Lexington’s best chocolate chip cookies: Soft, chewy comfort food that ‘feels like a hug’
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OK, how about an easy question? Do you want a chocolate chip cookie?
Like, the best chocolate chip cookie you will find in Lexington.
No-brainer, right? Who wouldn’t want a classic, traditional fresh baked sweet? It’s the go-to comfort food dessert.
With so many variations on the traditional chocolate chip cookie, I offer two as the best you will find in Lexington.
Everyone has an opinion of how the cookie should be — chewy, cakey, soft, flat or thick.
So here are two options, both equally worthy of your money, and both qualifying as the best thing I ate this week.
Wild Lab Bakery co-owner Chapi Johnson put it best: Their cookie “feels like a special treat,” while Olive’s Apron Bakery & Tea Shop’s cookie “feels like a hug.”
Lexington’s best flat chocolate chip cookie
If a soft and chewy cookie is what you need to bring back childhood memories of fresh-baked deliciousness, then head over to National Avenue. At Wild Lab Bakery, married owners and bakers Chapi Johnson and Andrew McGraw often sell out of their chocolate chip + sea salt cookie ($3).
Don’t get fooled by first looks — you’re going to think this cookie will be hard and crunchy. But it’s definitely a chocolate chip cookie at its finest if you prefer flat, chewy ones.
So, what’s the secret to its tender tastiness?
“We just try to use really high-quality ingredients for every step,” Johnson said, noting the use of einkorn flour in the cookie recipe they created.
Johnson said they brown the butter for the cookies, which brings out a caramel flavor profile, and they use both kinds of organic chocolate. “We typically prefer dark chocolate, but do recognize that milk chocolate is more friendly to most people, and so having a mix of both is just a nice treat,” Johnson said.
And what goes best with sweet? Salty, of course.
A sprinkle of Maldon Sea Salt Flakes takes this perfect cookie to another level.
“I think that’s something else that draws people to the cookies — that sea salt on the top,” Johnson said.
Johnson and McGraw were surprised at how popular the cookie became when they opened their bakery five years ago after selling at the Lexington Farmers Market.
“We didn’t know people were so crazy about chocolate chip cookies,” Johnson said. “We also have a peanut butter cookie sometimes, but the chocolate chip is the cookie that everyone wants, and people come just for that cookie.”
You can also buy the chocolate chip + sea salt cookies — and their naturally leavened sourdough and bagels — at the Lexington Farmers Market.
Wild Lab Bakery
Where: 819 National Ave.
Hours: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Sat. (Rarely open until 6 p.m. because they sell out); Lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wed.-Fri.
Online: wildlabbakery.com
Lexington’s best big, chunky chocolate chip cookie
If you’re craving a dense but soft and chewy treat, Olive’s Apron Bakery & Tea Shop on Rosemont Garden will fill you up.
Self-taught baker Ashley Crossen’s chocolate chip cookie ($3) will make your eyes, and your mouth, open wide when you see its size.
The cake-like cookie has a great mouthfeel, is surprisingly soft and you can tell it’s made from scratch.
“My motto here is that we don’t do tiny, dainty desserts. If you want that, then this is not the place for you. We do chunky, hearty, home-baked stuff,” Crossen said. “So if you come in here, you’re gonna get your money’s worth. It’s gonna be a big serving.”
It’s not an overpowering sweet cookie in the traditional sense, but it makes up for that with a decadent buttery taste.
“Oh my gosh, there’s so much butter,” Crossen laughed.
How much butter? The recipe she came up with through trial and error calls for four pounds of butter for 100 of her popular cookies.
Since her local bakery opened Sept. 1, 2022, the chocolate chip cookie has been her No. 1 seller. Crossen attributes their popularity to consistency.
“You know that when you come in here and you get a chocolate chip cookie, it’s going to be the same every time.”
This has allowed her to use the base recipe in other popular and tasty cookies like s’mores (made with graham crackers, chocolate chunks and marshmallows) and FunFetti (full of rainbow sprinkles). A 10-inch-wide, two-inch-deep chocolate chip cookie cake is also available ($38).
Corssen was surprised how well her traditional chocolate chip cookie sold, and it’s the one item she makes sure to have enough of.
“People come in and they want comfort food. And, I mean, what’s more comforting than a big chocolate chip cookie?”
Olive’s Apron Bakery & Tea Shop
Where: 223 Rosemont Garden
Hours: 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Fri.; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat.-Sun.
Online: olivesapron.com
This story was originally published February 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
