Tabor Bread
5051 SE Hawthorne Blvd – Portland
$1.75
Tabor Bread mills their own flours and bakes their bread and pastries in a wood fired oven – apparently the first retail bakery in Portland to do so. I was surprised to read this. I mean, this is Portland – D.I.Y. headquarters of America! But it says so on their website, and who am I to second guess the internet?
Read Morelittle t american baker
2600 SE Division – Portland
$1.50
I’m not sure why I never had the oatmeal raisin (possibly my favorite kind of cookie, ever) at Little T until now. I’ve been to this bakery dozens of times in the 4 years it has been around. I’m thinking maybe it’s because they haven’t always had it – or because it usually contains walnuts (not a fan). Or…wait a minute.
Hideaway Bakery
3377 East Amazon Dr., Eugene, OR
$2
I found this bakery only 4 years ago while visiting Eugene (my hometown), and I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been around more than a couple of years longer than that. In a town with more (way above average) bakeries per capita than anywhere I’ve lived, The Hideaway is the one I make the biggest point of hitting when I’m in town. After I’ve gotten my pumpkin cookie with brown sugar icing fix at Sweet Life. (I will never get tired of the pumpkin cookie with brown sugar icing at Sweet Life.)
Nuvrei
404 NW 10th Ave – Portland
$2
I’ve enjoyed this cookie more than once over the past few years, but was never sure if it really counted as a cookie. I used to consider it a cookie when they first started making it – simply because it was round (and also because I think it was actually labeled “cookie”). But I’m guessing that its roundness confused people into expecting a more traditional oatmeal cookie – which this is not. But for awhile now it had been made rectangular in shape and is called a “bar”, which, of course, still does not exclude it from cookiehood. Because, well, brownies. And blondies. And lemon bars. All of these are cookies in my book. Baked good semantics. Whatever.
Even though it falls somewhere on the continuum of cookie-scone-granola bar and might only be classified as cookie-ish, it meets MY cookie needs. So… I will call it a cookie. It’s a damn cookie!
More to the point: This is a fat, chewy loaf of oatmeal, cinnamon, currant toothsomeness. I use the word “toothsome” a lot – too much, I will admit. But I don’t think it applies more in any one of my cookie descriptions than it does here.
There’s not much to add that the photo doesn’t tell. Like I said, it is THICK (note the macaron in the background for sense of scale). A crisp, rigid edge surrounds the oaty center, which is a bit crumbly, but not in a dry or unpleasing way. It is the opposite of unpleasing; it is, in fact pleasing.
(cross-section shot of bar sitting upright on one end)
The currants are a nice variation on the usual raisin. (Nothing against raisins. I love raisins.) And…it is seemingly never-ending; I ate it and ate it, gave my sister a few bites, and still was left with half the bar on my plate. (This may be partially due to the fact that I also liberally sampled my sister’s almond croissant. And her sablé. And also that salted caramel macaron sitting there on the plate- which, btw, was excellent: perfect texture and intense, burnt sugar taste. I will totally be back for that macaron; it is for sure one of – if not the – best I’ve had in town. Nice job on the macaron, Nuvrei!)
Bakery Bar
2935 NE Glisan St – Portland
$1.50
Ever since Bakery Bar inexplicably stopped making their soft, excellent ginger cookies a few years ago, I haven’t been able to get excited about a cookie at this joint. (The bakery’s strength, imo, is savory and sweet scones -maple bacon and apple, cinnamon pecan, sharp cheddar and scallion, etc – and their breakfast menu. And cakes, which I’ve never actually tasted but are exceptionally cute and beautiful.)
Read MoreBob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Store
5000 SE International Way
Milwaukie, OR
$1.25
I’m not going to tell you to go out of your way for this one. But I will tell you to go out of your way for Bob’s Red Mill buckwheat, rye, coconut and malted barley flours, toasted pumpernickel kernels, 8 grain cereal, teff, sesame seeds, organic oats and about 300 (at least) other BRM flours, grains, pastas,spices, seeds and snacks sold at discounted, bulk prices. Because it’s a great deal when you’re restocking your baking supply larder (I always come away with at least 3 items I’ve never seen or heard of [green pea flour? Who knew?])- and a pretty fun and easy field trip from Portland.
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