The Quest for the Perfect Cookie (Part 1)

Andrew and I love chocolate chip cookies, so we decided to begin a quest for the perfect one! To begin our search, we went for 3 local chocolate chip cookies: Chip, Crumbl, and Sodalicious. We did a blind taste test of the three cookies with our friends, Destiny and Parker, and judged them in the following categories: price, size, presentation, store location, Cookie variety, texture, overall flavor, chocolate quality, and amount of chocolate. Our results are below!

Price

Chip and Crumbl are gourmet cookie locations, and have a higher price for their cookies. At these locations, your best deal is to buy 4 cookies for $10 (plus tax), making them $2.50 each. Sodalicious cookies are $1.89 each pre-tax. Price winner: Sodalicious.

Size

As you can see in the picture included, the size doesn’t vary too much. Chip and Crumbl cookies are thicker than the Sodalicious cookie, and the Crumbl one is slightly smaller than both chip and Sodalicious. Since Chip is the biggest and the thickest, Chip wins the size competition.

Presentation

As stated before, Chip and Crumbl are gourmet cookies, and the only thing that is sold at their shops. Sodalicious is primarily a soda shop, with cookies on the side. Both Chip and Crumbl cookies come in a colorful, decorative box. The Sodalicious cookies come in a paper bag with the Sodalicious logo on it. Chip’s box is a square, while Crumbl’s is a long, skinny rectangle. I personally find the chip box to be more manageable, so the presentation winner is Chip.

Store Location:

We visited the Orem Sodalicious, which is only a drive-through. For this visit, we appreciated having a drive through, as we were in a rush to get going. We got our cookies quickly and were on our way. If we were wanting to have a place to sit down, we would not have been very happy with the Orem Sodalicious, but we could have found a good place at another Sodalicious location. Chip’s location in Provo was difficult to find parking at and was very busy, but they were able to get the cookies out in a timely manner. Crumbl did have the best place to actually sit and eat your cookies there, and were relatively empty when we arrived. One bonus of Chip and Crumbl is that they both deliver hot cookies to your door, but it does cost a fair bit extra. Sodalicious does not offer this service, but they are on Doordash, so you can get your cookie fix that way. Location winner: Crumbl.

Cookie Variety

For this trip, we were looking specifically for chocolate chip cookies, but we are cookie fans in general and like having lots of options. Chip offers their chocolate chip cookie year round, and then has a “chip of the month” that switches each month. These cookies vary and often fit the seasons/holidays. Their current “chip of the month” is a peppermint JoeJoe (from Trader Joe’s) cookie. They have also included chips such as pumpkin Nutella, Reese’s pieces, cookies and cream, and Kodiak chip. All of their cookies include a “chip” of some sort, so they will not be the place to go for a sugar cookie. Crumbl always has a sugar and a chocolate chip, and then they have 3+ specialty cookies for each week. They include a wide variety. This week is a snickerdoodle, peppermint bark, Nutella sea salt, and chocolate orange stick. They provide lots of variety, but if you fall in love with a particular cookie, it may not be back for a while. Sodalicious by far has the best variety of cookies. Their main menu includes: chocolate chip, sugar, chocolate fudge, oatmeal chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, snickerdoodle, white chocolate macadamia nut, and lemon. They also have different frosting options you can mix and match on their cookies: original pink, coconut lime, cream cheese, and Nutella. They have seasonal frostings, such as the pumpkin, strawberry, or peppermint. They also have other treat options if you aren’t into cookies, including the “big fat krispie”, scotcharoos, and popcorn. Cookie Variety Winner: Sodalicious.

Now we get into more of the personal opinions, and our competition becomes less black and white. We did have differing opinions in the next few categories.

Texture:

Texture was a tricky category to decide, as we had different opinions on what makes a good cookie. Destiny and I both chose the best texture as Sodalicious, as we felt the other two cookies were a little undercooked and raw, especially the Crumbl cookie.  Parker chose his favorite texture as Chip, and Andrew chose Crumbl. We noted that the chip cookie had a nice crunch on the outside, which contrasted greatly with it’s doughy middle. Some of us liked this, and some didn’t. I was a little disappointed in the Chip cookie, as it did feel more undercooked than is normal for them, and if it had been another day, I would’ve preferred Chip’s texture over Sodalicious. It’s hard to declare a texture winner, but since Sodalicious had two votes, they win the texture award.

Overall Flavor:

Once again, we had vastly different opinions in this category. I chose Chip as the best overall flavor, Destiny chose Sodalicious, Parker and Andrew both had Chip and Crumbl tied here. Sodalicious had a more buttery flavor to their cookie, which Destiny enjoyed. Since Chip was tied twice, and had an extra vote, Chip wins flavor.

Chocolate Quality

When it comes to judging chocolate quality, Parker and I voted for Chip, as we liked their chocolate chips best. Destiny tied Crumbl and Sodalicious, Andrew chose Crumbl. Chocolate quality winner: Chip

Chocolate Amount:

This topic decides who has the best ratio of chocolate to cookie. Parker and I both chose chip, Destiny and Andrew both voted for Sodalicious. Chocolate amount: tied between Chip and Sodalicious.

Sodalicious wins 4 categories, Chip wins 5 categories, and Crumbl wins 1 category, which makes Chip the winner! Honestly, though, we really liked all the cookies and we don’t think you can go too far wrong with any of these delicious chocolate chip cookies! 

-Written by Jessica Stephenson 2018