Chocolate Chip Cookies

Test date: October 2010


Testers: Michele and husband Marc


Products for this test purchased at Fred Meyer, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods.

MICHELE'S OPINION: Frankly, both Marc and I were very disappointed with this test. We were so excited to try tons of cookies (who wouldn't be?), but none came close to homemade. This is the first test where we would say that if you have a good homemade recipe (even the one on the back of the Nestle chip package), use that instead and enjoy the best option out there- your own! Read on for more details.....

Price comparison for 10oz of cookies (store first, the brand)
$5.70 Trader Joe's Highbrow
$4.36 Whole Foods 365
$4.29 Fred Meyer Keebler
$4.29 Fred Meyer Pepperidge Farm
$3.39 Whole Foods Newman's Own
$3.32 Trader Joe's Charmingly Chewy
$3.00 Fred Meyer Cougar Mountain
$2.60 Fred Meyer Mother's
$2.22 Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy
$1.96 Fred Meyer Chips Ahoy
$0.68 Fred Meyer Kroger brand

1. 365 Organic Chocolate Chip Cookies (Only available at Whole Foods): Flaky and buttery, these small cookies taste more like shortbread and are not overly sweet. If you like butter cookies, you'll like these.


2. Newman's Own Organics Champion Chip Cookies, Chocolate Chip (Purchased at Whole Foods and available at Amazon Fresh, per the Newman's Own website, Newman's Own Organics products are also available at PCC, Central Market, Larry's Market, and Organic to Go): These taste like they have fruit juice sweeters instead of sugar. They are relatively crunchy and small.


3. Keebler Chips Deluxe Cookies Original (Purchased at Fred Meyer and available at Amazon Fresh, per Keebler website, this product is widely available): These are relatively flaky and larger than the first two options. They have a higher concentration of chocolate chips and are sweeter than the first two. They taste fake though and definitely like processed, packaged cookies.


4. Cougar Mountain Original Chocolate Chunk Gourment Cookies (Purchased at Fred Meyer and available at Amazon Fresh, per Cougar Mountain website, this product is also available at QFC, Metropolitan Market, Safeway, Whole Foods, PCC, and Top Foods): These cookies look like homemade, with ther large size and plump consistency. They are relatively chewy cookies and have a nice yeasty flavor, with also a lot of chocolate chips. There is a slight vanilla accent too. Very chocolate-y!


5. Mother's Chocolate Chip Cookies (Purchased at Fred Meyer, per Mother's website, this product is also available at Safeway, Albertson's, and QFC): These cookies are large but relatively flat and taste processed. They are crunchy and relatively brittle. They have a medium chocolate level compared to the other products. Although processed, these taste slightly more authenic than the Keebler variety.


6. Chips Ahoy Real Chocolate Chip Cookies (Purchased at Fred Meyer and available at Amazon Fresh; Chips Ahoy website does not list other locations for purchase): Dark in color and very crunchy, these have very small chocolate chips. The chocolate is a bit darker than the others, so it has more of a semi-sweet taste.


7. Pepperidge Farm Soft Baked Chocolate Chunk Milk Chocolate (Purchased at Fred Meyer; Pepperidge Farm website does not list other locations for purchase): Large and chewy cookies, these have a different flavor then the others that I can't put my finger on. They taste kind of like cookie dough, with a relatively low chocolate chip count.



8. Kroger Value Chocolate Chip Cookies (Available at Kroger locations including Fred Meyer and QFC in the Pacific Northwest): These taste like sugar cookies with a chocolate chip here and there. They are relatively dry and crunchy.


9. Trader Joe's Highbrow Chocolate Chip Cookies (Only available at Trader Joe's): Very crunchy and very dark in color, these taste like they have a ton of brown sugar in them and are close to overcooked. There are not many chocolate chips in these cookies. I can see why they're called Highbrow cookies though; they would probably be good served on a fancy plate with an after-dinner espresso drink or crumbled over ice cream.


10. Trader Joe's Charmingly Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Only available at Trader Joe's): These are very chewy cookies and are small in size. On first bite they taste like fresh baked out of the oven, but unfortunately further into the bite I pick up an additive taste that reminds me that it is a processed cookie.


11. Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Only available at Trader Joe's): These are very small, bite sized cookies, that also taste like sugar cookies more than traditional chocolate chip. Not many chocolate chips, and very sugary.


NUTRITIONAL NOTES: (serving sizes vary between 26g and 35g) Calorie levels of these products are all very similar, varying only by 30 calories per serving for all 11 options (130-160 calories). Surprisingly, the product with the highest fat level is the Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy product, with 9g per serving. The product with the lowest fat level is also from Trader Joe's: the Charmingly Chewy cookies have 5g per serving. All others fall somewhere in between, with Mothers, Keebler, and Chips Ahoy coming in at 8g per serving, the highest after the Crispy Crunchy product. Interestingly, these products also have a substantial amount of salt, with the Trader Joe's Highbrow comng in with the highest level at 140mg per serving. Conversely, less than half of the products contained under 100mg per serving, including the Trader Joe's Charmingly Chewy, 365 Organic, Kroger Value, and Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy.



TASTE WINNER: If you need to go all natural, the 365 are not a bad bet. I enjoy them and I"m not usually an 'all natural' fan. But Cougar Mountain are the best for an overall, closest-to-homemade taste. A majority of the others just taste processed and unnatural.