I used to love Matt's chocolate chip, but over the years, the dough started tasting like cardboard. I haven't bought them in 3 years or so. They just really changed their product. The chocolate was still the same, but the dough has gone straight down hill.

If on sale, I can't pass up Famous Amos.
Jewel bakery chocolate chip are also a fine product.
But, for me, the Potbelly Oatmeal Chocolate Chip is the winner. It might as well be a "store." There are more Potbelly locations than Jewel or other grocers (according to a chart I made up for this post (thank you, Tosh.)) And it's the same buying method, go get your cookies, and pay at the register.

I can't believe no one has mentioned Maurice Lenell cookies. I love their pinwheels and the Jelly swirls.
http://www.chicagocookiestore.com/maurice-lenell.html

Artie wrote:I can't believe no one has mentioned Maurice Lenell cookies. I love their pinwheels and the Jelly swirls.
http://www.chicagocookiestore.com/maurice-lenell.html

The Marice Lenell butterscotch cookies were great, too -- especially if you kept them in the freezer.

Artie wrote:I can't believe no one has mentioned Maurice Lenell cookies. I love their pinwheels and the Jelly swirls.
http://www.chicagocookiestore.com/maurice-lenell.html

I used to love both of these, too. I didn't realize you could even still get them!

When I'm feeling nostalgic, I just have to get a bag of Oreos (the regular kind). I was the weird kid who did NOT split them apart and eat the creme center first. I had dunking them whole into cold milk down to a science where I could get them to the perfect soft texture to pop a whole one into my mouth but NOT have it fall apart in the glass. I stopped buying them, however, when I realized I had no problem finishing off a whole bag of them during Johnny Carson.

And Salerno butter cookies..put on finger...eat off each "petal" until you have a "cookie ring" left.

The madelines they sell at Dominicks in the cookie aisle are pretty good. I think they are a house brand like Safeway select or something. They come in either lemon or vanilla and are individually wrapped.

We always had Maurice Lenell cookies. I grew up kinda near to their factory store where you could watch the cookies being made. My grandmother always kept the butterscotch pinwheels either in her panty or she would also store things in her oven (odd but she rarely used it and it did not have an auto on you had to light it with a match so she never forgot). That and those not very sweet raisin biscuit like cookies I think some now call them Garibaldi but we did not know them as that back then. I loved the butterscotch stars and would make a beeline to her kitchen to look for them. I also loved the pinwheels. I am hoping the Lennell cookies are in the stores cause its quite a hike to Harlem ave to the store to get them.

I bought some cookies today at Dominicks that are really good for store bought. Tates bake shop chocolate chip. Thin crisp, and delicious...you may eat the whole package if you buy them. Note: Its now a day later and the whole bag is gone. Don't buy if you can't stop.

Last week I stopped in at Pure's Cookie Outlet,an outlet store that I saw featured a while back on the recently cancelled ABC7 "190 North".

A large assortment of different cookie types and brands I've never heard of along each wall at very reasonable prices with snack sizes of different snacks in bins in the middle of the store.

I bought a huge plastic bag of unbranded chocolate chip cookies for $1.50 that must have been at least 2 lbs and reminded me of Maurice Lennell's. I also bought a cellophane packages of sugar cookies,a butter cookie type that were both satisfying,and little shortbread cookies like Lorna Doones that weren't too good.

I wouldn't make a special trip there but it's worth stopping by if you're in the area.



Pure's Cookie Outlet Store
2929 S. 25th Avenue
Broadview IL 60155
(708) 344-5192
http://www.purescookieoutlet.com/

Found the 190 North segment here http://190north.com/episodes/190-Big-De ... et/8461281

Interesting. The Tates bakeshop cookies at Dominicks are really good. Tried the macadamia ones. Oh yummy. I also noticed they had some Maurice Lenelle cookies there. The packaging is different so don't expect the same box that they had before. Lots of people probably have not noticed them because of this. Bought the pinwheels and I have been munching. Dominicks has a far more interesting variety of store bought cookies than many supermarkets. They also carry a fare bit of imported cookies like filled wafers from Italy.

These Butter Bella cookies, handmade in Chicago and distributed across the city, are without doubt the best cookie I've ever purchased in a store.
http://www.butterbella.com

They come in a variety of flavors, and the butter-flour ratio is perfection - rich buttery taste in every flavor, great crisp crunch. The Mocha Dip is richly complex. I serve these to guests without blinking, even though I am usually a big baker.

I usually take a pass on cookies from a store, but my husband loves Lorna Doones. They were $5.29/box at Dominick's. Any suggestions another brand that tastes like those? Or where to get a better deal on Lorna Doones? My husband said the Safeway brand tasted nothing like the originals. He will go cookie-less for a while because I refuse to pay that much.

