Kelley’s Kookies were nice enough to reach out to me and ask me to review their cookies. I stopped by their location at the Westside Pavilion and came across:

a very clean, neat, and bright store. The first thing I noticed about the store is that it’s not like a typical cookie store that have lots of bright colors and other baked goods. Kelley’s Kookies store was very nicely organized with the cookies clearly in display in neat packages. There was a clear connection between the way the cookies are packaged and the store — I think anyone who receives a package of these cookies will know exactly the feeling and look of the store before even walking in. I didn’t bother the 3 gentlemen maintaining the store at first.. I wanted to take a walk around and breathe in the cookies! Kelley’s Kookies pride themselves on containing only natural ingredients and no preservatives. There were so many different kinds:

Lemon shortbread, macadamia chocolate chip, shortbread, sugar cookies, Kelley’s Delight, melting moments

Pecan shortbread, Guava dreams, krispy oatmeal, neapolitan delight

Guava Dreams

Neapolitan Delight

Others I saw are chocolate chip krispy oatmeal (actually contains crispy rice cereal), raspberry dream (the “dream” cookies are a shortbread sandwich cookie with fruit filling), pecan shortbread, and macadamia ice box (mac nuts and vanilla). Varied and unique.

Here was my present, just in time for my birthday!

This box was like a little version of the store, I told you! When you take off the sleeve and open the box, you’re greeted by a little paper that tells you how much love went into making each of the cookies and that they are all natural and don’t contain preservatives:

Past the paper obstacle is what you’ve been waiting for:

The first package of cookies were my favorite:

This was kind of like a shortbread with a little more flavor. Of course, being a chocolate lover, I wish that the whole thing was covered in chocolate, but I get that this is prettier. This tasted great! And that chocolate layer was thick:

I thought the ratio of chocolate to cookie was great in that half of the cookie. My only criticism would be that the cookie is too thick. I think it would have been better if there wasn’t so much height to the cookie; it added thickness and cakey-ness.

The sugar cookies were by far the prettiest:

(Don’t mind the powdered sugar.) The sugar cookies had sprinkles on top which was such a nice addition to an otherwise plain cookie. Firstly it’s very visually pleasing. I love bright colors! Secondly it was a good partner in terms of texture; the cookie itself was crunchy with small crumbs and pieces while the sprinkles were slightly bigger and harder.

Next, macadamia chocolate chip:

More macadamia nuts!!! These were the favorite among most of the people I shared these cookies with.

You can see in the image specks of the macadamia nuts. I don’t feel like the flavor of the macadamia nut stood out enough. Need more macadamia! I’m not sure if anyone who didn’t  read the label knew that there were macadamia nuts. But like I said, people had the most compliments about this cookie; everyone seemed to love the bite-sized aspect about this cookie, and hey, they tasted great too. If you don’t mind crunchy cookies, this cookie is for you.

These powdered cookies were the most messy! But what can you expect from cookies that have powdered sugar huh:

Each paper cup contained two of these cookies:

These were the least “cookie” of the four. This is a walnut mixture covered in powdered sugar. They were my least favorite for a variety of reasons: they didn’t really taste like anything and they were super crumbly, but I’ll admit the reason I didn’t like these cookies was because the powdered sugar got EVERYWHERE. And I don’t mean only while I was eating it. My friends and I didn’t eat these cookies in one sitting which means I put the cookies back in the box to transport them and when I opened the box again, powdered sugar was all over the inside of the box. I know this doesn’t have anything to do with the taste of the cookie or anything, but it did have an effect on my, erm, cookie experience. I would have liked a resealable bag to house these cookies. Luckily, the box itself didn’t allow for leaks (that thing is sealed shut when it’s closed!), for which my car seat and dining room thank you.

…and the best part! Mention my blog in one of the bakeries, spend $10 and get an awesome dawesome spatula!!!! You know you need one!!!

• Taste: 6-7: pretty average
• Crust and center moistness: crunchy cookies
• Value: $4.50 – $5.50 per pack; $18 for something like I got above and goes up to $43 for the Grand Gift Box, which contains 9 packs of cookies (a savings of an entire $2! but you get the nice box with a bow in which to package them.). A little much for my wallet, despite the “natural” and “no preservatives” claims — I mean what does “natural” mean anymore? I’ll admit everything on the ingredients list was everything I could pronounce.. including “hydrogenated oil.”
• Overall: These cookies provide for a great-looking present, and I love the variety of flavors. The gentlemen in the store were incredibly nice and helpful. I just wish that the powdered cookies would have resealable packaging because that’s something that would discourage me from buying those specifically. My friends and I enjoyed eating these. While they weren’t exactly spectacular, I think they’re worth a visit!

