And not just any chocolate chip cookie, mind you. It has to be the crunchy kind. Yes, that's right. Crrrrunch! The chewy ones are too easy. Anyone can make a really good chewy chocolate chip cookie. It's too common. Too, dare I say, pedestrian. It's the crunchy ones that are a challenge.
So, every time I come across a crunchy chocolate chip cookie - in the name of science and research and goodwill to all men - I am compelled to sample each and every one. But, because I am also a dolt of epic proportions, I always forget which ones are good and which ones are bad so I am constantly trying out cookies I've already tried before. (You'd think I'd keep notes, right?) But I guess since I don't remember any of these crunchy cookies to be especially outstanding, that can only mean that they are, quite literally, forgettable.
So far, the best crunchy chocolate chip cookies, I must most humbly say, are the ones I make. With Susan Brandstetter's coming in at a close second. But that's only because she doesn't measure her ingredients and therefore the quality of her cookies aren't always consistent. Plus her husband, Gerry Degan, and I share the same taste for burnt crunchy cookies so he always gets the best of the lot and Sue has to hide some away from him just so that I can have a taste.
But, since I've also been sampling the humdrum chewy kind of chocolate chip cookies (for the sake of comparison), I must say that I've found some that are particularly noteworthy.
In Manila, the hands-down winner is at Press, the cafe by Fully Booked on the 3rd floor of the Power Plant Mall (beside the cinemas) in Rockwell Center. Have them reheat it. The whole thing will crumble in your hands but it is quite a divine mess. (PHP65.00/cookie.)
(Internet file photo.)
***
Update: Okay, I take that back. Ever since I wrote this, I'm not sure what happened to their cookie but, no, it is no longer deserving of the title. The quest for the best chewy chocolate chip cookie in Manila is still ongoing. (23 January 2012)
***
If you are at the Hong Kong airport (near gates 40-50), look for the Food Junction and a small stall called Panopolis. According to my internet search, it is supposed to be an "international famous brand that is well established in London and Zurich." But all you really need to know is that they have three kinds of chewy chocolate chip cookies: the milk chocolate, the double chocolate and... the best of the lot which is the chocolate with orange. (HK$15.00/cookie.) Wow! I should have had three of those rather than one of each. (Yes, I had three cookies. It was in the name of research!!!)
***