Top spots to satisfy cookie obsessions

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Alyssa Vinzons

Milk & Cookies has a wide selections of specialty cookies for sale.

Jessica Tien, Contributing Writer

Whether paired with a mid-afternoon cup of coffee or munched on as a late-night study snack, cookies are the perfect treat for any time of day. Luckily, bakeries all across New York City are constantly churning out unique takes on this classic baked good. Here are a few of the best places to find freshly baked cookies throughout the city.

Milk & Cookies Bakery

Milk & Cookies Bakery is nestled between a couple of 19th-century brownstones in the West Village at 19 Commerce St. Customers are greeted by the smell of sugar and warm butter as soon as they open the door. This quaint, old-fashioned bakery offers a classic take on cookies, including favorites like chocolate chip and white chocolate macadamia. Their cookies are known for their home-baked taste, soft texture and slightly crunchy edges. They are sold to customers straight off the baking trays in this vintage bakery.

Eleni’s

Located in New York City’s popular Chelsea Market, Eleni’s specializes in nut-free, hand-iced cookies. The bakers use brightly colored icing to decorate their signature sugar cookies with playful designs. On the store’s white counter are a variety of themed cookies, including their yellow taxi cab and ice cream cone cookies. Though Eleni’s prides itself on sugar cookies that are fun to look at, the bakery also offers plain cookies that customers can decorate themselves with colored icing pens.

Schmackary’s

Schmackary’s, located at 362 W. 45th St., has developed a loyal following for their unique flavor combinations. The bakery has four standard
flavors — chocolate chip, maple bacon, red velvet and
funfetti — as well as a rotating list of daily and seasonal specials. Bakery owner Zachary Schmal reinvents classics and combines bold flavors to create the store’s rich, chewy cookies. Schmackary’s offers flavors such as candied yam, green tea and mint mojito, making it a go-to for one-of-a-kind cookie creations.

Jacques Torres

Renowned pastry chef Jacques Torres serves cookies that live up to his famous reputation. The bakery’s chocolate chip cookies are heralded by chefs and magazines as some of the best chocolate chip cookies ever made. Jacques Torres began his chocolate empire in Brooklyn, and has now expanded it to multiple locations in New York City, such as the location at 327 Lafayette St. Using only the finest ingredients, the chocolate shop turns cocoa beans into chocolate in-store. Jacques Torres’ chocolate chip cookies are made with large chocolate chunks and a dash of sea salt.

Sugar and Plumm

Sugar and Plumm’s stores are all designed to look like sugar-filled fairy tales. At their 257 Bleecker St. location, the walls are lined with with French macaron towers, chocolate truffles and colored candies. Best known for their macarons, Sugar and Plumm masterfully creates these delicate cookies in a variety of unique flavors. Salted caramel is one of their most popular, but the bakery also offers rosewater lychee, banana milk chocolate and strawberry poppy seed.

A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, March 3rd print edition. Email Jessica at [email protected].