From left, gooey cookie goodness at Chip City, sweetness overload from Great American Cookies and decadent delight at Crumbl Cookies.
“Plop” went the S’Mores cookie from Chip City, so gooey as the brand’s tagline promises that half of it fell on the floor when I picked it up. The brand’s co-founder and CEO himself, Peter Phillips, quickly replaced it, belying the “Undercover” part of this assignment but filling me in on the genius behind their delicious entries in the burgeoning franchise cookie wars. She’s Andrea Prunella, executive pastry chef and co-owner of Chip City, who turns out a popular menu of more than 40 original flavors, including Lucky Charms, PB&J and Funfetti along with the toasted marshmallow-laden campfire favorite S’Mores, for $4.50 each. “Have a Gooey Day” is their slogan, and to achieve it she requires a high temperature for a short period of time. Local delivery, event catering and nationwide shipping are all part of the mix, and a to-go box of six stuffed cookies comes with detailed re-heating instructions. An ongoing contest to name the new cookie keeps social media engagement high.
The upshot: Chip City elevates the art of the cookie to gooey heights, literally, with well-crafted stuffed confections that are deeee-lish. —B.E.
A mall staple and in the cookie game since 1977, Great American Cookies seems more like the bane of parents. The colorful display promises an array of tasty cookies for a cheap price—just $2.98 apiece. While it was tempting to get a 17-inch cookie, convenience was the name of the game during this Mall of America excursion and instead we tried the cookies and cream and red velvet flavors. If judged on looks alone, the flat discs are less than impressive and this particular shop was light on options. Shockingly sweet, though not unpleasantly so, the obviously high sugar content is perhaps the brand’s only selling point to a target audience of youngsters. The cookies themselves were slightly crisp on the outside, but the center seemed purposely undercooked, resulting in a soft middle instead of preferable chewiness. The red velvet iteration was slightly more bitter and had a bite of cocoa, but otherwise the two cookies tasted nearly the same.
The upshot: Certainly not offensive but definitely not the place to go if you want a more complex cookie, Great American Cookies visitors should be prepared for something very sweet and otherwise unremarkable. —M.G.
Fast-growing and looking to solidify its status in a cookie segment that within a couple of years went from stale to stacked, Crumbl Cookies is becoming known for its inventive lineup of weekly rotating flavors and hefty size, Honey bun, raspberry donut and Oreo were among the recent options. Ordering through the app is slick—and the only way to order ahead for pickup. A simple tap of “I’m here” means the still-warm treats are boxed almost down to the minute of entering the store, in this case a suburban Minneapolis strip mall location. Stores themselves, of which there are nearly 400, are little more than glorified production spaces, minimalistic in appearance with a couple of kiosks and video screens displaying that week’s selections. The cookies are as indulgent as they come, delightfully chewy and some, such as the raspberry donut, with decadent toppings of raspberry preserves and powdered donut pieces. Crumbl’s richness extends to the price tag: $38.25 for a dozen cookies or $4.50 for a single. Oof.
The upshot: Crumbl’s deluxe-level offerings live up to the hype, though repeat customers might start to hesitate given the cost. —L.M.