We already know that White House Pizza’s chocolate chipper is one of the finest desserts Carbondale has to offer — but how does it stack up for takeout?
To answer that question, The Sopris Sun once again assembled a panel of five judges for a blind taste test (we previously tackled burgers, tacos, soup and salad — though the closure of the first two winners will likely warrant a retest down the line). Sean Jeffries and Megan Tackett hosted, with Tracy Kallassy, Li McBrayer and John Stroud rounding out the panel. After making themselves sick on chocolate chip cookies, they found at least a couple you might want to consider if you don’t have the time to sit down with the chipper in all of its glory.
Why this particular taste test? For one thing, chocolate chip cookies are iconic — as evidenced by Hank Green’s recent assertion that they’re one of the best things we’ve done as a species (though he missed the opportunity to talk up inventor Ruth Graves Wakefield). They’re consequently a good baking baseline that also happens to be easy to eat on the go and widely available from a variety of different establishments.
Indeed, even with 3 B’s Bakery still waiting to open and no cookies to be found at Granetta Panini, Pollinator Chocolate or New York Pizza, there were still nine competitors. Each was purchased on the sly the day leading up to the test and served at room temperature, with milk. The chipper, for comparison, was ordered online fresh and came with ice cream, but not the chocolate sauce and whipped cream that elevates it above a run-of-the-mill pizookie.
“It’s obviously not the same as sitting in the establishment and getting it hot, but it traveled just fine for me,” Tackett asserted. “The texture is just so flawless.”
After that, three categories emerged: restaurants with high enough volume to be made fresh regularly, those that may have sat around a bit longer and corporate cookies — which fared the worst. It may not even have been worth including Starbucks and Subway. Although Jeffries praised the latter’s chew, McBrayer found the flavor awfully artificial and Stroud called it “barely above Chips Ahoy!”
“It was very evident which ones were homemade and made with love,” Tackett observed.
In the crunchier category, Honey Butter’s famously-large cookie benefited from good chocolate, while Dos Gringos’ was described as a “trail cookie” that would hold up in a backpack.
“If it’s gonna be a little more crumbly, I want it to have some serious consistency like oatmeal,” Stroud noted.
McBrayer also preferred a softer cookie, which she got from the Village Smithy’s “very traditional chocolate chip cookie” — though the panel as a whole found it somewhat heavy on vanilla. Its Bonfire cousin down the street, by contrast, had more of an almond overtone, with big chocolate chunks and stock-photo aesthetics. There’s also a vegan version.
Plosky’s took chew to the extreme, perhaps because the author was skulking around waiting for the second batch to finish after the first round sold out. “This is basically hardened cookie dough and I love that,” Jeffries noted.
But only two cookies garnered scores to compete with the chocolate chipper.
Our runner up, Carbondale classic Peppino’s, comes in packs of two and received all-around solid reviews.
“It’s the right texture, it’s got that nice lingering aftertaste,” Tackett said. “It knows exactly what it is and it knows it does it well.”
Her praise for the winner, Painted Pig, was even more effusive.
“Right texture, right size — right ingredients. It tastes homemade,” she raved. “They’re new, so they still have hope and they’re trying.”
Indeed, it had been presented warm, and still retained a certain spicy aroma — whether cinnamon or nutmeg was up for debate.
Added Kallassy, “The quality of the chocolate makes a big difference.”
In the end, the sheer variety earned praise from the panel.
“I don’t think I’ve ever gone into any of these places and got a cookie before,” Kallassy admitted.
The assembly was mixed on whether they’d go to Painted Pig, Peppino’s or White House to satisfy their sweet tooth — though the ones Jeffries’ mother sends might top them all.
“It’s such a classic dessert,” Tackett concluded. “We all have in our mind the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and no one of us would have the exact same iteration.”