OMG! This is waaaaaaaaaaaaay overdue. I’m SO SORRY! I haven’t updated in WEEKS and I feel horrible. Here is one! I have lots more coming!

A few weeks ago (er.. by now I think it’s been “several” weeks ago..) one of my besties was sweet enough to invite me up to NorCal to spend the weekend there with her. Before we headed home, we stopped by Andersen Bakery, a bread and pastry store. They’re a NorCal chain, with one in Antioch (which is the one I went to), a couple in SF, SanJo, Milpitas and other cities.

(Ah, the reflective glass that shows me taking the picture…)

Inside, it looks like your normal bakery… pastries and sweets and breads. I got two of their cookies: oat & nut and chocolate chocolate. I ate the oat & nut one first:

Man, cookies are only getting bigger! This cookie was VERY nutty and oat-y, barring on too oat-y for me. As someone who hates oatmeal it was very close to the line where it had almost too much oatmeal taste (almost!). The cookie was of course crunchy, due to the plethora of nuts and oats, but still decently thick:

I loved that I could taste the cinnamon in this cookie and that the bakery didn’t just rely on the oats and nuts for flavor. I planned to save the chocolate chocolate for the next day.. but I couldn’t resist :

I was extremely surprised at the stark contrast between the oat & nut cookie and the chocolate chocolate cookie. While the oat & nut cookie was crunchy, this cookie was soft and had much more of a cake / brownie feel to it with a slight crunch around the edges. It was much sweeter and smoother even with the nuts and it had more flavor. Even though there were WAY not enough chocolate chips in here, I preferred this one over the oat & nut one, just because the oat & nut one was close to oatmeal and the chocolate chocolate cookie was sweeter. …and it was chocolate, of course.

• Taste: 7. Trying to objectively convey the taste of the oat & nut!
• Crust and center moistness: oat & nut was crunchy, chocolate chocolate was soft.
• Value: $1.25 for a big cookie that tasted better than average. The price fits.
• Overall: Meh, nothing too exciting. 7

Andersen Bakery
5035 Lone Tree Way, Suite D
Antioch, Ca 94531
(925) 755-7911

OMG.

..I just realized I start a LOT of blog posts like that…

We were in NY after we went to PA for my mom’s graduation (GO MOMS NGUYEN!) from Penn State Harrisburg with a Master’s in American Studies. We were told we HAD to visit Jacques Torres, which is a chocolate shop. They’re known for their hot chocolate, which is incredibly thick and rich. Emphasis on THICK.

It was my first time in NY and this was the first stop of the start of the weekend!! How awesome is that!? We walk inside and I find..

Chocolate chip cookies, called French Kiss cookies and…

…chocolate mudslide cookies. After getting a box of 25 chocolates for the 3 of us to share, 2 croissants, a hot chocolate and 2 cookies, we sat down to indulge!!!

First up: the mudslide cookie. Huge, and heavy might I add. This cookie had a brownie-like consistency: soft, fluffy and moist. The walnuts added a great crunchy contrast to the pillowy interior. The outside was crunchier than the inside, and the farther you ventured into the middle of the cookie, the softer it was. Oh. and the taste. was. divine. It is worth mentioning that they exclusively use King Arthur flour which I’m positive contributes to the quality of this cookie. And this shop has their own chocolate and OMG it tastes so good!! Which brings me to..

..the french kiss cookie. This cookie looked ginormouser! The eldest deemed it the best cookie she’s ever eaten! You’ll see that the chocolate in this cookie comes in the shape of discs rather than chips. This allowed for a bigger spread of chocolate across the cookie. But Mr. Chocolate must have thought it wasn’t enough to do that, so he took it a step further and layered the chocolate discs:

I hope you can see the layers in there. Very unique cookie in this aspect. In contrast to the mudslide, this cookie was more on the crunchy side with a sturdier construction. I LOVED it. And I kind of regret not getting the box of cookie mix that was in the store.. boo!

Jacques Torres Chocolate (a few locations)
66 Water Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(212)414-2462

Oy, a very late post. Merry Christmas to me!!

