Best Baked

We asked four local bakeries to pony up their top cookie for a good old-fashioned taste test. By day our judges are all busy production executives, but at night they are all self-confessed cookie monsters. Suffice to say there wasn’t a crumb left behind after they rated four cookies on a scale of 1 to 10.

Brittaney Parbs Post Production Supervisor	Roman Perez Editor	Alexia Necoechea Producer

SUSIECAKES, CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE 

SusieCakes prides itself on using old family recipes and baking in small batches. It apparently pays off; our judges couldn’t get enough of their traditional take on chocolate chip.

BP: This hits the basic, delicious, chocolate chip cookie taste I crave. Great consistency, rich flavor with pops of sweetness and a slight saltiness that I love.
AN: The perfect cookie—the right amount of chocolate chips, a hint of brown sugar and the best part: It tastes freshly baked.
RP: Amazing chocolaty flavor in every bite, super-soft and not too sweet. It’s a giant cookie, but I want to have another, which might not be a good thing!
13029 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, 818-659-2253, susiecakes.com
Score: 9.2

BUTTERCELLI BAKESHOP, SUGAR COOKIE 

Organic ingredients and options for those with dietary restrictions is the twist at Buttercelli.

BP: I don’t dig hard cookies, so I was happy it was pretty moist. You can definitely taste the butter. Just the right amount of richness.
AN: Decorated with a lot of colorful sugar crystals, and I thought that would be too overpowering. But really liked the taste.
RP: I’m not a sugar cookie fan, but this is one of the best I’ve ever had. Not too sweet, and the texture is light and crunchy.
13722 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, 818-387-8538, buttercelli.com
Score: 8.2

SWEET LADY JANE, CHERRY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE 

This oversized chocolate cherry cookie was touted as one of the pastry shop’s standouts.

BP: Great flavor overall but not as sour as I’d hoped it would be to help balance the chocolate. Love the huge chunks of fresh cherries.
AN: A good cookie, but I would have liked more cherry flavor. Enjoyed the overall moistness with just a hint of crunch.
RP: The cherry flavor isn’t overwhelming (a plus). Soft and definitely not too sweet, which I like.
16403C Ventura Boulevard, Encino, 818-783-8188, sweetladyjane.com
Score: 7.3

BIG SUGAR BAKESHOP, REVERSE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE 

With this Studio City mainstay, we gave their popular reverse chocolate chip cookie a try.

BP: A little overly sugary. The consistency was a little too hard for my taste too.
AN: Too crumbly. I would rather it be softer so maybe it would hold together better. Looks super-rich, but it’s actually pretty mild.
RP: I actually like the texture. The white chocolate chips add another level of indulgent goodness.
Big Sugar Bakeshop, 12182 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, 818-508-5855, bigsugarbakeshop.com
Score: 7.3