Kelley’s Kookies (they’ll ship, too!)
Bakeries located in the Westside Pavilion, Santa Anita Mall, and a location in Stanton on Katella. Their cookies are also sold in Mitsuwa and Marukai and a variety of other places: Kelley’s Kookies locations

Went to the Larchmont Bungalow for lunchie one day and gasped at the huuuuuuuuuuge cookies they have in the glass case! After I paid for my sandwich and cookie and it didn’t take long for me to regret it… I just remembered that huge cookies are not good. Usually they are thick, dense, and cakey. I always say small cookies are better. Boy was I wrong…

This cookie was so big and fragile I couldn’t hold it in my hand. Since you know the size and shape of my hand and palm, imagine my hand with my fingers spread out; the cookie completely encompassed my palm and went all the way out to almost the ends of my fingers:

This cookie was huuuuuuuuge. And it better have been, I paid $3.25 for that thing!! Man I cannot believe I paid >$3 for that cookie. I guess this is meant to be shared, so a little over a buck per person, I guess that’s reasonable. After I finished my sandwich, I dug into the cookie. It’s not light but much to my surprise, it’s not dense. There’s kind of a familiar taste about this cookie too. Tastes buttery and soft. It is *actually* pretty good! Nothing super spectacular that really sets itself apart from others.. or so I thought. It wasn’t long (probably two broken pieces of cookie in) before I got to the really soft and gooey part of the cookie. Take a look:

Can you see that? Can you SEE THAT?!?! This cookie was baked to the ultimate perfection. This cookie was so perfectly undercooked that when it came out of the oven, it baked for just the right amount on the baking sheet to get that consistency you normally get only when you just take it out of the oven. They clearly compensated for that extra baking baked goods do after they come out of the oven. I will admit that this cookie was the most gooey, soft and chewy, cookie dough-y cookie I’ve ever had in a store.

• Taste: 8
• Crust and center moistness: soft and gooey on the inside. 10
• Value: $3.25 for a ginormous cookie. I really wish they would break these into thirds and sell them for way less. But this is Larchmont, so whatcha gonna do.
• Overall: They are too pricey and big (stomach ache) for me to buy again, but will satisfy your craving! Your craving and the cravings of 1-3 of your friends…

Larchmont Bungalow
107 N Larchmont Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90004
323.461.1528
Open everyday from 7:30 AM – 10 PM

I’m adding another vegan cookie to the mix! This time… vegan AND gluten-free!

Babycakes has its origin in NYC and has since opened up a shop in downtown LA. All of their products are vegan and most are gluten-free! Their non-gluten-free products use spelt flour, which I know has been the topic of some gluten vs. non-gluten debates, but they list spelt under their non-gluten-free products, so good for them for naming it that way. (I guess you can tell which side of the argument I stand on.) I have tried their cupcakes and cookies. Their cupcakes are delicious, but the review on that needs to go on another blog. Supposedly, their donuts are phenomenal as well!

The bakery isn’t in the middle of downtown; rather, it’s kind of on one edge of downtown. But as long as you’re on this side of Los Angeles street, you’re fine. The bakery is small but they made do with what space they had. Baked goods line up and stack up in display cases taller than me to your left, a few tables and chairs are on your right, and the cash register sits at the end of the walkway.

A co-worker of mine told me that Babycakes’ cookies were some of the best cookies he’s had, vegan and gluten-free or not. Well, I told him, I’ll be the judge of that. I walked in and immediately ordered a chocolate chip cookie, eyes widened and appetite whetted by the thought of eating every single donut, pastry, cookie, loaf of bread, cupcake, muffin, brownie, and whatever else they had in the entire store. I’ll bet even the paint and tile in this place are vegan and gluten-free.

The cookie smelled delicious:

but was the thinnest cookie ever:

The flatness of the cookie was a definite turn-off. How could a cookie this flat possibly be good? In cookies you look for that moist, soft & fluffy, light-as-a-cloud center with pockets of air in between the structural integrity that is individual crumbs. I didn’t have faith. I was a non-believer. But dude, I paid for this cookie, and hell will freeze over if I don’t eat something I paid for.

Have you ever had one of those moments where your brain turned upside down? Or you got slapped in the face? Or an internal volcano dispelled lava of disbelief all over your body? Metaphorically speaking, at least? A moment where you realize you were dead wrong, that you asserted yourself so unkindly,  and are so embarrassed to admit it except on your cookie blog? Well, that’s me right now.

