The best chocolate chip cookie can be many things — crisp edges, ample chip coverage or a soft, chewy interior. The iconic treat is made in countless, absurdly comforting ways, and these are our favourites.
Though the chocolate chip cookie has its origins in the 20th-century US, we’ve seen a
Cafes, bakeries and even night-time restaurants have adopted the chocolate chip cookie as a simple snack or dessert, baked fresh to please the palates of sweet tooths.
We have received plenty of chocolate chip cookie recommendations from family, friends and colleagues. Beyond our tasting picks below, we’ve heard the “must-try” status awarded to cookies at Ellerslie’s pasta shop and wine bar Bianca, Daily Bread and the hole-in-the-wall Mrs Higgins storefront (we also have a fondness for a mid-workday trip to Wellesley Street’s Toss for their tahini chocolate chip cookies).
Before our tasting, some writers expressed doubts over how different each cookie could be. This quickly changed, as we exchanged comments about the great variation in texture, ingredients and the chocolate-to-dough ratio. Some preferred crumbly and soft cookies, while others were looking for snap and crunch. Some loved the bitterness of dark chocolate while others craved the milder sweetness of milk. Some wanted them half melted and warm; others preferred them sturdy enough to dunk in tea or coffee.
Below, we’ve noted how each local kitchen makes the classic chocolate chip cookie its own, so you can decide what will suit your particular palate. These were our favourites, in no particular order.
Butter Baby
Matilda Lee’s beloved bakery, now based in Westgate, first found fans at markets, with photogenic sweet treats, including doughnuts, cinnabuns and cakes, with a focus on Southeast Asian flavours such as pandan, sago and ube. Cookies were among the first offerings at Butter Baby’s market stands, says Matilda. They remain a bakery staple and are now shipped nationwide to dedicated fans.
Butter Baby’s flagship kitchen in Westgate is open from Wednesday to Saturday, serving takeaway coffees (keep cups, please), treats and surprise doughnut flavours that change every two weeks. They are also reliable vendors at the Britomart markets on Sundays.
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Advertise with NZME.The bakery has also developed a wider range of cookies beyond their “OG” Whittaker’s dark chocolate chip, some tinged with nostalgic flavours — think birthday cake, coconut caramel, cereal milk and salted caramel.
Tasting notes
“It was fudgy and loaded and spectacularly sweet, but full-flavoured and thoughtfully baked. It was an intelligent biscuit, texturally complex and structurally sound. It understood me and I understood it. I wished we would never be parted, but sadly we have been, because I ate it.” — Greg Bruce, senior multimedia journalist
“Chewy and gooey with huge chunks of dark Whittaker’s chocolate and a delicious sprinkling of salt. Very addictive ... I keep going back for more.” — Stephanie Holmes, editor, lifestyle premium
“Let’s first address the fact that this cookie is enormous. Bigger than your hand, or a small plate. Then there’s the fact that the chocolate chunks are just as hefty, which is really all you want from a biscuit selling itself on having them. Bonus points for the dash of salt on top — they didn’t have to, but they did.” — Julia Gessler, multimedia journalist
Point of difference: A hefty sprinkle of salt.
Price: $5 each.
Where to get them: Butter Baby’s HQ is located at 70/11 Northside Drive, Westgate. You can also find the cookies at the Sunday Britomart markets or order online.
Burnt Butter Diner
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Advertise with NZME.This warming and cosy diner will be a familiar spot for Avondale locals. The shining, apricot-coloured spot is known for its promise of bottomless filter coffee and delicious home-style plates of breakfast food (including mussel fritters and “much-loved” cake for breakfast). Co-founder Claudia Long explains that the chocolate chip cookies, which are piled near the counter among overflowing cabinet stocks, are made with brown butter and a generous sprinkle of salt.
The recipe has loose inspiration in a childhood treat. “I was the kid who’d get a Cookie Time at the tuck shop and check the packet to see which had enough chocolate chunk content when choosing,” says Claudia. “So I guess I’ve always based them off that flavour memory to an extent.”
Tasting notes
“This cookie, with melted chunks of chocolate and a hefty addition of salt, is so well balanced and undeniably moreish. I have previously had this cookie as a takeaway after-brunch treat. This tasting has urged me to return to the diner sooner rather than later.” — Madeleine Crutchley, multimedia journalist
Point of difference: Brown butter.
Price: $5.50 each and six for $26.
Where to get them: 62 Rosebank Road, Avondale or order online.
Catroux
There’s something in the air in Westmere, a neighbourhood that punches above its weight in great bakeries and cafes. Catroux’s milk chocolate and sea salt cookies are among this suburb’s finest offerings and were strongly promoted as a necessity by one passionate team member. The cafe specialises in fresh, flavoursome cabinet food and sweet treats, as well as breakfast and lunch fare. The kitchen also extends to excellent catering, making some of the city’s best cakes, as well as morning tea, platters and cheeseboards. These cookies are cooked until crispy, but the bakers suggest a quick microwave if you have a preference for gooey textures.
Tasting notes
“A very crispy cookie, the buttery after-taste is strong and I can imagine these would be great maybe 20 minutes out of the oven when they still have a chewy centre to them. The salt does help cut through the powerful sweetness though. They feel a little flat, so could do with a bite more chunk to them.” — Dan Ahwa, fashion and creative director
“Crispy AND lick-your-fingers salty — are these the potato chip of the chocolate chip cookie world?” — Kim Knight, senior writer
Point of difference: Crispy edge and heavy on the salt.
Price: $3.80 each, $15 for four or $25 for a jar.
Where to get them: 129 West End Road, Westmere or order online.
