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In New York City, most people know Levain Bakery, famous for its mission to create the world’s best cookie, but there are so many other places to satisfy your cookie craving — without the line and the trek to the Upper West Side.
Here’s Downtown’s complete guide to the greatest cookies in Downtown New York.
Ben’s cookies
Ben has brought the traditional English cookie to New York City. If you go here with an American cookie in mind, chances are you’ll be disappointed. Their cookies aren’t big, rich or overwhelmingly filling, but small and light with a crumbly texture. What makes Ben’s cookies unique is that they are baked with chunks instead of chips, and we should all support chocolate chunk cookies in a world full of chocolate chip cookies. Some interesting flavors include the cranberry white chocolate, orange milk chocolate and ginger dark chocolate.
Address: 822 Broadway
Closest subway station: Astor Place
Insomnia Cookies
Insomnia is already one step ahead of the game, because all their cookies are served warm. The only thing better than a cookie is a warm cookie. The hardest decision you will have to make is choosing between their small traditional cookies or big deluxe cookies. The Traditional Cookies are thin and crunchy, whereas the Deluxe Cookies are soft and gooey. Our favorite is the Deluxe s’mores cookie, it’s softened to perfection in the oven with melted chocolate and warm fluffy marshmallows. The best part? Insomnia Cookies deliver their warm cookies right to your door until 3:00 AM. Hello midnight cookie cravings.
Address: Multiple locations
Closest subway station: Multiple stations
Pasticerria Rocco
This Italian bakery in the West Village has been around for quite some time and it’s not hard to understand why. Their large specialty cookies will easily capture your eyes while walking by their storefront window: chocolate chip, s’mores, m&m, brownie or double chocolate… So many cookies, so little time. The m&m cookie is the crazy cookie you want in your life. It’s chunky, colorful, and a feast for the eyes alone.
Address: 243 Bleecker Street
Closest subway station: W 4 St
Baked Tribeca
The award for the best chocolate cookie goes to Baked Tribeca. The cookie is rich, intense and overwhelming, it’s everything you want a chocolate cookie to be. It’s definitely not for the fainthearted, but chocaholics will love it. The outer layer of the cookie is crisp and crunchy, yet the inside is amazingly soft and moist. Once you have come down from your chocolate cloud in heaven, you probably won’t believe its gluten-free. Gluten-free must mean it’s kind of healthy, right?
Address: 279 Church Street
Closest subway station: Franklin Street
Milk & Cookies
This place does so many different cookies, it’s not surprising it gets mixed reviews. Your experience will depend heavily on which flavor you order, because some cookies are a little underwhelming compared to others. The salted oat sunrise and sea salt caramel chocolate chip cookies are by far the best ones to order. Milk & Cookies seems to master cookies with sea salt! Sit in with your cookie in their cute store and enjoy the smell of homemade baked goods from their kitchen.
Address: 19 Commerce Street
Closest subway station: Christopher Street
Sweets byChloe
Sweets byChloe is showing the world you can be vegan and have your dessert too. Their cinnamon espresso chocolate chip cookie is the biggest cookie you will ever lay your eyes on. The cookie is super thin which makes it incredibly crisp and crunchy. If you love coffee, you will love the slight taste of coffee combined with the chocolate chips. Vegan or not, this cookie is delicious.
Address: 185 Bleecker Street B
Closest subway station: West 4th Street
Oatmeals
Where can you get the best oatmeal cookie? At Oatmeals of course, a store that revolves around whole grain steel-cut oats. They serve the traditional oatmeal cookie with a layer of old fashion icing on top. You can’t go wrong with a classic, and it’s perfect if you’re not interested in all of those crazy cookie flavors. Also, we believe anything with oatmeal is perfectly acceptable to have for breakfast.
Address: 120 West 3rd Street
Closest subway station: West 4th Street
Now… If you’re truly on a quest to taste test every cookie, you might want to trek up a little further. The following cookies are located above 14th street, but they are definitely worth the walk — and the calories.
City Cakes
City Cakes is a tiny bakery tucked away in a basement in Chelsea. The stairs that lead to their basement is your stairway to cookie heaven: half pound cookies. The red velvet cookie filled with cream cheese is the real winner here. Every crunchy bite is combined with sweet cream cheese, making the cookie soft and gooey. Unlike most filled cookies, which only have a slight filling in the center, the cookies at City Cakes are generously filled throughout the whole cookie.
Address: 251 West 18th Street
Closest subway station: 18th Street
Cacoa V
Cacoa V specializes in dairy-free, vegan chocolate and confections, but you won’t be able to tell the difference. Their cookies come with dark chocolate chips and a pinch of salt, balancing both sweet and savory flavors. The dark chocolate chips make the cookies rich, but the salt takes the edge of things. After eating their cookies, you will realize milk chocolate chips in cookies are just a little meh-tasting.
Address: 174 9th Avenue
Closest subway station: 23rd street
Photos by Siobhan Gunner