I may get my good-taste card revoked for this (and maybe never be asked to fill in for Nikita Richardson here again), but I’ll choose a cookie — any type, really — over a flaky, complex pastry every time.
In a city of increasingly intricate laminated creations, there’s something refreshing about a straight-up cookie: an undeniable, unfussy little treat. And while exciting new cookies aren’t exactly a dime a dozen the way croissants are lately, there are a few notable recent additions to my cookie roster.
Cornflake, meet cookie
I posted on Instagram a few weeks ago that white chocolate macadamia is the best type of cookie, and was promptly eaten alive in my DMs. Many acquaintances lost their trust in me that day. But for the unapologetic freaks that agree with me, there’s a new cornflake, white chocolate and macadamia nut cookie at Supermoon Bakehouse on the Lower East Side (where the whole menu changes every month — this cookie is only there until June 3). The cornflakes piled on top are honey-roasted, sticky and caramelized, making this one a leader in the W.C.M.N.C. (white chocolate macadamia nut cookie) field.
A rosy dream
At Sofreh Cafe, which opened in Brooklyn Heights last month, the Persian pastries lined up in their jewel-box case are tough to choose among (and all great), but the latifeh is a standout. Fragrant rose cream is sandwiched between two super-soft cookies covered in powdered sugar, and the whole deal is rolled in crushed pistachios. It’ll leave your fingers (and clothes, in my case) coated in the most floral-scented, lovely dust. No regrets!
Cookies for morning people
There’s often a line at Librae in NoHo, a bakery so popular that when they announced a new cookie at the beginning of the month, it sold out before 10 a.m. most days. As an afternoon sweets person, it took a while for me to get my hands on one — I got the last of the batch at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday — but it was more than worthwhile. It’s two tender cornmeal shortbread cookies sandwiching black pepper-laced blueberry jam. This is the song of the summer!
Better than peanut butter
My favorite new cookie of the season, though, is the sesame seed and chocolate chunk cookie at Pan Pan Vino Vino, a bakery by day, wine bar by night that opened in Greenpoint in February. It’s basically a sesame version of the best peanut butter cookie you’ve ever had, thick in the middle with a caramelized-to-almost-burned bottom, and topped with black and white sesame seeds.
The classic
And for many “normal people,” the perfect cookie is probably a simple chocolate chip number with crispy edges and a chewy interior. Fine, you can have that! You should beeline to the East Village bakery From Lucie, which opened in January, where they bake the cookies throughout the day. This is what you imagine when you imagine a chocolate chip cookie: tender, buttery middle with pools of chocolate (four different types) and a proper scattering of flaky salt on top. If this isn’t a cookie you can get behind, I really don’t know what to tell you.
That’s all for now, folks — you’ll get Nikita back next week!
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