Article by Tough Cookie Critic
Styling by Manila Eat Up and Tough Cookie Critic
Photos by Only The Good Vibes Studio

COOKIES — the classic go-to snack loved by all ages and enjoyed in many ways: warm, cold, dunked in milk, or with scoops of ice cream. My passion for these sweet little treats started not too long ago. During my younger years, I’d be satisfied with any cookie as long as it is sweet and has chocolate in it. There was a time when my sisters would always bake cookies on weekends and holidays for the family, and I would be their official taste tester. That started my obsession with home baked cookies.

If you’re like me with zero baking skills but loves a fresh batch of cookies, then the only option is to go out and buy some. As a stay-at-home mom, I don’t always have the luxury to go to the mall and purchase a box of cookies when the cravings hit. So, I started looking for online bakers thru Instagram and I couldn’t believe there were a ton of them. I tried out a few brands, some were really good and some were meh. Then I got to thinking, why not dedicate a page solely for cookies? That’s when Tough Cookie Critic was born on Instagram.

@ToughCookieCritic is a page where I give my unbiased and unfiltered opinion on all the cookies I come across on the quest to find cookies worth raving about. Having tried over 100 cookie brands for the past few months, I believe I’ve developed an incredible and, I’d like to also think, a credible palate for cookies. To rate the overall quality of each cookie, I use a scale of 1 to 5 — 5-star means exceptional, 3-star means satisfactory, and anything lower means disappointing.  Relatively, there is no absolute best cookie but my goal is to guide everyone to make informed decisions when choosing which cookie to get. This is why I created my list of 10 Best Cookies for this year and divided the cookies into 2 categories — Crunchy & Chewy and Soft & Gooey. So, with my best effort to be fair, accurate, and truthful, here’s my ranked list per category.

CRUNCHY & CHEWY

1. GourmetFinds 

BIG is an understatement when describing GourmetFind’s crowd-pleasing cookies. These muffin-like heavenly baked goods are 4.5-inch wide, almost 1.5-inch thick, and weigh around 170g (6oz) each. It’s loaded with expensive-as-hell Valrhona chocolate and has that perfect slight crunch on the outside and chewy on the inside consistency guaranteed to make you drool from the very first bite up to the last.

Recommended Flavors: Chocolate Chip Walnut and Dark Chocolate Choc Chip

Facebook: GourmetFinds
Contact: +639217622240

2. Moloko Handcrafted Cookies

I am a firm believer of this brand. Moloko Cookies sure do know how to play with ingredients and up the cookie game. From their classic chocolate chip cookies to those out-of-the-ordinary flavors, they seem to get it right every time. Moloko’s NY-Style cookies are to-die-for with its intensely crunchy crust topped with sea salt flakes and delightfully gooey chocolate filling. These 5oz cookies are packed with premium ingredients, mixing 4-5 kinds of chocolate (including Malagos and Valrhona) all in one cookie.

Recommended Flavors: NY-Style Chips n’ Chunx and NY-Style 5-Chocolate

Instagram: @molokocookies

3. Pink Bakery by Ange

When it comes to classic chocolate chip cookies, Pink Bakery by Ange steals the top spot! These palm-sized 100g cookies are perfectly chewy with beautifully browned crisp edges. It is soft in the middle yet firm enough to keep the whole piece together. The dough has an appealing toasty caramelized flavor with an unrefined texture. Its chewy and gooey interior has an ample amount of molten chocolate chips making your every bite satisfyingly chocolatey.

Instagram: @pinkbakerybyange

4. Mo Cookies

These 4.5-inch bigger-than-your-palm cookies have been wildly popular and deserve the spotlight it has been given. Mo’ Cookies currently has 9 flavors, but the Dark Chocolate Macadamia definitely made a mark on me. It has a crisp crunchy edge and chewy center with a toasted brown buttery dough and huge dark chocolate chunks and macadamias visible on top. Bitter, sweet and salty all in one tasty treat!

Instagram: @mocookiesforyou

5. Inglorious Cookies

Inglorious Cookies is a famous cookie brand in Cebu. While it can be quite expensive to ship packages from Cebu to Manila, I assure you it’s worth the expense. Their Aldo cookie (Walnut Chocolate Chip) is the total opposite of their brand name—it’s glorious! A 4.5-inch cookie with golden brown crisp exterior and soft and chewy interior studded with dark chocolate chips. But, the real game changer in this is the walnut. Chopped walnuts in every bite are literally impossible to miss.

Instagram: @ingloriouscookies

SOFT & GOOEY

1. D’s Craft Kitchen

Hands down to these cookies! You can never go wrong with any of their 3 flavors. These cookies are perfect in every way: the sweetness, the size, the moistness, the softness, the gooeyness, and the overall taste. Everyone will instantly fall head over heels for D’s Craft Kitchen cookies. I love how it’s not overly done, nothing too over the top or too different. Its simplicity is enticing enough, but the experience in each bite will take you to a whole other level.

Instagram: @dscraftkitchen

2. Keikookies

Keikookies achieved perfection in its own unique way. Its dough clearly sets these cookies apart from the rest: chewy, smooth, soft outside to inside and has a fudge-like consistency. Their 5oz cookie will surely win everyone’s hearts with its distinct, incomparable and mind-blowing texture. All of its flavor has a unique blend of ingredients which makes it irresistibly good and satisfying. Whether classic or not-so-classic flavors, it offers the best of its kind!

Instagram page: @keikookies.ph

3. Sweetsmith

These 100g cookies have good-tasting buttery dough with loads of chocolates and a nice texture. The outside has a subtle crisp thin layer and once you break that layer, your teeth will automatically sink into its soft, moist, and gooey interior. It comes in 6 yum-worthy flavors, but a definite must-try is their Cranberry Oatmeal—a flavor like no other! Whatever kind of cookie you are craving, Sweetsmith has something to offer that will fit your taste.

Instagram page: @sweetsmithmnl

4. Quinn’s Bakery

Quinn’s cookies have a thin crisp exterior and the softest chocolatey interior. It is consistently ultra-rich, thick, dense, and gives a pleasurable melt-in-your-mouth experience. If you are into soft-baked cookies, this is the perfect one for you! Their newest flavor, White Chocolate Macadamia, is definitely not to be missed!

Instagram page: @quinnsbakery

5. Aperitif

This cookie does not look much on the outside, but all the goodness is hiding inside! Aperitif’s Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip cookie is sinfully rich and gooey and loaded with an obscene amount of chocolate. Heating this up will bring out more of its flavor and edge.

Instagram page: @aperitif_ph

That’s the entire ranking for each category. I might create another list for 2020 — who knows? But for now, Manila Eat Up and I would like to encourage all of you to support our local sellers and local brands.

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