All the Cookies You Should Be Eating in Philly Right Now
K’Far’s tahini chocolate chip cookie / Photograph by Michael Persico
When is the wrong time for a cookie? Never. But our cravings kick into high gear in the summer when we have picnics and beach snacks to pack, hikes to fuel, and late-afternoon park hangs to savor. Here’s our list of the spots to snag a cookie in the city.
K’Far Cafe, Rittenhouse Square
The brown butter chocolate chip cookies are a good reminder that K’Far is, first and foremost, a bakery. They do savory food well, but it all starts with the sweet stuff. Order these buttery babies on their own or in a duo with a pistachio-toffee cookie. Both have a sprinkle of fancy sea salt on top.
Crust Vegan Bakery, multiple locations
Remember those squishy-soft supermarket sugar cookies with the neon frosting that taste exclusively like sugar and chemicals? Crust does their own version of those cookies, but vegan, with actual flavor, and without cloying sweetness.
Essen Bakery, East Passyunk and opening soon in Kensington
There’s a lot to love at Essen Bakery: bagels, babka, rugelach, the list goes on. But the black-and-white cookies, which are a staple of Jewish bakeries across the Northeast, are exceptional. The cookie is perfectly cakey and scented with orange zest. The frostings are rich, flavored with dark chocolate and vanilla bean, for that perfect color split. And a Kensington location is opening any day now.
Isgro Pastries, Bella Vista
Pignoli are a classic Italian Christmas cookie, but they’re perfect for year-round consumption. The dough is made mostly from almond paste, which bakes up to something like a super-nutty meringue. The layer of pine nuts on the outside keeps the cookie from being too sweet. Pair these chewy delights with one of Isgro’s signature, Best of Philly-winning light and airy lemon-ricotta cookies.
An assortment of Insomnia Cookies. / Photograph courtesy of Insomnia Cookies
Insomnia Cookies, multiple locations
Ever since starting out as a cookie delivery service at Penn, Insomnia Cookies has reimagined the cookie experience. Yes, they will still deliver warm, freshly baked cookies, but stopping by their shops for a Cookie’wich ice cream sandwich or visiting the Insomnia Cookie Lab to design your own cookie is just as fun.
ICI Macarons & Cafe, Old City
Macarons are a cookie that is really better left to the pros, and ICI specializes in these fancy French treats. Favorite flavors include lemon-lavender or cassis and fig, but don’t skip the seasonal specialties.
Jezabel’s Cafe, University City
Jezabel Careaga makes alfajores fresh daily in her West Philly cafe. The Argentinean cookies, which are two crumbly, shortbread-like cookies sandwiched around a generous portion of dulce de leche, are also available for local delivery.
Manakeesh Cafe Bakery & Grill, University City
Ma’amoul cookies are popular across the Middle East for holidays and celebrations, but at Manakeesh you can get these buttery, semolina-based cookies any time. Pick between versions stuffed with dates, pistachios or walnuts — or do yourself a favor and get all three.
Lost Bread Co.’s pretzel shortbread cookies. / Photograph courtesy of Lost Bread Co.
Lost Bread Co., multiple locations
A few of years ago New York Magazine caused a dust-up when they called Lost Bread’s pretzel shortbread cookie the best cookie in New York. Since it is, of course, made in Philadelphia, people were pissed and a lot of Internet arguments ensued. New York aside, these crumbly, salty cookies are some of the best in this city, and we’re happy to see them for sale across the city at spots like Riverwards, Weavers Way, and more.
Machine Shop Boulangerie, East Passyunk
Machine Shop focuses mostly on French-style baked goods, but they also happen to have an excellent chocolate chip cookie.
Mighty Bread, East Passyunk
Mighty Bread adds a sprinkle of rye flour to their chocolate chip cookie, which gives it a nutty, almost grown-up thing about it.
Roling’s Bakery, Elkins Park
Get your classic cookies at this Jewish bakery just outside the city limits. The nostalgia factor here is high, with black and white cookies, fudgy chocolate drops, chocolate chip, shortbread, fruit-filled, and more sweet treats from sepia-tone childhood days. They open at 6 a.m. Classic, indeed.
Sam Shaw’s Treatery, Queen Village
This pretty South Street gift shop has turned heads with its signature Crookie, a croissant cookie combo, but when Sam Shaw revived the original Koffmeyer’s Cookies recipe, the uber-fresh, scratch-made cookies became an instant cult favorite. So much so that they will ship them nationwide.
Rose and pistachio shortbread cookies. / Photograph by Eric Schaeffer
Cake Life, Fishtown
Cake is the name of the game, but the shop that’s made several birthday cakes for Beyoncé also makes slamming cookies. They’ve got variations of classic chocolate chip cookies including a vegan double chocolate chip, but their shortbread cookies are irresistibly buttery.
Famous 4th Street, Queen Village
There’s nothing like a black-and-white cookie when you’ve just summited the mountain that is Famous 4th Street’s overstuffed pastrami sandwich. They’re massive, easy to share, and perfectly cakey.
Madison K Cookies, Northern Liberties
If you can dream it, Madison K can turn it into a cookie. This cookie artist will create custom designs for any occasion whether it be a Taylor Swift listening party or a Wawa-themed baby shower.
Second Daughter Baking Co., East Passyunk
When sisters Rhonda Saltzman and Mercedes Brooks were kids they used to experiment with their baking by combining whatever sweet treats were around them to create the most indulgent desserts. Today, they’re just as imaginative with all of their baked goods, especially with their cookie concoctions: the Nutella Dark and Milky, studded with walnuts; maple snickerdoodles; and the Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Jawns, just to name a few.
