The Friday Cookie Gazette

Last week, as I prepared to pile my son out of the car and into school, he turned to me, said simply "I hate Fridays." "Fridays?" I replied in surprise, "Really? It's the last day of the week - don't tell me you're afraid you'll miss school on the weekend?" "Mom, Fridays stink." A little probing revealed that Fridays do, indeed, stink (I have been forbidden to say "suck," though apparently it's perfectly OK for my eight-year-old to say "pottymouth.") The child not only has a spelling test (which is in Spanish two out of three weeks) but also a math quiz, and to top it off, the "specials," the classes he most enjoys: library, music and art, are replaced on Fridays with an entire extra period of math. "Wow." I said "Fridays really do suck..I mean stink. What about if we went out for ice cream after school on Fridays, would that make it better?" Sparky shook his head. "Too cold," he said morosely.

Suddenly, my eyes fell on the unused free cookie coupon he'd won at the library this summer. Inspired, I said "What about we go out for a cookie?" His face brightened considerably. "Could we make it a food adventure, Mom? Maybe we could go a different place every time, and get a different cookie. Maybe I could talk about it on LTHForum.com. Then it would be a food adventure! I could call it the Cookie Gazette!" So, true to my word, after school on Friday, we took Sparky and his buddy cookie-shopping, our stop driven mostly by proximity: Bennison's Bakery. Following is a transcription of his cookie review of a sandy Christmas sugar cookie:

Sparky wrote:These cookies are really, really interesting, 'cause it's got a lot of sugar...I especially love the sprinkles and everything: it just represents Christmas and stuff. I don't get it, but I just completely like this. It tastes good, just like a cookie should taste like. It's sort of chewy and crunchy at the same time, and I really like it. Oh, and I just noticed it has sugar on here. Neat!

The rest of us also got cookies: I was unable to resist the pretty lavendar-flavored french macaron, the 'spouse picked up a chocolate chip cookie, and Sparky's buddy (who didn't want to participate in reviewing) got a Christmas-tree sugar cookie. Unfortunately, the grownups were less enamored of their choices than the kids: though the lavendar flavoring on the macaron was subtle and interesting, the meringue was dusty; without the ganache it would have shattered in my teeth like chalk (maybe I just don't understand macarons? This was my first.) The chocolate-chip cookie was standard American bakery-style: a bit too sweet for our tastes and neither chewy nor cakey, but kind of brittle. From the miniscule crumb I was given of Sparky's cookie, I'd agree with his assessment, it was a nice, plain sandy cookie and the sprinkles were actually a lot better than the icing some bakeries use. All in all, it seems the kid-friendly cookies with sprinkles are your best bet here.



Bennisons Bakery
1000 Davis Street in Evanston, Illinois.
847-328-9434

I look forward to future editions of the Cookie Gazette!

When my children were younger, they would get a Bennison's cookie as a treat after going to the optometrist across the street. They always got either a holiday cookie as appropriate, such as a pumpkin cookie for Halloween, or else a smiley or frownie cookie. The frownies tasted better, they insisted.

Cookie Gazette for Friday Dec. 12: Tag's Bakery - florentine cookie

Sparky wrote:OK, well it looks like a mini pie and it's got nuts all over it and a little red speck that I don't know what it is, and I think they must have been almonds and I really like it, it's chocolaty on one side and nutty on the other side, and it tastes buttery and I just like it.

Unfortunately, later on when offered a second one, Sparky declined, saying "I really didn't like it." Apparently we are not clear on the concept of review. More unfortunately, we couldn't pry out of him what it was he didn't like (I ate the rejected cookie, it was everything described above: a bit more toffee-candy than cookie, though.) We'll see what happens next week. Tag's bakery is wonderfully proximate to both the Spice House and friend and LTHer George R's place of business, so we made a few hours of fun visiting and exploring Central St. in Evanston.

