Celebrate National Chocolate Chip Day in MetroWest, Milford with these must-try cookies
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It’s a truth universally acknowledged: There is no better treat than a warm chocolate chip cookie.
Grandmas across America know it. Kids, too.
With or without nuts, crispy or gooey, dunked in milk or eaten straight, chocolate chip cookies have a stronghold in the U.S. It’s all the more reason to celebrate National Chocolate Chip Day Sunday by picking up a warm, buttery cookie with melt-in-your-mouth chocolate morsels.
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Even businesses know the power of the chip: When COVID-19 hit in 2020, DoubleTree by Hilton released the recipe for its signature chocolate chip cookies, served to hotel guests at check-in.
As Shawn McAteer, DoubleTree’s senior vice president and global head, told USA TODAY at the time, “A warm chocolate chip cookie can’t solve everything, but it can bring a moment of comfort and happiness.”
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When Nestlé Toll House asked 5,024 people nationwide which cookie best reminded them of their state, one out of every three picked chocolate chip. However, Massachusetts’ claim on the chocolate chip cookie is stronger than most other states.
The cookie’s origins can be traced to the Toll House Inn in Whitman, where owner and chef Ruth Wakefield is credited with the first chocolate chip cookie recipe. Eater points out that Wakefield likely wasn’t the first to put chocolate in cookies, and that — contrary to popular myth — her recipe wasn’t an accident.
Still, Wakefield’s role in popularizing the confection is undeniable, and in 1997 Massachusetts designated the chocolate chip cookie the official cookie of the commonwealth.
So raise a cookie to local history and celebrate National Chocolate Chip Day in style by picking up a treat around MetroWest and Greater Milford. Here are a few must-try suggestions:
Square Mfg. Co., Natick
A pizza shop may be an unlikely place to look for sweets, but Natick’s Square Mfg. Co. has quickly become a local favorite with its massive chocolate chip cookies.
Since opening last year, the Detroit-style pizza shop has sold more than 5,000 cookies, according to owner Kris Gullapalli.
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“It's not uncommon for a customer to come in and buy out our entire stock of cookies in a day or to buy a cookie as their entire meal,” she said. “In fact, the cookies are the number one item my kids request when I get home from a shift at Square. Our team often eats cookies for breakfast after smelling them come out of the oven.”
Each cookie is about two or three times the size of an average cookie, weighing in at almost half a pound each, according to Gullapalli.
“The thickness of the cookie allows for that soft, gooey center with big dark chocolate chunks that is definitely a highlight,” she said.
According to Gullapalli, Square Mfg.’s pizzas and cookies do have one thing in common: crispy edges and doughy centers.
“We cook them in the same ovens as our pizzas but we make sure to cook them just enough so that the center barely sets, which allows them to stay soft and gooey,” she said. “Our cookies are baked fresh every day and like everything in our store, it's big enough to share.”
935 Worcester St. (Route 9), Natick
Basic Batch Donuts, Milford
Creative and funky-flavored doughnuts are the stars at Basic Batch, but the shop also offers a selection of pastries baked from scratch each day, including cinnamon buns, pop tarts and, yes, chocolate chip cookies.
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“Many people don't realize we offer additional baked items such as our cookies, but once they find out they keep coming back for them,” owner Christina Larson said. We have a handful of regulars who come in just for a cookie and a coffee a few times a week!”
Made in-house, these huge, chewy cookies are studded with plenty of gooey chocolate chips. Basic Batch has also offered a chocolate chip cookie dough-filled doughnut in the past, giving customers the best of both worlds.
Their secret is chilling the dough overnight before baking to develop flavor and prevent too much spreading in the oven, she said.
“Our chocolate chip cookies are the best of both worlds," Larson said. "Crispy and chewy. Doughy yet fully baked. Sweet and buttery. Everything you want in a chocolate chip cookie.”
206 East Main St. (Route 16), Milford
Main Street Pastries and More, Northborough
Chocolate chip cookies have been the number one seller at Main Street Pastries and More going on four years, according to owner Diana Batista.
“Our gourmet chocolate chip cookies are the size of my hand,” she said. “They are packed with extra chocolate, not crispy but not too gooey aside from the chocolate.”
“Our ‘classic size’ chocolate chip cookie tends to be on the softer/chewy side,” Batista added.
She said the bakery’s cookies are made with a “very old family recipe” and are free of preservatives, peanuts and tree nuts.
Main Street offers a little something for everyone, whether they need gluten- and nut-free offerings or want to try something a little different, such as the bakery’s chocolate chip cookie cup.
If planning a visit to Main Street Pastries and More, be advised that it's relocating to 135 Turnpike Road (Route 9) in Westborough sometime in June, having outgrown its current location.
5 West Main St. (Route 20), Unit 2, Northborough
NY Bagel Factory, Framingham and Southborough
The chocolate chip cookies are not to be overlooked amid the sandwiches at NY Bagel Factory, if online reviews are any indication.
At 8 ounces apiece, “our cookies are massive,” according to NY Bagel Factory co-owner Randal Noller. They’re baked in-house several times a week, serving up a blend of textures and flavors that cookie fans know and love.
“When they come out of the oven, they are crispy around the edges and gooey in the center,” Noller said.
205 Turnpike Road (Route 9), Southborough; 20 Turnpike Road (Route 9), Southborough; 341 Cochituate Road (Route 30), Framingham
Dulce D Leche, Framingham and Ashland
“Chocolate chip cookies are definitely our top ‘just add one of these’ retail items,” according to Dulce D Leche owner Jules Remenar.
And with an individual cookie coming in under $2 pre-tax, adding one is an easy decision.
Remenar said most customers who come to him for chocolate chip cookies aren’t looking for bulk party trays, but simply personal indulgence.
“Cookies are meant to be sinfully delicious,” he said. “You know they're bad for you, but it's just a little cookie. Every bite has to be worth the calories.”
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While some bakeries and cafes use frozen cookie dough — a relatively tasty, inexpensive and labor-saving option — Remenar's cookies are made from scratch, and that makes all the difference.
He said his cookies lead the pack for a number of reasons, including the use of real butter over margarine, as well as the top quality chocolate chips. Dulce D Leche’s cookies also feature a higher ratio of chocolate chips to flour and sugar, setting them apart from leading frozen dough brands that cut costs by skimping on chocolate, he explained.
The cookies’ texture depends on how recently they’ve come out of the oven: “For the first few hours, they're crispy around the edges and gooey in the middle,” Remenar said. “Over time, the melted sugar firms up and the cookie becomes a little crunchy.”
5 Edgell Road, Framingham and 200 Homer Ave, Ashland
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: National Chocolate Chip Day: Must-try cookies west of Boston
