The Great Cookie Throwdown

You may believe that all chocolate chip cookies are created equal...and you would be wrong.  A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about the Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookie urban legend.  At the bottom of the post I stated that it would be interesting to see which cookie was better, the actual Neiman Marcus cookie or the Urban Legend cookie.  In order to find out, I decided to do a little experiment.

I made two separate batches of cookies, utilizing each recipe.  There were a few of key differences. 

1. The Urban Legend cookie uses oatmeal and two kinds of chocolate (milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate)
2. Instant espresso powder is included in the Neiman Marcus cookies
3. Each recipe has a different cooking time and temperature.  The Urban Legend cookies bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees and the Neiman Marcus cookies bake for 20 minutes at 300 degrees.
4. The Urban Legend cookies are molded cookies (The dough is a bit stiffer and rolled into balls), and the Neiman Marcus cookies are drop cookies (The dough is softer and "dropped" by spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet)

I followed each recipe exactly, and I tried to create a controlled environment by using the same brands of flour, eggs, sugar, etc for each set.  I also baked all of my cookies on room temperature Calphalon Select cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. 

Urban Legend Cookies

The Urban Legend cookies were flatter and more golden.  The oatmeal made for a very chewy texture.

Neiman Marcus Cookies

The Neiman Marcus cookies were a little puffier and softer in the middle (probably due to the longer cooking time and lower cooking temperature)

Tom L. and I ate one of each cookie (Okay, we ate many more than that, but we had an official comparison ceremony where we only ate one of each :P) at room temperature.  Tom L. said both cookies stood up well when dipped in milk.  He felt the Urban Legend cookie was all about the chocolate and the Neiman Marcus version focused more on the cookie dough itself.  While he thought both cookies were very good, Tom L. didn't care for the "chewy bits" that the Urban Legend cookie left in his mouth from the oatmeal.  Therefore, he preferred the Neiman Marcus cookie.

I thought both cookies were quite tasty.  Being a chocolate lover, I really appreciated having two different kinds of chocolate in the Urban Legend cookie.  However, I felt the Neiman Marcus cookie had a deeper, richer flavor (probably from the addition of espresso powder), so I gave my vote to the Neiman Marcus cookie.

In order to ensure that the experiment was as fair as possible, we decided to do a blind taste test for Tom L's coworkers.  I sent him to work with two disposable containers of cookies each with an index card attached to the lid. One pan held the Urban Legend cookies and the other contained the Neiman Marcus cookies.  I included instructions for his coworkers to try each cookie and place a check mark on the lid of the cookie they liked better.  After two days, Tom L. returned home with the results: It was a tie.  Each cookie garnered 8 votes from Tom's place of business. I didn't want to include my or Tom L's opinion in the final vote, because our taste test wasn't blind.   In order to break the tie, I took some cookies to our neighbor, whose household results finally gave us a winner; two votes for the Neiman Marcus cookie and one vote for the Urban Legend cookie.  So with a final score of 10-9, the Neiman Marcus is the winner of The Great Cookie Throwdown.

Comments

[The Blackout Blog]

Can you spot the SC Governor's School for Math and Science alumnus?
Haha, I've never enjoyed reading a lab report more.

[Tiffany]

What can I say? They taught me well :)