According to legend - and there are many variations of the story - the original chocolate chip cookie recipe was invented in 1933 by Ruth Graves Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts. It featured bits of a Nestle chocolate bar added to a cookie recipe.
Today chocolate chip cookies are made many ways, and are available just about everywhere. There are worse assignments than tasting chocolate chip cookies. But, once I began to formulate my snack-attack plan, I realized some parameters would have to be put in place.
I'm a side-by-side comparison artist. If I want to compare one thing with another thing, I want to do it at the same time, not one this day and one the next day, or the next week. So I had to determine how many chocolate chip cookies I could reasonably expect myself to eat in one day. Setting aside all logic, I settled on roughly a half dozen.
Asking my workmates and friends for their favorite cookies produced a cookie-sheet-long list featuring stores, restaurants, shops, and bakeries. It also contained all the different varieties of chocolate chip cookies - with or without nuts, chocolate or peanut butter with chocolate chips, chocolate chunks or fudge, etc. I decided to stick with the common cookie and to nix bakeries, as doing some bakeries wouldn't be fair to all the others. (Besides, I couldn't eat my way through all the bakeries in Rochester.) I also decided to contain my research to cookies baked on the premises.
After calling all the establishments to see if they fit my criteria, I finally set out for the fun part.
Balsam Bagels (288 Winton Road North, 482-5080)
The biggest cookies I sampled were from Balsam Bagels. Served in a waxed, white paper bag, and sold for 99 cents, Balsam's cookie is thick and soft, but not doughy. For its being so large and thick - close to 5" in diameter - it was baked just right.
Pat's Coffee Mug (627 South Clinton Avenue, 244-2239)
The chocolate chip cookies from Pat's are also large. The dough is soft, bordering on undercooked, which makes them a bit doughy tasting. They also seemed to have picked up some of the restaurant's aroma, or perhaps a patron's perfume, as there was a distinct flavor of rose. Served in a Styrofoam box for 99 cents.
DiBella's Old Fashioned Submarines (Many area locations, dibellas.com)
DiBella's cookies come in their own paper-and-cellophane-window bags. Called "old fashioned," they are medium-sized and come with or without walnuts. The dough is soft, and they taste what can only be described as typical - which is not a bad thing, when it comes to cookies. $1.09 for one, or $5.59 for a box of 24 mini cookies.
The Mez (389 Gregory Street, 281-7367)
The delicate balance between sweet and salty in the dough of The Mez's cookie really brings the taste of the chocolate chips forward. These cookies are on the small side - about 3" - but thick and soft, wrapped in plastic for 88 cents.
Nathans Soup and Salad (691 Park Avenue, 461-3016)
The dough is a bit on the salty side, which brings out the sweetness of the square chunks of chocolate. Another smaller cookie - but this one is crunchy - it is served in a paper bag for 75 cents.
SPoT Coffee (200 East Avenue, 613-4600)
Another large cookie; Spot's is almost a patty. The chocolate chunks are spread throughout, as the cookie seems to have been squashed or pressed. It's almost as though there are two thin layers of dough sandwiching the chocolate chunks. What pieces of dough I could eat without also eating chocolate were crispy, not crunchy. Served in a wax paper pouch for $1.50.
Zebb's (1890 South Clinton Avenue, 271-1440)
Zebb's sells the smallest cookie on the list, but it contains the biggest chocolate chips. There are large areas of dough surrounding the chips, which makes it easy to eat the cookie, the chip, or both together. The dough is soft, and enriched with a strong buttery flavor. Served in a waxed paper pouch for 85 cents each, a box of six for $3.99, or 13 for $6.49. They also have a Kookie Club card, which gets you the 11th six pack for free.
After my belly was full, I realized a few things: when you're dying for a chocolate chip cookie, just about any chocolate chip cookie will do. They all taste great. And none of them are as good the next day. Microwaves weren't invented just to reheat Chinese food. A few seconds in a microwave brings a dying chocolate chip cookie back to life.
What's your favorite chocolate chip cookie? Leave your comment at rochestercitynewspaper.com.