I discovered two new chocolate chip cookies at Whole Foods the other day.
One was a chewy, gooey, mint-spiked delight.
The other was a travesty -- a dense, gummy disc of dough that delivered no satisfaction.
Isabella’s Cookie Company won my heart with “The Paddy,” a moist, crumbly number studded with bright green (natural color, the ingredient list says) mint chocolate chips along with a blizzard of semi-sweet chips.
The mint flavor is bright and appealing; the chocolate is first-class; and the texture is that of a freshly-made homemade cookie. The ingredient list contains all the usual suspects: flour, butter, eggs, sugar and chocolate. “Isabella Bites” are made in Redondo Beach, Calif., making them, effectively, a “local” product for me.
A 14-ounce bag costs about $6.50 at Whole Foods. The cookies, which include a Mocha Monster, the Peanut Butter Bomb and the Muffy (dried blueberries, milk chocolate-covered blueberries and white chocolate chips) are also available on the very attractive Web site.
Then, there’s Fabe’s Bakery’s. The package says “Moist & Irresistible Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies.”
I’ll give them the “mini.”
I found the one-inch nuggets totally lacking in flavor and unpleasantly glutinous in texture. The ingredient list includes a “white grape juice blend” (presumably for sweetness) and “grain-sweetened dark chocolate chips.” I can see the appeal for folks who can’t eat sugar. I guess vegans might like them, too. But anyone looking to save calories or do the holier-than-thou routine should be aware that two bites of an old-fashioned cookie will provide more satisfaction than a whole fistful of these.
A 7-ounce package costs about $5 at Whole Foods.
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