By Mia Romanoff
In college, I was surrounded by a sizable number of highly skilled and neurotic “stress bakers” who were always pumping out stellar chocolate chip cookies. From midterm tests to break-ups to nights when we just could not will ourselves to leave the couch, there were always cookies.
Moving back to the Upper West Side has its perks, but unfortunately the free baked goods have come to an end. And while there are more pressing problems in post-grad life, the end to these random sweet-treat deliveries has left a cookie-shaped hole in my heart.
I know what you’re thinking: surely I could bake these cookies myself. It’s easy. It’s cheap. It’s literally written on the back of the package. Yet, despite how much I love a free baked good, as any of my college roommates will tell you, I should not be allowed to bake anything for fear of accidental arson, flour spills that challenge the laws of physics, and, put kindly, a general lack of finesse.
Besides, in the four years that I was gone, the Upper West Side has been engulfed by cookie pandemonium. Looking to fill the hole left by my school friends’ extracurricular culinary pursuits, and lacking finesse in the kitchen myself, I decided to embark on a journey to find the best chocolate chip cookies on the UWS, eschewing chains and others that have already generated internet buzz.
Mast Market – 353 Columbus Avenue, between West 76th and 77th streets
Starting with my personal favorite Upper West Side cookie, the Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookie ($6.75) from Mast Market on West 77th Street and Columbus Avenue does it all. It has a cakey crust and a soft and gooey inside that gives you that slightly underbaked texture without completely collapsing. The salty chunks of chocolate are spread throughout, giving you enough chocolate in every bite without overwhelming the cookie or becoming too sweet. It’s slightly comical in size, but that just means you can put it in your bag and break off pieces all day long.
Orwashers – 440 Amsterdam Avenue, 81st Street
The second stop on my cookie taste test was Orwashers on 81st and Amsterdam. Signs were posted all around saying that their cookie was ranked as the city’s fifth best chocolate chip cookie by Infatuation. Perhaps it was the hype, perhaps it was the sweetness, but it just wasn’t as great as I wanted a $5 cookie to be. And don’t get me wrong, I really tried to love this cookie. It’s good. The cookie part is as solid as can be, but I found there to be an excessive amount of chocolate chips. That said, if a super chocolatey cookie is what you’re looking for, this is the one for you.
Solid State Coffee – 104 W 71st, off the corner of Columbus Avenue
Next was Solid State Coffee on 71st Street and Columbus. Though it’s probably my fault for entering a coffee shop at 9:30am on a Friday, I did end up having to wait in line for five minutes. My unbecoming impatience aside, the cookie itself ($4) had a hard crust with a dense and cakey center. While the cookie had a nutty, butter forward flavor that I was a big fan of, I can never endorse the choice to opt for chocolate chips over chunks. Would I wait in a line for it again? Probably not. But all in all it was a delicious cookie that satisfies the craving for a sweet treat.
Silver Moon Bakery – 2664 Broadway, between West 101st and 102nd streets
Further uptown at Silver Moon Bakery on 102nd Street and Broadway, I bravely continued to battle through my growing cookie fatigue. While not my personal favorite, Silver Moon Bakery’s chocolate chip cookie ($6.50) stood out from the other softer, underbaked cookies I’d encountered thus far. Though at a glance it seemed to be more of the same, Silver Moon’s cookie definitely has a drier, crumbly texture closer to that of a Tate cookie. At first it was slightly disorienting for a cookie that thick to mimic the texture of an ultrathin, crispy cookie, but in the end, the popular Upper West Side bakery pull it off quite well and added something new to a mix of cookies that were starting to blend together.
La Farine Pâtisserie et Café – 2394 Broadway, between West 87th and 88th streets
The last chocolate chip cookie on my quest was from La Farine Pâtisserie et Café on 87th and Broadway. Though at $6.95 it was the most expensive cookie I encountered, it was among the best. Similar to the Mast Market cookie, it was gooey, thick, and buttery with a salty finish. The chocolate chunks teeter on being too much, but ultimately are just enough to make sure there’s a bit in every bite. My only real qualm is that the cookie was so soft it fell apart when I took it out of the bag, but there are far worse problems for a cookie to have, especially if you’re more civilized than myself and avoid the temptation to eat it with one hand while speed walking down the street.
While the Upper West Side may not be home to the trendiest bakeries, the quality of our sweet treat scene is just as good. If anything, the lack of lines and viral-cookie mania makes the Upper West Side the ideal neighborhood for people who just want to get a really good chocolate chip cookie.
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Nicely written article, Mia. But your readers demand a rating system! lol
How could you leave out Levain??