Doe Donuts
This pink and cheerful Grey Lynn bakery has made its name, and earned its moniker, from its hefty servings of doughnuts. In 2021, Grace Tauber and Shenine Dube told Viva that the bakery project was founded based on their shared love of Cook Islands doughnuts, which are denser and geared towards both savoury and sweet servings, and flavours specific to their respective upbringings.
They use Whittaker’s chocolate in all of their cookies, which are baked fresh in-store every day. Each is finished with a generous sprinkling of salt. They also present slight alterations on their classic brown butter chocolate chip serving, with milk chocolate and walnut as well as white chocolate macadamia.
Tasting notes
“These cookies mean serious business. They’re tall and heavy and chocolate-filled. I’m a big fan of the centred salt sprinkling too, as it creates a variety of flavour across the dessert — every bite of this hefty treat feels unique.” — Madeleine Crutchley, multimedia journalist
Point of difference: Height and volume.
Price: $6.50 each.
Where to get them: 356 Great North Road, Grey Lynn and Commercial Bay, or order online.
Giapo
Giapo is perhaps better known for its decadent icecream scoops. But, these cookies, similarly manufactured in a dedicated gluten-free kitchen, make a convincing argument for their other dessert. The cookies are on the larger side, flat and crumbly. The icecream shop/bakery offers up a vegan version of this cookie, as well as other flavours, including hokey pokey and peanut supreme. Of course, upon purchasing at Giapo, you’d likely pair this treat with icecream — our pick would be a simple vanilla or chocolate.
Tasting notes
“The chocolate chips are as big as dinner plates and twice as delicious. It’s a big biscuit but a thin biscuit. I would describe the texture as squishy. I thought I could taste that famous Giapo sense of fun, but that might have been confirmation bias.” — Greg Bruce, senior multimedia journalist
“These are very soft, thin and pliable, which makes them ideal for Giapo’s icecream sandwiches but they’re yum on their own too. The next best thing to cookie dough with dark and milk chocolate and a gritty, sugary crunch for textural integrity.” — Johanna Thornton, deputy editor, lifestyle premium
Point of difference: Gluten-free.
Price: $5.50 each.
Where to get them: Head to 12 Gore Street, Auckland CBD or order online.
Pt Chev Cookies
As the name suggests, this Pt Chev-based kitchen specialises in biscuit baking. Other flavours within their stock include ground almond and chocolate fish; salted caramel; hokey pokey; and triple chocolate (there’s also a vegan chocolate oatmeal cookie for plant-based snackers). These cookies also come in mini sizes, if you prefer a small sweet treat. Occasionally, the bakery alters its recipes for more festive offerings — think Easter Egg chocolate chunk.
Founder Ellen Waymouth says the cookies are designed to be paired “with a strong cup of tea or coffee”.
She says the Canadian-style cookies, with a soft and chewy texture inspired by her hometown, rely on premium ingredients like Whittaker’s chocolate, Heilala vanilla and pasture eggs from local farm Olliff. “We selected companies who we felt fit with our ethos of sustainability and created recipes that let these ingredients shine.”
Tasting notes
“The smell of these is divine. Sugary, buttery, vanillary. These cookies are quite nostalgic for me; they remind me of my favourite cookie recipe from The New Basics Cookbook, which I used to make all the time with my mum. We make these with Whittakers Dark Ghana chocolate and so do Pt Chev cookies. I’m impressed by their other ingredients too: Heilala vanilla, free-range eggs and coffee. I would buy these for sure.” — Johanna Thornton, deputy editor, lifestyle premium
Point of difference: A hint of coffee.
Price: $15.99 for one tub (six cookies).
Where to get them: Order online or buy in-store at Farro.
Rhu
This Parnell-based bakery and wine bar is helmed by Tushar Grover, who previously worked in acclaimed spots, including Huka Lodge, Pasture and Flor. The bakery, which opened earlier this year in the spot that once housed Alpha (Pasture’s bakery, which Grover also previously managed), aims to utilise fine-dining cooking techniques in the adaptation of simple dishes. This approach influences the resulting cookie, which is speckled with small and large pieces of chocolate and boasts a variation between gooey and crispy textures.
Tasting notes
“Dark chocolate for the complex and satisfying win!” — Kim Knight, senior writer
“I went into this tasting process thinking that I would never have a favourite based on the fact that all cookies are more or less delicious. But I was wrong, Rhu’s chocolate chip version is the best. Crispened on its edges, soft in the middle, molten when heated. I could never make this at home, which I think is the barometer of success when it comes to biscuits.” — Julia Gessler, multimedia journalist
Point of difference: Melted texture.
Price: $7 each.
Where to get them: 235 Parnell Rd.
Ripe Deli
This cafe and catering hub has earned itself a loyal community. The cookies are the size of a small plate and vegan. The mixture melds rice bran oil with two types of sugars, vanilla paste and plant-based milk to recreate the familiar taste of the cookie.
In Ripe Recipes — Thought for Food, a cookbook from the bakery, owner Ange Redfern reflects on the fanfare around the cookie and explains the bakery’s vision for the ideal bite. “These cookies run out the door at Ripe. We think they are the perfect cookie — a little bit chewy and crispy at the same time, plus they are loaded with chocolate. Sometimes we make giant ones as a cookie to share.”
Tasting notes
“These cookies are buttery to the touch, which initially surprises me for a vegan treat. They’re also pleasantly salty, creating such lovely complexity throughout my nibbling of this generous serving size.” — Madeleine Crutchley, multimedia journalist
Point of difference: Vegan (with a recipe available online).
Price: $6 each.
Where to get them: 172/174 Richmond Rd, Grey Lynn or order online.
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