Carpe Cookie

A grade-A cookie lover's account of the best – and sometimes worst – cookies around.

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Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, and Oatmeal Raisin at Levain

Posted by on Oct 24, 2010 in Chocolate, Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip | 2 comments

Levain Bakery
167 West 74th St. – New York City
$4*


A few times over the past few years, I’ve been asked by friends to provide a list of bakeries (i.e.,cookies) worth seeking out while visiting New York City.  Even though (with the exception of one year in the mid-nineties) I have never lived in NYC, I’ve been there a bunch of times.  And I’m sure it comes as no surprise that during these visits, cookie scouting ends up high on my priority list – above, I am simultaneously ashamed and proud to admit, The Guggenheim, MOMA, Broadway performances, shoe shopping, etc.  I will plan entire walking itineraries around strategically-located bakeries; this is how I roll. (OMG: if somebody has not already opened a bakery called “This Is How We Roll”, it needs to happen – stat! Genius.)

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Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk at Ristretto Roasters

Posted by on Oct 5, 2010 in Chocolate, Oatmeal | 2 comments

Ristretto Roasters
3808 N Williams Ave- Portland
3520 NE 42d Ave – Portland
$2

I have nearly a crapload of cookbooks. The truth is, though, that only a handful of these are ones that I use on any kind of consistent basis – or any basis, for that fact. But when my friend Giovanna reviewed  Good to the Grain a couple of months ago, it quickly became one of the few cookbooks I’ve come across lately that I felt the need to add to my collection.

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Chocolate Macaroon at Alma

Posted by on Sep 27, 2010 in Chocolate, Gluten Free and/or Flourless, Macaroon/Macaron | 3 comments

Alma Chocolate
140 NE 28th Ave – Portland
$1

Alma Chocolate, a tiny shop in Northeast Portland, is known mainly for their signature (edible) gold leaf-painted molded chocolate icons,  bon bons, barks, toffees and cocoa-dusted candied nuts.  The array of unexpected confections, all  made from one deep, dark single-origin chocolate or another, is stunning. But what I want to tell you about is the shop’s  more off-the-radar (at least to me) bakery items.

I seem to forget about Alma as a bakery, per se, but the fact is that they are kickin’ out some of Portland’s better cookies, brownies and cake.  And this, natch, is what I want to tell you about – a cookie.

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Triple Chocolate at Grand Central Bakery

Posted by on Aug 16, 2010 in Chocolate | 4 comments

Grand Central Bakery
Portland* – various locations

$1.30

As I typed the words “Triple Chocolate” just now, I realized that I’m not really sure why it’s called “triple”.  Rich chocolate base: check. Nice semi-sweet chocolate chips: check.  But…what is this mystery third chocolate in the trifecta?  (Note to self: Next time you go to Grand Central, ask what that damn third chocolate is.  Shit, now I’m totally curious! Stay tuned for an update.)

Okay, so here is what’s interesting about the this one:  Every time I taste it, I am surprised all over again by how honestly delicious it is. That is to say, it does not have a whole lot of curb appeal; it appears somewhat dry and biscuit-y to the eye, and even though I’ve eaten probably twenty of them over the past, say,  5 years, it is as if I’ve developed some sort of chronic Triple Chocolate Cookie amnesia.

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