Tag's Bakery
2010 Central St.
Evanston, IL
847-328-1200

Oh, I love the idea of making Fridays better by adding cookies. They are not my favorite day of the week either...maybe I should try this technique. I'm sure Sparky will get more critical in his reviews as he eats more cookies.

though the lavendar flavoring on the macaron was subtle and interesting, the meringue was dusty; without the ganache it would have shattered in my teeth like chalk (maybe I just don't understand macarons? This was my first.)

Macarons should be crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Sounds like this one was either very old or overbaked.

After a short holiday hiatus where fresh cookies were plentiful at home, we once again embarked on the quest for cookies with a visit to Foodstuffs. Sparky very wisely opted for the "Mascarpone filled chocolate cookies" (shown here with my fingers for scale - not because I was planning to steal it, really!)

Sparky wrote:It's really good; it's got that filling...called marscapone, and the marscapone tastes like the filling on a cupcake, but only good: better, like a Twinkie {but better.} The cookie's got little chocolate chips in it, it's soft and that's all. I love it! This is #1!

The grownups in the party purchased a "Mocha Bite" and a Linzer cookie; the Mascarpone cookie was the clear winner - the other two were just OK as far as I was concerned (our star reviewer had no comment.)




Foodstuffs
2106 Central St
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 328-7704

I would be very interested in reading a Friday Cookie Gazette about any (or all) of the cookies at Al's Deli.

All I can say is yum and double yum. I do miss those bakeries as I used to live near there. I remember getting my son's first birthday cake from one of those bakeries. As I recall Foodstuffs had great brownies. You are lucky to have bakeries near you.

Of course, we've got Al's in our sights (Sparky along with other Hayses already loves their frosted cookies.)

Thanks, Toria; I'm grateful we've been able to stay inside our hometown for now - though I should say, as an adult who's less swayed by the visual aspect - I'm kind of feeling Gale Gand as far as the cookies go. There are, of course, exceptions - but many of these cookies are pretty, sugary, and designed to have a long shelf-life.

Mhays, you might also consider Kim's Kitchen. When it's good, it made my day - though I haven't been in a couple of months.

New owners took over as of the late summer, but I believe they kept on the baker/pastry chef with the idea of some menu expansion/changes in the future.

Yup, you're right - that little stretch of Noyes in Evanston went unnoticed by us for many years - even though Sparky's been taking classes right around the corner for a long time. While I've never had a cookie at Kim's, I like their baguettes - and the cookies look more appetizing than the ones I've mentioned (meaning they aren't as "pretty".)

Fortunately, there are many, many Fridays left in the school year - thanks for the suggestions, keep 'em coming!

Per the request of stevez, on this particularly unpleasant winter Friday, we trooped to Al's Deli after school for a cookie, with Sparky and his buddy Master X in tow. In the window were some delectable-looking frosted chocolate cookies, which were irresistable for 3 out of 4 in the Hays party. The spouse opted for an oatmeal raisin.

Sparky wrote:Well, I really like it. OK, so - these cookies are so delicious - they've got gold sprinkles on their frosting, which tastes like good cookie dough - which my friend Master X says so, and it's got HUGE CHOCOLATE CHUNKS - by the way, Master X got the same thing and so did my Mom. And it's dark chocolate with dark chocolate chunks. It's the #2 best cookie.

(note visual of HUGE CHOCOLATE CHUNK at the bottom) Master X made the excellent observation that the cookie was kind of like a brownie topped with cookie dough. I enjoyed my chocolate cookie very much as well: it is very, very rich and heavy - but a nice, moist, dark chocolate cookie, enough to drive the most obstinate of chocolate cravings right out of your head. Though I prefer Al's obviously fresher cookie to the Foodstuffs cookie, I can see why this ranked #2 in Sparky's list: while Al's cookie itself is better, it lacks the pleasant sour counterpoint of marscapone in his #1 fave.

