At the risk of expanding my waistline, I enlisted two friends this weekend to help me evaluate where the best chocolate chip cookies are sold in the South End.
The result of this sampling which included a weighted ranking system evaluating taste, appearance and size as key factors from three cookie connoisseurs may surprise you. None of the locations were tipped off that this sampling was going to take place and cookies were randomly selected by the unsuspecting purveyors of chocolate chip cookies. The locations included (alphabetically): Appleton Bakery, Flour, Francesca’s, Jaho, South End Buttery, South End Formaggio and Wholy Grain.
Although photos show the cookies labelled, during the tasting the labels were not visible. Without a doubt the absolute best cookie (unanimously agreed upon by all) was from the bakery at Appleton Cafe with a ranking of 79.5. This cookie scored high in all three categories: taste, appearance and size, and was soft with plenty of good chocolate chips. I had to fight the urge to dip it in my milk. The cookie from Flour bakery was the runner-up scoring 71 points. In my opinion the chocolate used in this cookie was superior to all giving it a rich flavoring.
Listed below is the complete ranking of those bakeries and cafes sampled along with the cost of purchase and final score earned by each cookie.
Much thanks to Ben Samson and Ryan Losey two South End residents and chocolate chip cookie aficionados who helped in the blind tasting.
*Amsterdam Cafe, Berkeley Perk, Blunch, Greenlight Cafe, and Stella Cafe were not included either because they were not open or did not have chocolate chip cookies available at the time of purchase.
