Food Face-Off: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
The oatmeal raisin cookie may seem humble, with its wholesome ingredients and after-school-snack connotations, but in truth it's an incredibly contentious snack. The presence of raisins alone can tear families apart. But for those who don't see the devil himself in the tiny dried grapes, these cookies are the perfect comfort food. The battle doesn't end at raisins, so to keep everything even, we went for chewy (as opposed to crispy) cookies for this particular face-off.
Cookie #1: Buying cookies from DeLuscious is a bit of an ordeal -- not only is there a flight of stairs to walk up (gotta work for those cookies), but they must be pre-ordered, at least a dozen at a time.* Which is fine, as it's mainly a delivery service. But now that I've had their oatmeal raisin cookies, I'll be wanting them quite frequently. This might get expensive. The product is quite heavenly here. These taste like Christmas. And skinny dipping in August. And any other good memories. It's not an exceptionally sweet cookie, which is great: all the other spices contained within really shine.
Cookie #2: Over in Eagle Rock, Auntie Em's fills the neighborhood bakery/meeting point role nicely. It's an adorable little spot. The cinnamon raisin cookie here is quite good, too, with with a butter, toasty flavor, putting one in mind of, as it happens, cinnamon raisin toast. They use golden raisin here, which is a nice touch, but they can be almost overwhelmingly sweet when you get a bite full of them. Still ... buttery; toasty.
The Final Verdict: All things being equal, the winner is ... DeLuscious! The cookies really are an absolute dream. But we understand that not every cookie craving calls for a full dozen. In which case, Auntie Em's cookies won't make your mouth sad in the least.
DeLuscious Cookies + Milk
829 N. Highland Ave., 323-460-2370
Auntie Em's Kitchen
4616 Eagle Rock Blvd., 323-255-0800
[Photos by Amy Tierney]
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*DeLuscious would like everyone to know that if you happen to pass by and want to stop in for less than a dozen cookies ... they won't let you leave empty-handed!