Sparky struggled mightily, but was vanquished by the size and richness of this cookie: at this point,

he was forced to cry Uncle, abandoning his cookie to search for the newly-posted GNR plaque - and very wisely lived to fight another meal (he had the rest after dinner)



Both adults enjoyed the oatmeal cookie and agreed it was an excellent example: lightly scented with cinnamon, crisp on the outside and chewy within, raisins well-plumped. The kids viewed raisins in cookies unfavorably, and were therefore recused from judging.

Al's Deli
914 Noyes St
Evanston (847) 475-9400

Hi,

I was impressed with Al's Deli cookie when they needed to store their buttercream draped cookies in the refrigerator to keep the buttercream from softening. There are plenty of bakeries where their 'buttercream' can hold up at room temperature. Real buttercream made from butter simply cannot, which really seperates the better bakeries from the mediocre.

Regards,

gastro gnome wrote:Mhays, you might also consider Kim's Kitchen. When it's good, it made my day - though I haven't been in a couple of months.

New owners took over as of the late summer, but I believe they kept on the baker/pastry chef with the idea of some menu expansion/changes in the future.

I second this recommendation. I actually prefer Kim's cakes and scones to their cookies (the former are not spectacular but consistently good and a 5-minute walk from my office in case of emergencies), but it's a worthwhile stop nonetheless. For cookies, I'd recommend trying their Mexican wedding cakes or anything shortbread. I have a co-worker who occasionally stops into Kim's specifically for a Mexican wedding cake, and she "feels bad" whenever she goes in to purchase one cookie in the afternoon and there are any less than five remaining to be sold for the day. So she buys them all and shares them with the office. I like her a lot.

BTW, Michele, the Friday Cooke Gazette idea...excellent. Another reason you should get the culinary mom of the decade award... Growing up in Montreal, my mom made stinky days better (for me, whatever day I had my weekly piano lesson) with either a salami rope or smoked meat sandwich from Schwartz's or pastry from Duc de Lorraine. So, I wasn't terribly deprived as a kid, but there wasn't a lot of variety there.

Today's cookie odyssey brought us to Simple Gourmet in Evanston (largely because I realized I could also pick up dinner for later, and I felt particularly lazy today) Out of sheer curiousity, I'd tried their potato chip cookies this fall, and was now curious what the kids would think of them. I bought one and let them taste and decide if they wanted something else, and no fools, they ate half the potato chip cookie and ordered, respectively, a peanut butter cookie and a chocolate chunk cookie (I noted that the potato chip cookie was both larger and less tender than the first time I'd tried it.)
Potato chip cookie with penny for size comparison

Peanut Butter Cookie

Chocolate Chunk Cookie

Sparky wrote:This is a peanut butter cookie, of course, you can tell by the peanuts - I mean 'cmon, look - peanuts! It's really good, it's basically crummy (crumbly) it basically was like all made out of crumbs, check out the interior there's basically like a thousand crumbs in this thing {and you like that, that's a good texture} Yes, and it tastes like - well the peanuts taste like peanuts, and this {the cookie} tastes like...I have no idea what this tastes like...it basically tastes like vanilla, all I taste of the peanuts is the actual peanuts. The first flavor is vanilla and then it tastes like peanut butter. It's sorta sweet, it's basically not candy-sweet, it's sweet.

Here is our normal potato-chip cookie and here is how I think it got it's name. In reality, when it wasn't all eaten up by me, it was in the shape of a potato.

Master X wrote:Half of a potato!

Sparky wrote:And, well, I like it because it tastes like walnuts. It's hard, it's really soft, though -in originality, it's supposed to be pretty soft, but now since we've been in the car and are at my house and are not at the bakery 'cause my mom forgot the camera, well, it was softer at the bakery but now it's pretty hard. It's good hard - crunchy, sweet, not candy sweet.

Master X wrote:The flavor {of the potato chip cookie,} well, I don't know what it reminded me of but the flavor just wasn't good and I think it was a little too soft in the middle on the inside, but the chocolate chip was good, but only the outside was hard then you got to a reasonably soft in the middle. I would say it was medium {sweet.} And it also tasted like oatmeal raisin, maybe some raisin hid, 'cause it kinda tasted like an oatmeal raisin cookie.

