$20 & Under

$20 & UNDER: How to Become Blue-Furred and Googly-Eyed

By Kim Ranjbar “I’d give you a cookie, but I ate it.” –Cookie Monster La Boulangerie

I refuse to bake chocolate chip cookies. It’s not because I don’t love baking or hate chocolate chip cookies (perish the thought). It’s the simple fact that I turn into a demon-possessed, chocolate chip cookie-hoarding monster who will eat them in such quantities as to make myself sick.

When I do make a batch of chocolate chip cookies, you can stake your life on the fact stick to this approach with everything we make. Simple, direct, high-quality ingredients, that I will sit down and gobble at least eight—or probably 10. All right, a dozen! Yes, a made from scratch and un-messed with.” dozen chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes I do it all at once, like a wood-chipper plowing In addition to “honing her craft” at Uptown’s Levee Baking Co., self-taught pastry cook through branches, bits flying everywhere that will later be found on my Catherine Killeen has also struck out on her own with an online bakery, pants or in my hair. Other times, I will grab a few here and a few there, dubbed With Love Baking Co. Among the chocolate espresso cakes duping myself into believing that “I really haven’t had that many,” and salted maple pies on offer, Killeen also bakes a small selection of and, by bedtime, nearly half the batch is gone. Do I have a problem? cookies, including her own Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip. The Most definitely. But in all honesty, don’t we all, when it comes to this brown butter provides a different, nuttier dimension to the flavor, along extraordinary treat? with the combination of semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolates. To give

There are plenty of reasons chocolate chip cookies have the ability it an extra boost, Killeen tops her cookies with a sprinkling of Maldon to turn practically anyone into a wild-eyed gorger. For many, this partic- Sea Salt, an extra that only makes her cookies that much chocolate-ier. ular delicacy can deliver a giant warm-and-fuzzy, a nostalgic whammy I heard rumors that the chocolate chip cookies at Cochon Butcher comparable to suddenly hearing a song you loved in high school or get- were “to die for,” and I was not disappointed, not that I could ever be ting an out-of-the-blue whiff of your beloved grandfather’s aftershave. disappointed in any dessert item coming out of the Link Restaurant It’s the ultimate comfort food, taking you back to a time when you were not only young and invincible, but also safe and loved. With Love Baking Co Group. Executive Chef Maggie Scales knows her way around sweets, and those chocolate chip cookies, found both at Cochon Butcher and

Those sentimental triggers are only the beginning. Consider the La Boulangerie, are no exception. Knowing everyone has their own ingredients: sugar, fat, flour, salt, and chocolate. Has there ever been preferences for what exactly makes the perfect cookie, Scales finally a more perfectly diabolical combination? Almost every single ingredi- settled over a decade ago on her favorite recipe, which features Belgian ent has been proven to be addictive, and together, they’re literally an Callebaut Chocolate Chips. Though she’s tried many others, she finds endorphin bomb. that Callebaut has the best flavor. “Someone at the bakery told me that

Finally, think about how it actually feels to bite into a chocolate chip our cookies look like the cookie emoji,” says Scales. “The exact thing you cookie. Do your like them crispy and buttery, with pops of salt and think of when thinking of a cookie.” chocolate; soft and gooey, like barely-baked batter; or somewhere in Apparently, Callebaut Chocolate is a popular choice among pastry between? The contrast of textures, the way the cookie feels in your chefs. Thomas McGovern, owner and operator of the recently launched mouth, is almost as alluring as the rest of its many qualities. How any- tM breads & pastries, also believes their chocolate is the best option. one can “only eat just one” is beyond me. Cochon Butcher and La Boulangerie After working as a pastry chef at the Ritz Carlton for 10 years, McGovern

An excellent way to avoid scarfing far too many chocolate chip decided it was time to break out on his own on Baronne Street in the cookies is to go out and buy them from one of the many stellar cookie- Central Business District. In addition to coffee, tea, sandwiches, and making masters around town. Hopefully, if you don’t have a lot of fi - salads, early visitors can expect to choose from a bounty of pastries, nancial leeway, like myself, this will prevent you from going overboard. from cakes and croissants to brownies and, of course, heavenly chocoIf you’re loaded, you may still be limited by what’s available, and if late chip cookies. not, the spectacle of purchasing dozens of cookies only to stuff them, At Sweet Handkraft in Metairie, owners and bakers Thuy Le and relentlessly, into your maw might shame you into practicing a modicum Loc Nguyen also enjoy using Callebaut chocolate in their chocolate chip of self-control. cookies. Mainly known for their delicious, unique macarons and ice

In Mid-City on Orleans Avenue, Mayhew Bakery is pouring out ev- cream flavors, the dynamic duo also makes cookies that are not to be erything from baguettes and biscuits to cinnamon rolls and pizza, but missed. “We bake them throughout the day, so they’re always fresh,” their chocolate chip cookies are definitely worth more than a mention. says Nguyen. “Our cookies are ooey-gooey, as opposed to crispy.” If Other than using “really good chocolate,” Pastry Chef Jessica RaganWilliams believes that the key to great cookies lies mostly in how you Sweet Handkraft their ginormous chocolate chip cookies aren’t enough, try having two with house-made vanilla ice cream sandwiched in between. mix the ingredients. At Mayhew, they cream the European butter with In case you haven’t heard, Chef Frank Brigtsen has been touting a sugar until it’s light in color and incredibly fluffy. Then, once you add mini-bake sale held by Elizabeth Venable, a pastry chef who formerly the flour (in their case, King Arthur), you shouldn’t mix too much. worked at the Ritz Carlton and Sheraton but was furloughed due to These are all techniques that ensure a cookie that’s light and crispy. the coronavirus. For a couple of weekends, she’s been slinging quick “We also use Ronald Reginald’s Mexican Vanilla,” says Ragan-Williams. breads, baguettes, and, naturally, chocolate chip cookies in the Dante “We love that it’s a local company, and I just think Mexican vanilla is Village parking lot, and causing all kinds of good-tasting commotion. the best.” With a combination of dark chocolate and semi-sweet Ghirardelli chips,

Over on Broad Street in Central City, Laurel Street Bakery’s this particular cookie is worth your time and effort to seek out. owner and operator Hillary Guttman takes a different approach. All Finally, Rhonda Findley, owner of Pop City and Luna Libre, refrom scratch, the bakery’s cookies are made with standard ingredi- cently announced on Instagram the creation of the Creole Chocolate ents: all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, brown and granulated sugar, pure vanilla extract, and Hershey’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. Pop City Chip Cookie. Made with Steens Cane Syrup, milk chocolate Tollhouse Morsels, and pecans, this “granny-style” cookie is only three or four Guttman prides herself on using ingredients that can be found at any bites of bliss. This is a brand-new recipe that Findley worked on for six grocery store to produce a cookie similar to one you’d make at home. “One of the things months and is now offering at Pop City on Decatur Street. “The low-protein flour gives it I hear the most about our baked goods is that they taste very familiar, not too sweet, just a different structure, allows for it to be thin and a bit soft. It’s melty and chocolaty,” says like they are homemade with nothing fake, overly sweet, or odd,” says Guttman. “I try to Findley. “I ate a dozen last night.”