My mission, should I choose to accept it is to hunt down the strangely marked building on West 48th Street close to 11th Avenue (practically in New Jersey!), call the phone number I was given by a certain hour, and wait for somebody to emerge. If I do all these things correctly, I will be rewarded with the next list item.
I probably should do a little explaining. Downtown Cookie Company is an internet based company that makes cookies to order via their website or over the phone. They’ll ship anywhere in the U.S., but it’s also possible to pick up the cookies outside their commercial kitchen at the aforementioned address.
I called the day before and the cookies were ready in less than 24 hours. You can order a dozen of any of their cookies or a variety box of three different types. It was a no-brainer for me, the guy who wants to try as much as possible.
It was incredibly exciting when the girl came down with my box of cookies. I handed her the $24 (I chose to go the exact cash route rather than give my credit card number over the phone) and she handed me list item #63.
I couldn’t wait until I got home to try the cookies, so we cut open the box and undid the neatly presented bags that held the three different cookie varieties: Chocolate Chip Walnut with Nuts (they offer one without nuts but why they call it Chocolate Chip Walnut without Nuts as opposed to just Chocolate Chip boggles my mind), Peanut Butter, and Jane Street Jam (an almond cookie with a raspberry jam thumbprint in the center).
Okay, I have to say that all three of these cookies were amazing. The chocolate chip with walnuts was the first I tried. They were soft and chewy with the right amount of both chocolate chips and walnuts. Amazingly fresh. I’m not a big fan of the raspberry jam cookies (they make me think of those lackluster butter cookie tins), but these were the real deal. The jam was clearly made from real preserved fruit and the almond cookie was buttery and had crispy pieces of almonds crushed around the edge. And the peanut butter cookie continued the deliciousness. They were rich and chewy, but not too much peanut butter (which tends to dry the cookies out for me). These were anything but dry.
The cookies all tasted homemade (I guess that’s obvious) and they were all so soft and fresh that I felt like they were made just for me. Wait a minute…
But the other amazing thing is that these cookies retained that fresh delicious sweet taste and softness when I continued eating them for days afterwards. They have four more cookie varieties (Ginger, Oatmeal Raisin, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, and Chocolate Chocolate Chip) and I’m afraid I’m going to have to find some special occasion to order another round. Does Earth Day warrant a dozen cookies?
Normally at the end of those introductions to impossible missions, the tape would self-destruct in five seconds. Here, that wouldn’t be a problem because these cookies barely lasted that long.
Would Downtown Cookie Company’s Cookies make my Top 100 of the year? 10 out of 10 would indicate they absolutely would. If this company ever opens a storefront, I fear all the other great NY bakeries might have a serious problem on their hands.