Outside the interview, Master X noted that it was a chocolate chunk cookie, not a chocolate chip cookie, and he wasn't sure if they were dark chocolate or milk chocolate chips.

Simple Gourmet
http://www.simplegourmet2go.com
1459 Elmwood Ave
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 332-2100

FYI: the Friday Cookie Gazette will be delayed until Friday once again sucks. I mean stinks. Apparently Sparky had such a good day today (classroom luau/volleball party) that he felt it important to honor the day by not getting a cookie. Hey, what can I say, I'm just the Mom...

But I was planning a visit to Kim's Kitchen *&%*&!

Well, after a short hiatus, Sparky was finally able to convince Master X (who apparently is now a crucial component of cookie field journalism) to come with us to Kim's Kitchen and explore the cookies there. So, thumbing our nose at Regina Schrambling, off we went, only to find that the only cookie-like pastry left for the day were whoopie pies. The boys decided it was worth skirting the danger of the Cookie Gazette becoming the Whoopie Pie Gazette, so we bought them out of the hamburger-sized chocolate whoopie pies, with one pumpkin whoopie pie for the cameraman (which I enjoyed quite a bit, it was nicely spiced with a nice layer of buttercream, but I couldn't get past a couple of bites, it was so rich and huge.)

Sparky and Master X wrote:Hi, Sparky and Master X again. So, now, we have Whoopie Pies from Kim's Kitchen and they are just like the last cookies so far, except there's WAY more chocolate cookie, and it's like and ice cream sandwich, so the filling is white, and obviously the sandwich part is dark brown..very dark brown
Almost..almost about black
And almost about red when you bite into them, they have a red tinge, and they're really good - texture is smooth and the cookie (I wasn't talking about the filling, I was talking about the actual cookie) it's smooth on the inside, but rough on the inside.
It's rough
Thanks, Master X
It's more like cake, 'cause...
This took us what, 15, 16 minutes, Master X?
Yea, and I only ate about
Half
Yea
And I ate a half-moon of it
Yea, a half-moon is like this
...well, almost a half-moon
You ate about...two-thirds.
Two thirds! OK!

They're
CHOCOLATE!
and
VANILLA!

Kim's Kitchen
815 Noyes St.
Evanston, IL 60201
Ph:847.475.5467

If you hadn't told me otherwise, I'd have thought the picutre of the pumpkin one was a bagel and cream cheese.

Actually, that's a pretty good indicator of how big they were - I was a little afraid the guys were going to go into sugar shock on the way home. We're going to need to find smaller cookies in the future...

As I mentioned upthread, I have been a big fan of the whoopie pies at Kim's Kitchen (especially the spiced pumpkin as you have noted).

As you point out, they are not dainty. Bring a friend.

Yea, we got stunt doubles (which we often do) because I didn't have my camera with me - little did I realize that the kids wouldn't be able to finish their first; I could have let them split one. We've got three in the fridge right now, including the pumpkin - you're right, they're incredibly moist, but still cake-like (unlike the Foodstuffs version, which was more cookielike if still moist and chewy)

I think we're going to cut them into wedges like pie and eat them over several days - I'm no slouch when it comes to dessert, but if it was me, I'd bring 3 friends...

Wanted to let you know I love the Friday Cookie Gazette! I'm already worried, what will happen once school is out for the summer? Will the Gazette be on hiatus till school starts up again?

Thank you! Sparky will be glad to hear he has pros among his fans!

I'm not sure how consistent cookie-reporting will be, we'll see. Apparently right now it has less to do with the stinkiness of the day and more to do with his playmate's availability, which is spotty (and, after sending him home with half a whoopie pie and a chocolate-smeared face, my reputation as a responsible adult may be called into question )

Hmmm...either they're following the Cookie Gazette, or gastro gnome... (thanks, elakin!)

