Baking with family and friends is fun, but nothing beats a trip to your favorite bakery. The only thing better than an ooey-gooey cookie is a warm, delicious bite you didn't have to make.
Whether it's a chilly winter afternoon or a hot summer day, take refuge in one of Boston’s fine cafes or bakeries and indulge in a sugary treat. Bostonians have the expertise necessary to critique this crumbly confection. Chocolate-chip cookies were invented right here in Massachusetts, when an innkeeper broke a Nestle chocolate bar into bits and mixed it with her cookie dough.
Now that you're a cookie connoisseur, act like it by trying the wares at these five local gems. From French techniques to Middle Eastern flavors, traditional chewies and exciting new flavors, these are the best cookie spots in all of Boston.
See also: 10 Best Coffee Shops in Boston
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1 Belmont St. / Website
If you want to travel safely, look no further than Sofra Bakery & Cafe, whose name roughly translates to "generosity" and "hospitality" in Turkish. The store’s Middle-Eastern inspired baked goods will whisk you away to Turkey, Lebanon and Greece. Enjoy a powdered sugar-covered Earthquake cookie with a crumbly texture and dark cocoa fudge filling, or go for a classic molasses cookie. While you’re there, don’t hesitate to venture and try walnut baklava or Syrian shortbread.
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517 Columbus Ave. / Website
Cafe Madeleine has turned heads with the smell of its warm croissants ever since it came to the South End. The elegant patisserie is known for delicious, flaky French pastries, including macarons, chocolate éclairs, brioche and fruit tarts. Don't let their cookie selection go unnoticed, though. Let yourself fall for a soft chocolate chip cookie loaded with butter and made from scratch by a classically-trained chef.
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178 Thorndike St. / Website
Clear Flour Bread’s simplicity and authenticity is literally a recipe for success. The bakery, which finds inspiration in French, Italian and German pastry-making, has come up with an incredible formula. It swaps saccharine milk chocolate with Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate, folded into layers of buttery dough to make the most scrumptious chocolate chunk cookies this side of the Atlantic. Depending on the season, you can savor a World Peace or Molasses Spice cookie. If your sweet-tooth keeps calling for more, you’ll find comfort in a cannelé de Bordeaux with a soft and tender center and thick caramelized crust, or, give in to a red currant financier.
See also: The 6 Best Donut Shops in Boston
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85 Newbury St., 165 Tremont St., 236 Hanover St. / Website
Thinking Cup is a place where you can wear a comfortable knitted sweater and bring a friend for a long conversation over Stumptown coffee. You'll feel right at home in the shop’s warm and friendly atmosphere. The store has a wonderful selection of breakfast foods and sandwiches, but really, it’s the sea-salted, gooey chocolate chip cookies you’ll stay for.
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220 Clarendon St. / Website
Head to Copley or Harvard Square and see what the hype is about. This renowned, New Hampshire-based chocolatier can satisfy your chocolate cravings with a delicious Burdick cookie featuring a rich and moist dark chocolate center, dark chocolate chips, crunchy walnuts and a touch of fresh vanilla bean. Pair it with a creamy European-style hot chocolate made with Burdick’s dark, milk or white high-quality chocolate blends. If you’d like to bring some treats home, get a box of five freshly-baked cookies, nestled inside a beautiful gift box tied with a ribbon.
Photography by: The Washington Post / Getty Images
