Chewy In The Middle

BAKING MAVEN COURTNEY COWAN BRINGS HER CHEWY CREATIONS TO ENCINO WITH THE FIRST VALLEY OUTPOST OF MILK JAR COOKIES.

Written by Chelsee Lowe | Photographs courtesy Milk Jar Cookies

When Courtney Cowan opened Milk Jar Cookies on Wilshire Boulevard in 2013, I was among the first through the doors. I had heard word of her confections, and once I tried her chocolate chip and her cinnamon sugar cookies in the Miracle Mile shop, I was hooked.

So I was excited one day last fall when I walked past a wide storefront in Encino emblazoned with “Milk Jar Cookies” on its windows. As good (cookie) fortune would have it, Courtney is opening a second outpost at

Encino Commons in March.

“I wanted a great neighborhood with lots of foot traffic and a sense of community,” Courtney says. “But I also needed a large storefront and space for our commissary kitchen. This location is perfect. It checks all the boxes.”

Crisp on the outside and doughy in the center, Courtney’s cookies are made from scratch, with dough rolled by hand, and baked in small batches. They are also pretty hefty, weighing in at nearly a quarter-pound each. Each day the shop sells 17 flavors, including gluten-free and vegan options and a rotating seasonal flavor that changes at the start of the month. For example, there’s lemon blueberry in July and peppermint bark in December. Her original chocolate chip cookie is the top seller year-round, Courtney says, but banana split comes in second. That version is made with banana dough, chocolate, walnuts and fresh strawberries.

“In developing these cookies, I was aiming for my perfect cookie,” Courtney recalls. “And they are. They are baked to perfection, always fresh, and every step we take helps us achieve that texture we’re known for.”

The new shop features bar-top tables and a built-in banquette. Guests can also sit on a spacious outdoor patio, enjoying their cookies plus milk by the glass from Rosa Brothers’ Dairy, delivered fresh from California’s Central Valley twice a week. The new Milk Jar location will also offer a full menu of espresso drinks, along with a few flavors of ice cream. Cookie cakes by the slice are for sale too, as are gift boxes with each cookie individually wrapped and labeled.

“You can feel the care with which each and every cookie is made, and that’s what has resonated with people all these years,” Courtney says. “I want to be a bright spot in people’s day and lives. That’s our sole focus.” ■