San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
From ‘bland’ to ‘intense,’ this is how the cookie ranking crumbles
A blind taste test of 23 chocolate chip treats reveals the 10 best in the Bay Area
Chocolate chip cookie No. 2 was “bland, dry, ick!” wrote one reviewer. It was also “saccharine,” “too soft” and “weirdly fruity,” others recorded.
The San Francisco Chronicle’s panel of judges could not be fooled. In a blind taste test of 23 chocolate chip cookies from bakeries in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland, the panel put cookie No. 2 in last place.
That’s right where it belonged. Unlike the rest of the pack, gathered fresh that day from top bakeries like Tartine and B. Patisserie, cookie No. 2 was from a Subway franchise, a red herring.
Chocolate chip cookies are often the first treat a young baker pulls from the oven. But they’re not as simple as they might seem. The best ones perfectly balance salt, butter and sugar with bittersweet chocolate. And that’s just flavor, which our reviewers rated on a scale from one to five. Texture is crucial, too, the ideal cookie being crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside (another one to five point score).
Senior editor Janelle Bitker, reporters Mario Cortez and Elena Kadvany and associate food critic Cesar Hernandez bravely tasted 23 cookies, rating them each on that 10-point scale. To prevent influencing one another, the judges did not discuss their reactions until all the cookies were sampled and the scores were tallied, which took more than an hour. Judges were also permitted milk to cleanse the palate.
To compare only fresh cookies, the team was unable to gather cookies that were too far from the Chronicle’s office at 901 Mission St., where the taste test was held. But we’ve rounded up honorable mentions from Marin County, Wine Country and elsewhere below (including a great glutenfree option). Also, for the sake of comparison, the team focused on basic chocolate
chip cookies, with no major bells and whistles, while allowing for slight variations, like the addition of walnuts or tahini.
While Subway’s last place finish was no shock, there were several surprises — including Tartine, which reviewers called “dry,” “slightly astringent” and “overbaked.”
There were also disagreements. While Bitker found cookie No. 18 to be “underbaked in the center in a good way,” Kadvany also considered it “underbaked” but in a bad way — “too soft,” she wrote. (It was, appropriately, from Batter Bakery.) And while Cortez praised cookie No. 15 for “great dark chocolate” — it was baked by the Mission’s Dandelion Chocolate — Bitker wrote that it “feels like a cookie for kids.”
Counting down from No.
10 to No. 1, here were the panel’s top cookies. To see all 23, view the table below.
10. Batter Bakery. Score: 6.65
This gooey cookie was somewhat divisive, but fared well overall.
Chocolate chip cookie, $3.95, Batter Bakery, 2701 Eighth St., Ste. 105, Berkeley, and 555 California St., San Francisco. batterbakery.com
9. Dolores Deluxe. Score: 6.95
Judges generally liked this cookie with “buttery rich vanilla” flavor, made with dark chocolate chunks, semisweet chips and chocolate ganache, which was “tender” but “a little overly sweet.” Cortez dissented: “Too soft, not a fan,” he wrote.
Hot fudge chocolate chip
cookie, $3.50. Dolores Deluxe, 3500 22nd St., San Francisco. doloresdeluxe.com
8. Dandelion Chocolate. Score: 7
Cortez was all for this cookie from the S.F. chocolate maker, which features two kinds of chocolate chips. Bitker and Hernandez were less enthused; it reminded Hernandez of a chocolate chip ice cream sandwich cookie, with “not much depth.”
Chocolate chip cookie, $4.50. Dandelion Chocolate, multiple locations. dandelionchocolate.com
7. Fava. Score: 7.375
The largest cookie of the group featured tahini in a formula that worked well for Cortez and Kadvany. “Chocolate chunks + sesame = happy,” Kadvany wrote.
Hernandez and Bitker, who found the cookie less nutty and “crumblier” than another tahini cookie in the group, were not as impressed.
Tahini chocolate chip cookie, $4. Fava, 2114 Vine St., Berkeley. favaonvine.com
6. Anthony’s Cookies. Score: 7.625
A “textbook” cookie from the baker Anthony Lucas of Anthony’s Cookies, it was “crispy-chewy” with lots of vanilla, said our panel; “gooey, butter, toasty,” Hernandez wrote, “but a little too sweet,” Kadvany wrote.