Lorna Doones reminds me of nursing school, when I hid out in the can avoiding actually having to take care of patients. Ah, that takes me back.

Walkers short bread is slightly akin to Lorna Doones but a lot better. And more expensive.

Hi- I just looked on Sam's Club site, and you can get 30 lorna doones for $8.78. I don't know how many are in a regular package, I looked on several couponing sites that I visit, and I could not find any recent deals on lorna doones. CVS had a deal on them back in March. There are no coupons out there right now for them either. It is too bad that he does not like chips ahoy instead. There was just a really good deal at Dominick's for them, where they were only $1 a bag I believe.

Maybe Trader Joe's has something which is similar to lorna doones? I don't go in Trader Joe's very often, but that might change when they open up their Evanston store next month.

There are also some recipes for homemade lorna doones on the web I noticed.

You can also get walkers shortbread at tj maxx.

Artie wrote:I can't believe no one has mentioned Maurice Lenell cookies. I love their pinwheels and the Jelly swirls.
http://www.chicagocookiestore.com/maurice-lenell.html

I used to love the pinwheels so much. Then the bakery closed, and when the brand reappeared they just didn't taste the same anymore. The texture was all wrong. They used to be dense, crisp, shortbread-y and delicious, now they're nothing special and the flavor isn't as nice, either. Maybe they ditched the butter and used a cheaper fat in the reformulated recipe? Only a guess, I'm not a cookie expert. Whatever they did it's most likely an object lesson in how things get worse when you put accountants in charge of things.

tgoddess wrote:And Salerno butter cookies..put on finger...eat off each "petal" until you have a "cookie ring" left.

Those used to be one of my childhood favorites, too, but when I bought some a couple years ago they had turned into Salerno Butter Flavored Cookies and were a huge disappointment.

Another disappointing former favorite store-bought cookie is those thin mint patties. Hard cookie, dense peppermint fondant on top, enrobed with nice dark chocolate. Somewhere along the line they ruined those, too.

Only ones I really like anymore are Archway Molasses, Matt's Fig Bars, Lorna Doones, and Dare Whippets. Buying that last one from Woodman's can be kind of a crap shoot, though, since they apparently buy them by the ton once every two years and they don't store very well.

Salerno butter cookies are like nothing I remember from my youth and I always like them. They are now insipid. Not that they were anything real great but they were an option. The Maurice Lennell pinwheels taste the same to me but have a different texture. Softer not crisp as they were. Too bad, so sad.

Pie Lady wrote:

TCK wrote:I'm a big fan of the Jewel chocolate chip bakery cookies.

I remember when you could get a free cookie at the bakery with a cookie club card.

I discussed this with Mr. Pie and he agrees with the Matt's lovers out there and also adds Fudge Stripes.

You really never needed the cookie card, just had to ask. I think you still can ask if you have a kid with you.

Do love a Lorna Doone, an occasional Nutter Butter, like Matt's Oatmeal Raisin. Pepperidge Farm has good cookies as well. I don't buy cookies as much as I used to. When I do it's for my kids and I'll buy thingd I won't eat or bakery cookies which I will.

I absolutely LOVE Girl Scout Samoas / aka caramel delights.
We call them the "death cookie" at my house because as soon as a box is open, it's dead gone.

Oh- Iguess they aren't technically store bought, but I buy so many and keep them in the freezer.....

irisarbor wrote:I absolutely LOVE Girl Scout Samoas / aka caramel delights.
We call them the "death cookie" at my house because as soon as a box is open, it's dead gone.

Oh- Iguess they aren't technically store bought, but I buy so many and keep them in the freezer.....

Hi,

At Costco in Metawa yesterday, I saw a Keebler analog of this cookie. It was very tempting, and I rose above and did not buy it yet.

Regards,

My favorite store bought cookie used to be Lorna Doone butter cookies. However, they seem to have gone the "less transfat" route, and have less taste. Probably Oreo's or Chips Ahoy(the hard and crunchy type, of course)

Choco chip and crazy wild cookies are the best cookies in the world.

I bought some Simply D'lish cookies at Whole Foods in Naperville. They were, well, simply delicious. I had the hot chocolate spice that tasted like hot chocolate brownies, but with a little finer texture than a brownie. I also had the Lemon Ricotta - very cake-like, really good lemon glaze on top.

These aren't cheap: $2.49 for a 3 oz cookie, but it is very satisfying.

And they're based in Aurora! If you see them, give them a try. I hope they stick around in my local WF.

When we first moved to Chicago in 1993, I was browsing the cookie aisle at the Treasure Island at 680 N. Lake Shore (not sure if it is even still there). Anyway, a cookie guy was refilling the shelves, and he told me about Matt's. I still think those are the best boxed cookies around, but I haven't bought them in a long time. One report upthread said the dough isn't as tasty as it used to be.