In Search of the Best Cookie
By Songyi Pang | Arts and entertainment | Sept. 29, 2025
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (SCPDA) — For nearly a century, the chocolate chip cookie has remained a classic dessert in American culture. Its distinct, buttery smell and sweet flavor make it a popular choice among Stanton College Preparatory School students, frequently appearing in class parties or potlucks. In Jacksonville, Fla., every cookie shop offers a unique variation of the dessert — some opt for a sweeter taste while others welcome a hint of salt. In either case, the first bite offers a familiar sense of comfort and satisfaction, a small reward after a day’s worth of hard work
“A good chocolate chip cookie has a crispy, grainy texture,” said junior Ernest Quesada. “As soon as you bite into it, it is paradise, soft and mushy, complementing the outer crust.” The texture of a chocolate chip cookie is often determined by two types of sugar. White sugar creates a crispier and thinner cookie. Brown sugar adds softness, moisture, and a caramel- like flavor. Combining both sugars provides a versatile taste of both worlds. Along with ingredients like chocolate, varying the amount of sugar in a recipe also heavily contributes to the sweetness of the cookie. “When baking [chocolate chip cookies], I add the amount of sugar by heart but try to follow a ratio of one part sugar to two parts flour,” said sophomore Lily Phung, a student baker. “[The ratio] makes it so my cookies aren’t that sweet.”
The chocolate chip cookie has had a history of its mouthwatering charm since the 1930s, when American chef Ruth Wakefield chopped up a bar of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate and added it to her cookie batter. Her simple action paved the way toward the rapid global appreciation of a staple dessert of today’s era. Even with the same basic ingredients, such as sugar, butter, flour, and eggs, countless cookie shops and bakery chains have crafted their signature spin on the chocolate chip cookie. As the dessert continues to evolve, so does the debate over what truly defines the “perfect” chocolate chip cookie.
For Stanton’s student bakers, making cookies and other desserts from scratch allows flexibility to tailor a recipe to personal preference. Whether it be pockets of melted chocolate chunks or a couple of chips sprinkled on the surface of the dough, each step may be easily determined by the person at hand. Such freedom of choice has guided the path to increasingly varied explorations of this timeless dessert.
“Whenever I look at a recipe, I always try to see how I can change it up a bit, like make it have more chocolate or sugar,” said senior Griffin Mccarty, who has had a passion for baking since the eighth grade. “[Baking at home] feels more personal too because having my own cookie is ten times better [when I know] I made it.”
That same sense of personalization has carried the legacy of the chocolate chip cookie. Through generations as America’s beloved sweet treat and many more to come, it is robust with history and tradition. Each bite tells stories of original recipes or reflects the joy of shared smiles. While preferences in tastes, textures, and appearances may differ, the delight of a satisfying chocolate chip cookie remains universal.
In search for the best version of the classic dessert, chocolate chip cookies were purchased from four different local and chain locations in Jacksonville. Each one was evaluated for its taste, texture, and visual presentation.
Cinotti’s Bakery is a family business with over 65 years of history and takes pride in serving high-quality goods. Its chocolate chip cookie was noted to have dense dough with a crunchy texture along with its golden edges. Small chocolate chips added just the right amount of sweetness in every bite. Cinotti’s chocolate chip cookie was ranked in fourth place.
Cookies and Creme Jax Beach, a family-owned shop, stays engaged with their community by regularly posting content online. Although its cookie was thin, it was packed with sweet chocolate chips and had a distinct taste of butter with a hint of peanut flavor. It was ranked second place out of the four cookies.
A popular bakery chain, Insomnia Cookies, was founded with the purpose of delivering cookies to university students to satisfy late-night cravings. Its cookie had large, gooey chocolate chunks evenly distributed in the dough without being overly sweet. With crispy edges and a chewy center, Insomnia’s chocolate chip cookie was deemed the most satisfactory. Recognized as the fastest-growing cookie company in the United States, Crumbl Cookies raised expectations with its milk chocolate chip cookie. Its cookie was thick and had a soft, dense, and cake-like texture. The cookie’s sweetness came mainly from the chocolate chips while the dough had a more subtle taste. Ultimately, its chocolate chip cookie came in third place.