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??
The answer is right there in the intro: “eschewing chains and others that have already generated internet buzz.”
Because it’s not a cookie…it’s a brick!
😉
not at all–soft and gooey
Mia deserves hazard pay and a public service medal for absorbing all those chocolate-laden calories in the name of research. We are grateful.
A well-written and fun to read piece, but I could have done without the last paragraph, which damns the UWS with faint praise. Just a little too post-graddy for my taste.
We love Janie’s cookies, they are so delicious
Jacques Torres on 72nd st used to be #1
It was full of too-sweet treats.
and the hot chocolate was heavenly
Totally spot on. Best hot chocolate in the city. I was so sad and surprised when I heard they were leaving.
Head on over to midwood. Some of the Best dang cookies I have ever had in NYC
Nicely done, Mia!
sugar in the morning sugar in the evening sugar at suppertime…… (old song)
Is a simple ranking too much to ask?
Thank you for not including Levain.
How do you do an UWS cookie roundup and not visit Levain Bakery for one of the most legendary chocolate chip cookies around?
Exactly
She said she’s “Eschewing chains and others that have already generated internet buzz.” Plus, sadly Levain is owned by private equity now, no longer a ‘small business’. I imagine more Levain chains are coming!
Janie’s Life Changing Baked Goods wins best cookie on the UWS by far. 🩷
Where can I buy them?
https://janiebakes.com/
Her half-baked ccc is addictive! And try a pie crust cookie – so, so delicious
I would never eat a chocolate chip cookie ever, but this was a fun read. My take on a ranking at least suggests Mast is #1 and La Farine is #2.
Inquiring minds…?
Never eat a chocolate chip cookie ever? What’s the point of living then?! 😩😂
I hope this article makes you reconsider! You won’t regret it!
give a taste bud gander at the chocolate chip cookies at Maman. yummmm
I have one word for you: Levain! Hands down the best chocolate cookie on the UWS or anywhere! Very surprised you didn’t mention this.
Per the intro, she was “eschewing chains and others that have already generated internet buzz.”
Not sure how you missed it, but you haven’t lived until you’ve had a chocolate chip cookie from Janie’s on Amsterdam and 81st!
Exactly!!
Reading about food in here all the time — just reading about it — I wonder how many pounds I’ve gained.
The best CC cookie I’ve ever eaten is one I baked from this “famous” recipe that became legendary about 20 years ago, using Jaques Torres chocolate chips.
The best CC cookies I ever ate was one I baked 25 years ago from this recipe:
https://cookiesandcups.com/jacques-torres-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe/
Oh no, no, no, no. THE BEST cookies of ANY kind are from Levain. I’ve been eating them since the first day they opened their first shop on W. 74th St.
Never understood people’s obsession with chocolate chip cookies. It’s unnatural. Paying a tank of gas for cookie is criminal.
This is a great series. And I for one don’t mind the postgrad perspective. Almost everything else on WSR is written from and for the median-age UWS resident/WSR reader; those of us who *also* like that perspective are very well served.
But I do agree a rating system for these could be a cute improvement. It doesn’t need to be “stars”, it could be some on-theme item that changes each time. (Though I’m guessing the WSR doesn’t want to alienate future advertisers so there would be a surfeit of 4-5 star/cookie/cocktail-cherry reviews)
Recently purchased baked goods are generally too sweet. Where are these on the sweet meter?
Folks paying an outrageous price for a cookie need to stop wondering why they have no money.
It’s cheaper than therapy.
You must try Janie’s chocolate chip cookie (and her life-changing pie crust cookies)! It’s everything an indulgent, balanced ccc should be.
434 Amsterdam Ave., corner of 81st St.
Curious as to why Levain, reputedly the best chocolate chip cookie around, wasn’t reviewed.
Read the intro
I like Orwashers. Be careful at La Farine. I was looking through their window the night before Thanksgiving a couple of years ago and their baker was putting her finger in the batters then into her mouth, licking it then put her finger back into all the batters. I was mortified and reported it to the Health Department.
My favorite is Tates, which are even better when frozen. But I rarely buy them because I want to eat half the bag in one sitting. If I am extremely depressed, I will get a Levain chocolate chip walnut and also put it in the freezer. Slows down rate of consumption and it can rescue me from profound misery, at least in the short term.
They need a cookie store or bakery near Columbia.
We’re allergic to chocolate. How about a review of non-chocolate cookies?