Having been burned one too many times by the bitter bite of an unsoft cookie in times of desperate need, I decided to go on a cookie tour of Northampton to find the town's softest. Whether you love extra sweet cookies or prefer something more subtle, worry not, you don't have too travel far for delicious bites.
The Hungry Ghost's Chocolate Rye
Chocolate Rye Cookie, The Hungry Ghost
While it's not the softest cookie in Northampton, the Hungry Ghost's chocolate rye cookie gives the purveyor of Northampton's *truly* softest cookie a run for their money. Dense with a deliciously semi-gooey center, this $1 treat is delightfully salty and sweet. The chocolate rye cookie is topped with large sea salt crystals, adding to the chewy gem's beauty. This cookie has very low crumble potential (LCP), perfect for on-the-go enjoyment.
Haymarket's Classic Chocolate Chip
Chocolate Chip Cookie, Haymarket
Haymarket's classic chocolate chip is the crunchiest of the cookies featured, pulling in a zero for softness. This large cookie has tasty potential if dunked in some milky beverage or as the opposing sides of an ice cream sandwich. What it lacks in malleability it makes up in it's ideal balance of salty and sweet. If crunch is what you're looking for, Haymarket is the way to go.
Tart's Vegan Ginger Molasses
Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookie, Tart Baking Co.
Tart has a beautiful selection of flakey and delicious pastries, but their cookie selection is often lacking. Their vegan ginger molasses cookie is a tough one, both dry and coated in a sugar that makes it more difficult to gobble down. While ginger molasses cookies tend to be tough in general, this cookie is unexciting and fails to make up for its lack of softness. It might be worth rerouting your gaze to some of their bread or pastry selections. And never forget, Tart's donut Wednesdays could brighten any donut-lover's week.
Woodstar's Gluten-Free & Vegan Peanut Butter
(Vegan and Gluten-Free) Peanut Butter Cookie, Woodstar
Woodstar's gluten-free and vegan peanut butter cookie is delightfully chewy with a soft, dense bite. The cookie is mildly sweetened and not very salty. Woodstar's vast gluten free and vegan selections never disappoint and this cookie lives up to this standard of deliciousness and consistency. This is a particularly soft and fluffy cookie, perhaps the fluffiest in Northampton and is definitely worth a try if you are on the hunt for a vegan, gluten-free sweet.
Share's Chocolate Mint
Share's Chocolate Mint Cookie
Often unnoticed by cookie shoppers, Share Coffee & Cafe is tucked away in Thornes and can be a bit unpredictable in its cookie selection. On the day of this particular cookie tour, Share had a chocolate mint cookie that was gooey in the middle with a delightfully crunchy outer rim. With the help of these crunchy outer bits, the cookie manages to not fall into a small puddle of gooey crumbs. This chocolate mint cookie is a close second in softness and a first in sweetness but lacks the salty component pulling every good cookie together.
and the winner is...
The Roost's Cowgirl
Cowgirl Cookie, The Roost
And finally, while The Roost is consistently pushing boundaries in the world of overpriced noms, they do deliver the softest cookie in Northampton. When asked which was their softest cookie, an employee working the register recommended the cowgirl cookie. A nut-less cookie featuring oats, chocolate chips, raisins and more, the cowgirl cookie is undeniably the softest cookie in town.