The Search for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie in the World

I love chocolate chip cookies. Mike and I love traveling. One day, we were chatting about how Mike always gets the same dish every time we get udon. He always orders niku udon so he has a very deep knowledge of how it’s supposed to taste and thus knows when and where it tastes good. Inspired by that, I told him that I wanted my own niku udon. But what?! What was something that I loved that they almost always universally make everywhere in the world? I thought about it long and hard but ultimately couldn’t come up with anything. I mean, I love beef chow fun, but do I really want to eat beef chow fun everywhere – even potentially in Egypt? It was Mike who came up with chocolate chip cookies. And it was perfect! I deeply, deeply love chocolate chip cookies. And we see them almost everywhere, from humble mom and pop bakeries in the middle of America, to high end patisseries in Paris. And so, my search begins. I’m going to try to eat a chocolate chip cookie from every city we visit. I’m on a search for the best chocolate chip cookie in the world. Let me know where your favorites are and I will definitely search them out. Is it crazy to travel for chocolate chip cookies? Yes. Am I crazy? Yes, for cookies!

A note on my perfect chocolate chip cookie:
My perfect chocolate chip cookie is thick, with crisp caramelized edges, soft and chewy insides, a slightly gooey center, and pools of melty chocolate. The cookie part needs to have that caramelized hint of toffee and I like larger pools of semi sweet dark chocolate rather than small milk chocolate chips. Warm is always better but a good cookie is a good cookie. A great cookie even tastes good they next day.

Each cookie will be rated on a 25 point scale, 5 points each for edges, middles, chocolate, cookie, and taste.

Please let me know your favorite chocolate chip cookies. With luck, I hope to try them all! This page will be continuously updated with chocolate chip cookie reviews, so be sure to check back. I’ll also be posting individual, in-depth reviews.
Updated whenever I eat a new cookie!

Standard Bakery Co, Portland, Maine
13/25
I had high hopes for this “fresh from the oven!” cookie, but ultimately, it was a DNF for me. It was slightly warm from the oven, which made the chocolate chunks melty, but really, I think I expecting too much. Read more here.

Flour Bakery, Boston, Massachusetts
18/25
This cookie didn’t have an immediate wow factor while I was looking at it in the case, but upon my first bite, I was sold. Softer golden edges with a fudgy chewy middle and large chunks of both semi-sweet and milk chocolate. Read more here.

Maman, New York City, New York
13/25
This cookie was meh. I had read so many good things about it that I guess I built it up in my mind. It’s a very nutty chocolate chip cookie, which can be a good thing, but didn’t really work for me. It did come out of a warming case though. It was a DNF for me. Read more here.

Jacques Torres, New York City, New York
17/25
I wasn’t particularly excited to try the “famous” Jacques Torres CCC – it’s been around for a while and I admit, I buy into hype (ie Chip and Levain). The cookies were flat and giant and they looked kind of old, but when I bit into one, I fell in love. It was flat and chewy and crispy and I really really ended up loving it. No joke, it was my favorite NYC CCC and I didn’t expect that at all. Read more here.

Chip, New York City, New York
12/25
I wanted to love this cookie, I did, but it didn’t even pass my chocolate chip cookie matrix! If you love cookies that taste like scones, maybe this cookie is for you. It was a definite DNF for me and it made me so sad. Read more about my Chip experience here.

Levain, New York City, New York
13.5/25
This was another cookie that I was pretty hyped up to try because I naively believe in Instagram hype. It was definitely better than Chip but it was still not the kind of chocolate chip cookie I’m looking for. A bit too dough-y and underbaked for me. Read more here.

Slab Sandwiches and Pie, Seattle, Washington
19.5/25
This was an almost perfect chocolate chip cookie experience. The cookie was super fresh and had just the most amazing contrasting textures. Sweet with a good hit of salt. A very very good cookie, both slightly warm from the oven and even later, cold, after being left in the car. Read more here.