Classic chocolate chip cookie, $2.50. Anthony’s Cookies, 1417 Valencia St., San Francisco, and 2575 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. anthonyscookies.com
5. Bake Sum. Score: 8.2
Oakland’s Bake Sum is
known for its inventive Asian American pastries like halo halo buns and okonomiyaki danishes. But owner Joyce Tang can also do simple, like this wellexecuted chocolate chip cookie. “Very classic,” wrote Kadvany; “nice mix of textures,” wrote Cortez. “Chewy, sweet, salty, yum,” wrote Bitker.
Chocolate chunk with maldon sea salt cookie, $3.50. Bake Sum. 3249 Grand Ave., Oakland. bakesum.com
4. Arsicault. Score: 8.375
Arsicault has a way with
butter, as anyone who has tried its impossibly flaky croissants knows well. The chocolate chip cookie also won our panel’s praise with texture: All four reviewers independently wrote that it had “crisp” or “crispy” edges, but wasn’t dry, and had great chocolate flavor.
Chocolate chip cookie, $3.75. Arsicault, 397 Arguello Blvd. and 87 McAllister St., San Francisco. arsicault-bakery.com
3. Sandy’s. Score: 8.4
New Orleans inspired sandwich shop Sandy’s makes a good-looking cookie,
with visible flakes of salt and a buttery sheen. Reviewers praised the bake, with a chewy, gooey center. Several remarked on the nice balance of salt and butter. A “textbook, willnever-be-mad-at-it cookie,” Cortez said.
Brown butter chocolate chip cookie, $5. Sandy’s. 1457 Haight St., San Francisco. sandysmuffs.com
2. Day Moon. Score: 8.6
The panel praised the cookies at this new Outer Sunset bakery, which were “intense” with dark chocolate and nutty, wrote Bitker.
It was like “the best version of Famous Amos,” wrote Hernandez. Kadvany detected an extra layer of chocolate on the bottom of the cookie and swooned. “Chocolate!!!” she jotted down. “I love.”
Chocolate chip cookie, $4. Day Moon, 3928 Irving St., San Francisco. instagram.com/ daymoonbread
1: Reem’s. Score: 9.125
The judges went wild for the sesame flavor and texture of Reem’s halawah chocolate chip cookie. It was one of two sesame-studded cookies, but fared slightly
better than the other, from Berkeley’s Fava, which landed in seventh place. Sesame paste, in the form of tahini and sweet, fudge-like housemade halawah, helped flavor and texture, resulting in a cookie that was “tender but not too gooey,” wrote Kadvany, balanced with toasty flavor and an added crunch from the sesame seeds. And while two reviewers wrote they claimed to detect butter, they were fooled by that nutty sesame: The cookie is vegan, made with coconut oil.
Chocolate chip halawah cookie, $4.50. Reem’s California, 2901 Mission St. and 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco. reemscalifornia.com
Honorable mentions from elsewhere:
Crispy with a chewy center and nutty, browned butter flavor, the chocolate chip cookies are one of many highlights at Route One Bakery & Kitchen in Tomales. — J.B. 27000 Shoreline Hwy., Tomales. routeonekitchen.com
Little Sky Bakery turns out voluminous, pudgy chocolate chip cookies, appropriately dubbed “giant” on the menu. With huge chunks of chocolate, they’re large enough to share (or squirrel away for a personal late-night snack). — E.K. Locations in Menlo Park, Los Altos and farmers’ markets. littleskybakery.com
Healdsburg bakery Quail & Condor is known for its stunning pastries and bread, but don’t sleep on the chocolate chip cookie. It nails the ideal crunchy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside texture. — E.K. 149 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg. quailandcondor.com
Flour Craft brings some tang to its gooey, palm-sized chocolate chip cookies with its sourdough starter, which is made, like everything here, from gluten-free flours. — C.P. 702 San Anselmo Ave., San Anselmo, and 129 Miller Ave. #300, Mill Valley. flourcraftbakery.com
The only unfortunate part about the frozen, ready-tobake cookies from Rory’s Bakehouse in Napa is the need to patiently wait for them to cool. Fresh from the oven, these giant rounds smell divinely of butter, with bronzed edges and a notably thick stature. — J.B. 2766 Old Sonoma Road, Napa. rorysbakehouse.com