Where to get macarons, shortbread, classic chocolate chip —or even a cookie of your own design.
By Maddy Sweitzer-Lammé·
K’far’s tahini chocolate chip cookie | Photo by Michael Persico
When is the wrong time for a cookie? Never. But our cravings kick into high gear in the summer when we have picnics and beach snacks to pack, hikes to fuel, and late-afternoon park hangs to savor. With the opening of Philadelphia’s first ever cookie speakeasy (see below) we’re particularly fired up about sweet treats. Here’s our list of the spots to snag a cookie in the city.
Insomnia Cookies Cookie Lab,East Passyunk
If you’ve ever found yourself wanting to wait in line to get into a secret speakeasy tucked behind a doorway (requiring a secret password) in order to eat … cookies, you’ve come to the right place. If you’ve never found yourself wanting that, that’s also fine. Either way, it’s the only place in the city (other than your own kitchen) where you can design your own cookie flavor.
Crust Vegan Bakery,multiplelocations
Remember those squishy-soft supermarket sugar cookies with the neon frosting that taste exclusively like sugar and chemicals? Crust does their own version of those cookies, but vegan, with actual flavor, and without cloying sweetness.
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Essen Bakery,East Passyunk
There’s a lot to love at Essen Bakery: bagels, babka, rugelach, the list goes on. But the black and white cookies, which are a staple of Jewish bakeries across the Northeast, are exceptional. The cookie is perfectly cakey and scented with orange zest, and the frostings are rich, flavored with dark chocolate and vanilla bean, for that perfect color split.
Fitz and Starts,Queen Village
We love all the pastries that Pat O’Malley makes at Fitz and Starts, but we especially appreciate his commitment to a perfect, simple chocolate chip cookie. He uses Askinosie chocolate, a single-origin chocolate, which is pretty fancy for a humble cookie. Clearly, he understand the importance of cookies.
K’far,Rittenhouse Square
The tehina chocolate chip cookies are a good reminder that K’far is, first and foremost, a bakery. They do savory food well, but it all starts with the sweet stuff. These chocolate chip cookies land somewhere between savory (from the sesame) and sweet, with a good dose of chocolate chip cookie nostalgia.
Isgro Pastries,Italian Market
Pignoli are a classic Italian Christmas cookie, but they’re perfect for year-round consumption. The dough is made mostly from almond paste, which bakes up to something like a super-nutty meringue. The layer of pine nuts on the outside keeps the cookie from being too sweet, and if you pair them with espresso? Oh, man.
Ici Macarons & Cafe,OldCity
Macarons are a cookie that is really better left to the pros, and Ici specializes in these fancy French treats. Favorite flavors include lemon lavender or lassi and fig, but don’t skip the seasonal specialities.
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LostBread Co.,multiple locations
A couple of years ago New York Magazine caused a dust-up when they called Lost Bread’s pretzel shortbread cookie the best cookie in New York. Since it is, of course, made in Philadelphia, people were pissed and a lot of Internet arguing ensued. New York aside, these crumbly, salty cookies are some of the best in this city, and we’re happy to see them for sale across the city at spots like Whole Foods, Di Bruno Bros. and more.
Jezabel’s Cafe, West Philly
Jezabel Careaga makes alfajores fresh daily in her West Philly cafe. The Argentinean cookies, which are two crumbly, shortbread-like cookies sandwiched around a generous portion of dulce de leche, are also available for nationwide shipping.
Manakeesh, West Philly
Ma Moul cookies are popular across the Middle East for holidays and celebrations, but at Manakeesh you can get these buttery, semolina-based cookies any time. Pick between versions stuffed with dates, pistachios, or walnuts — or do yourself a favor and get all three.
Machine Shop Boulangerie, Wharton Heights
Machine Shop focuses mostly on French-style baked good, but they also happen to have an excellent chocolate chip cookie.
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Mighty Bread, East Passyunk
Mighty Bread adds a sprinkle of rye flour to their chocolate chip cookie, which gives it a nutty, almost grown-up thing about it.
Haddon Culinary,Collingswood
Haddon Culinary offers everything you need to never cook for yourself again, but hidden in their pastry case are their lemon crinkle cookies — the sweet-tart, powdered-sugar covered cookies of our dreams.
Constellation Collective,Collingswood
Constellation is the go-to spot in Collingswood for baked goods, and their chocolate chip cookie is no exception. They sprinkle it with Black Sea salt, which adds a slightly savory flavor and a bit of elegance.
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