YUMMMMMM. I <3 cookie dough! Just keep it in your fridge or freezer and when you want some cookies or have a last-minute party at your place, you have cookies in 20-25 minutes!! My showers are sometimes that long! Cookie dough is the perfect balance between store-bought and homemade from scratch; they taste SO MUCH BETTER than store-bought, are cheaper, are often softer, generally don’t have as many preservatives and ingredients AND you can eat the cookie dough (provided that the eggs are pasteurized of course). Of course your customizations are limited but if it’s a great cookie dough you won’t need to alter ingredients

I got triple chocolate chip cookie dough from Albie. Everyone loves them!!

Look at that gorgeous deep brown color! Underneath this smooth surface of dough you’ll find white and milk chocolate chips

There they are on the rack!! Smooth, warm, soft, and delicious. For a chocolate cookie, it’s not as gooey as one might hope. Your above-average chocolate chocolate cookie. I would like to tell you how they are a day later but.. none of them lasted that long.

• Taste: 8
• Crust and center moistness: soft, even after a few hours
• Value: present, great!
• Overall: Good choice for cookie dough, so don’t hesitate if you’re approached for a fundraiser!!

I was totally STOKED when these came in the mail!! They are, and I quote:

…a brand of organic, ready-to-eat, whole grain cookies that solve the debate of nuts in schools as they are free of common food allergens including peanuts, tree nuts, dairy and eggs.

My favorite parts about these cookies:

• they’re organic
• they contain no common food allergens (there is soy lecithin in here though) and are vegan
• they are made with whole grains
• they are sans trans fats (and cholestorol but I don’t have to worry about that too much) and corn sweeteners

I first tried the mini chocolate chocolate chip cookies, because I could eat 6 of them for only 130 calories

They’re crunchier than I wanted, and by “crunchier” I really mean they are a bit dry. I couldn’t really taste the chocolate chips, but there is definitely a chocolatey taste all around. I would have liked to differentiate the chocolate chips from the rest of the cookie in my mouth, but I kept reaching for more quickly, one after the other, which says a lot. For some reason, for me, the law of diminishing returns didn’t apply; each cookie I ate was better than the last. Despite the lack of raw sugar in this cookie (sweeteners include cane juice crystals, 3rd ingredient listed) it still is really sweet and satisfied my after-lunch sweet tooth. Couldn’t tell that it was made from whole grains, although I will note that this cookie is “heavier” than other cookies (might be the barley flour).

Since this is a “healthier” cookie I will go into the nutrition facts. As mentioned above, it’s 130 cals for 6 minis — actually really good compared to regular cookies at 170+ calories a cookie. Only 20 carbs, but they’re whole grain, so that’s almost moot. Same with the 11g of sugars, most of which comes from the fruit juices and cane juice crystals. The rest — 1g fiber, 2g protein, 0% of all vitamins and minerals except for the 6%DV or iron, is negotiable with other cookies. I hesitate to say that these are healthy cookies since, they are, after all, cookies, but I will say that I know a thing or two about nutrition and these cookies are definitely not as bad for you as other cookies.

**UPDATE** I also sampled their regular chocolate chip cookie! Take a look at my review here: Home Free Chocolate Chip Cookie.

• Taste: 7
• Crust and center moistness: very crunchy, dry even
• Value: 30 mini cookies which is 5 servings for $4.99 in select Whole Foods, Shaw’s and some institutions like schools and sports venues; pretty darn good for a cookie with organic ingredients and few allergens. but if you can’t find them in store, they go for $5.69 + S&H at www.homefreetreats.com. They also have individually wrapped regular-sized cookies for $1.79 a cookie. That price is a little steep for me — I’d go with the minis, they’re more fun to eat too!
• Overall: If you are picky about your food choices, or want a not-as-bad-for-you cookie, pick these up, totally worth it. If not, they’d be good to try if you’re not craving a chewy chocolate chocolate chip cookie and they were convenient to obtain. 7