This cookie was crispy on the outside, soft & moist on the inside — baked exactly right. I almost got over how flat the cookie is real fast. There are enough chocolate chips in there, but a few more wouldn’t hurt. Out of all the vegan cookies I’ve eaten, this tastes the closest to a regular cookie, which isn’t that big of a deal, but I know eating vegan AND gluten-free is scary to some people. If everyone could have this cookie as an introduction to this alternative less-cruelty eating style I think people would be more open to trying new things.

• Taste: Delicious + the smell was super enticing. 10
• Crust and center moistness: crispy crust, soft interior. if it were not as flat it would be better. 9
• Value: $1.50 for a cookie that’s vegan and gluten-free AND TASTES GREAT!! 10
• Overall: My first choice for a cookie now. 10

Babycakes NYC
130 East 6th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014
(213)623-5555

Hours of Operation
Monday: 10am-8pm
Tuesday-Wednesday: 10am-10pm
Thursday-Saturday: 10am-11pm
Sunday: 10am-8pm

Heyo! So you saw my review of Jamaica’s Cakes chocolate chunk cookie (vegan). Now for her non-vegan cookie!

As you can tell from the picture, it’s quite a large cookie. This is going to be a short post because unfortunately there’s not much to write. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Just the right type of moistisosity (that is TOTALLY a word). Average amount of chocolate chips. Soft, but not too soft. Mm, I’d come back because she has a lot of other goodies, but the cookies aren’t much to write home about.

• Taste: I actually prefer the vegan cookie over this one. 6
• Crust and center moistness: Just right. 8
• Value: $1.50, I believe, for a large cookie. Quite pricey for a cookie, but then again it *is* West LA. 7
• Overall: Pass. 7

Jamaica’s Cakes
11511 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310.478.1971

YAY ANOTHER REVIEW!!! …2 months later…

I have an awesome e-mail pal, Jamaica. When I was looking into going to baking, I e-mailed a bunch of people and she was BY FAR the MOST helpful and gave me the MOST insight and most insight out of all the tens of people I contacted. Ashamedly, I took this long to review a cookie of hers!!

I grabbed the LAST vegan chocolate chip cookie (non-vegan to be reviewed in a couple of weeks!). It was wrapped up in plastic wrap and let me tell you: when I unwrapped this cookie the smell was SO inviting. I’ll be honest — I bought this one day and ate it the next, and the strong smell of freshly baked cookie was still there! The smell was comparable to a cookie I baked in the oven myself. First impression was looking GREAT.

Oh, minus the one thing that made me hesitant; it was a pretty flat cookie:

I got over it really quickly, though, thanks to the smell and taste. This cookie was delicious. There was something “different” about the taste of this cookie that I could not put my finger on, though. It was evident in the first few bites but I suppose I got used to it after that. Other than that one different taste, this cookie tasted like any other cookie! And I cannot get over the texture: it was super moist and very soft. This is a blurry picture, but it shows the middle of the cookie + the chocolate chunk distribution:

…okay, not a great picture of the texture, but you can make out some of the round pieces that make up the entire cookie, rather than cookie crumbs that stick together and make the cookie tough and hard. This piece is a section of the cookie that had a LOT of chocolate chunks in it, but as you can see the chunks are layered, so you’re sure to get at least a couple of pieces of chocolate in every bite.

• Taste: Loved it, and despite that odd flavor, I would still give this a 9
• Crust and center moistness: VERY moist, even the next day. 10
• Value: $1.75 for a large cookie. Quite pricey for a cookie, but it is vegan, and in West LA. 7
• Overall: Definitely a must-try. 9!!

Jamaica’s Cakes
11511 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310.478.1971

My first post in my months-long hiatus will be about cookies from my boyfriend!

The boyfriend went to Eagle Rock Italian Bakery and grabbed a bunch of cookies for me

It was an entire box FULL of cookies. That I took a picture of in poor lighting, because of course, I knew I had to take pictures before they were all eaten. Here are pictures of a select few:

These chocolate chip cookies were thick!!

My favorite one was the heart with red sprinkles!!

This sandwich was a second favorite!

This sesame seed one was okay. Not my favorite..

The chocolate chip cookies were very buttery, and quite dense. The rest of the cookies were more or less sugar cookies with a hint of sweetness that let the filling (or sprinkles) take over. As you can tell from the pictures, they are nice and bite-sized, so you don’t have to feel so bad about eating four at once! On the down side, they are quite crumbly and on the dry side, but you should be okay if you eat outside Oh, another cool thing about this place is that they sell these cookies by the weight, about $1.10 / lb if Armando can recall correctly.

• Taste: Fulfills that sweetness craving, and the chocolate sandwich one had a lot of flavor! 7
• Crust and center moistness: it depends on what you get, but most of the cookies were more on the crumbly side.
• Value: $1.10/lb, good deal!
• Overall: Would have the boyfriend buy me again. 8!