing the other one is for people sensitive to their sodium intake. The sea salt chocolate chip is the same solid chocolate chip cookie but amped up with a generous dusting of salt. IE: this is the one to get.

Proof via Wax Paper

Picking up a sandwich, I decided to grab a dessert. It’s the same great Proof cookie, but way less fresh, which hurts it a bit. Still better than no cookie though.

Destroyer

Destroyer’s vegan chocolate chip is solid. It’s going that Jordan Khan flair with a dusting of powder on top, and while the flavor is satisfying it doesn’t make me reconsider Baker’s Bench or Fat and Flour as having the top vegan chocolate chip cookies in the game.

Yang’s Kitchen

Yang’s Kitchen may fly under the radar when it comes to chocolate chip cookies, but one thing that I’ve found across all these batches is that restaurants with high standards have just a high floor for ever item on their menu. Yang’s Kitchen is a great example of this, delivering a classic flavor profile that’s cooked through but retains some decent chewiness. It seems a bit effortless in a good way—like the team knows they’re not going to rewrite the book with this cookie, so they’re going to deliver one that satisfyingly meets expectations.

Eataly

Again, maybe not somewhere you’d expect to find a great chocolate chip cookie, but surprise this one is an elite supermarket cookie. There’s a superb brown sugar flavor in the dough, high quality chocolate, and a deceptive chewiness. The edges kind of fail at being crispy, but with such a satisfying bite it’s totally fine that it’s not.

Nice Coffee

Open during the weekdays serving primarily coffee (duh), Nice Coffee also has a small collection of baked goods. Their chocolate chip cookie is light and chewy, with a deep vanilla flavor to the dough. Toss on a good dusting of salt and it adds up to a competent cookie.

Sip ‘n Sonder

Sip 'n Sonder recently opened up at the Music Center downtown (right next to the Walt Disney Concert Hall), and amid a pretty stacked pastry case (check out their biscuits) is a pretty standard chocolate chip cookie with a nicely subtle nuttiness and some killer salt. It’s not very chewy but has a nice crisp edge.

Illy

Maybe I was asking for it because I bought this in an airport because I’m that much of a degenerate but this cookie was just kind of bad. It was stale and probably just left over from the day before, so I shouldn’t judge it too harshly given the time and place. But just go ahead and pass. However, I got a muffin at the same time and they offered to warm that up, so I’m wondering if you could save this cookie by having them warm the cookie too

Bottega Louie

I’m always astonished when I’m reminded that Bottega Louie is one of the highest grossing restaurants in America. After taking time off to remodel, they’ve just reopened downtown and among all their other pastries you’ll find a stack of chocolate chip cookies tucked in the corner case. I was actually a bit impressed because it’s just really nice. There’s a good amount of chocolate chunks here, but it’s not too sweet. While just cooked through and not very chewy, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the cookie. There is a nice crispness around the edges, but you don’t get that crisp to molten transition that really kills, adding up to just a pretty competent cookie.