Mhays wrote:Hmmm...either they're following the Cookie Gazette, or gastro gnome... (thanks, elakin!)

Finally, someone picked up on my Whoopie Pie Twitter feed.

How does it feel to be a trendspotter, Mhays?

Good press for Kim's Kitchen. Those internets sure are something.

Well, I suppose if anybody sits still long enough, a trend will eventually bump into you - now, if I could just get them to do an article on what the hubs calls "momwear."

Today's Cookie Gazette is brought to you by stevez, who mentioned that he'd had some nice lemon cookies at Flourish. It's a little way outside of Evanston, but it was a beautiful day and Sparky and Master X made themselves busy during the drive by mentally redesigning my car to include all manner of weaponry and turbo-boosting, as boys will do on fine sunny days. Carefully avoiding the wrapped whoopie pies (both chocolate and chocolate peanut-butter) stacked in a display by the door, we found ourselves before the pastry case. Cookies had been picked over, and I was sad to see several varieties were out, (particularly a Rosemary Cherry that sounded both delicious and interesting.) The boys, of course, immediately opted for the Double Chocolate whose diameter was comparable to that of a grapefruit, and I purchased an only slightly smaller (if fatter) Orange Pecan (sadly, no lemon cookies in sight) I was put in mind of safari movies: like a lioness, I lost 2/3 of my prey to my hungry young male companions, who demolished their portion and moved on to mine before I'd gotten myself settled.

Sparky and Master X wrote:We're in front of
Um, Flourish
<We had> Double Chocolate
Yea, Double Chocolate and Orange Pecan, which
..was really good
Yea, my mother, personally, LU-ved IT! The Double Chocolate was very, very soft on the top, but hard on the bottom
Yea!
It was chewy and crunchy and gooey
Nope. It wasn't gooey.
It was a little gooey.
No, the chocolate chips were hard.
The chocolate chips were a little melty...It was really good because...it was double chocolate
Plus I had one...double chocolate cookies before
Better!
Same!
Same!

The Orange Pecan was awesome!
Yes! The orange part actually tasted like orange! Yea, there might have been orange...
Yea, the pecans, the pecans made it crunchy! It <the cookie part> was crumbly, very crumbly. They were like little balls with a bottom - cut in half.
I think they used the orange...I think they used orange juice to make those Orange Pecan.
And the other thing I wanted to say was the Double Chocolate was flat and bumpy, and it <the Orange Pecan> was round and smooth.

Flourish Bakery & Cafe
1138 West Bryn Mawr Chicago, IL 60660
Phone : 773-271-CAKE(2253)

Sparky didn't have school today, but we decided after dinner that we'd try to find a cookie anyway. Since he'd been talking about having bagels for breakfast, I thought we'd check at New York Bagel & Bialy - the only bakery I could be sure would be open at 7pm on a Friday night. Sparky critically looked over the case of Jewish delicacies, but his eyes fell on the Smiley Face cookie, and he was immediately hypnotized by its alluring yellow and brown gaze - so that's what we got. It came wrapped in Saran, note that you can barely tell the difference between wrapped and unwrapped. I didn't have high hopes for this one, but apparently my cookie-vetting skills have become dulled with old age...

Sparky wrote:Hi, yea, today Master X isn't here, I know, I know. Today we got a SMILEY FACE cookie, and it tastes really good and the flavor was obviously vanilla with yellow frosting which was vanilla, and chocolate frosting. Well, it was brown frosting...but it was vanilla. It's very flaky, and it's very sweet, but like when you feel it, when you feel the icing, it's really smooth. CHOMP. (muffled with chewing) Yea, it's really good...it's about the same as the rest. Actually I like it better than a couple others, I can't explain those. This is Sparky, without Master X, over and out.

Can we get sparky to sub for Ryan Seacrest on any and all of his gigs?

I much prefer Sparky's commentary.