Insomnia Cookies Oatmeal Raisin / Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

The things I must do for this blog

The Attraction

I've been hearing a lot about these cookies, so when I was finally within striking distance to try some, it was time to see if it lived up to all the hype.

The Review:
One of the many wonderful things of living in NYC is having access to all these varieties of food at a given time. Due to the large population here, it always makes us an attractive area for new and upcoming food-related companies to consider opening a new location at. This is also the case with Insomnia Cookies.

Although they have a bunch of locations here, I came across one within walking distance from my office. First I heard about how their company came to be and then I ran into a very excited women going down the elevator to pickup a order she placed. After that run-in, I thought to myself, "Can it really be that good?"

Come to daddy

When I walked into the very small storefront and placed my order after peering at the menu, the woman taking my order opened a warming drawer at the front counter and pulled my requested cookies out. Whoa...that's a nice touch. Previous to that, I had only been to a place that would warm up cookies for you, after they had been out for a bit.

I decided to go with my favorite cookie, an oatmeal raisin cookie and a "deluxe" cookie; the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup cookie, as the second course. I really planned to only get one, but I love peanut butter, so I couldn't resist. What made this cookie a "deluxe" was the size. It's about double the size of their standard cookie (also about double the cost), but both sat nice and warm in my hand as I took them back to my office to have a "private moment" with.

Mmbrrmr

I take the oatmeal raisin cookie out first and I could already tell it was going to be good; in addition to being warm, it was nice and soft. I've never really been a fan of crispy cookies, so they really had my attention now. I take a bite and it's reminds me of the type of cookie that has a homemade recipe, but executed by professionals. It's a good cookie with just the right ratio of plump raisins to cookie dough. What I love about oatmeal raisin cookies is it's simplicity. There's no flash, no fancy ingredients to take your eyes or taste buds off of. It's just you and the cookie. It doesn't overwhelm you with sweetness and doesn't take you on a flavor roller coaster. Which interestingly, is a direct contrast to my second cookie course.

Looks like a delicious chocolate growth

As simple as the oatmeal raisin cookie was, the peanut butter cup cookie was like it's bigger, brasher bolder, meth-addicted cousin. It's physically larger then the standard size cookie and it has a larger grouping of it's ingredients, in this case, peanut butter cup, in it. All of which, I assume, made it a "deluxe" cookie on Insomnias's menu. I break off a piece of the cookie and I was greeted with smooth peanut butter flavor incorporated into the dough. That on it's own was very good. Where it goes off the rails in a meth-filled frenzy is when you get to the pb cup portion.

The chunks are so big and poorly distributed that it completely wipes out the the smoothness of the peanut butter in the cookie dough and you are greeted with a raunchy intermission act between the first and second half of Shrek. It's like eating a peanut butter cookie and then picking up a peanut butter cup and then taking a bite; sounds good on paper, but the reality isn't nearly as subtle as one might think. I wish Insomnia made a plain peanut butter cookie, but be it as it may, they don't and if their oatmeal raisin cookie was Ohio, this peanut butter cup cookie was Las Vegas.

I had to take this quick before gravity
broke this cookie....again

The Sweet:
These are delivered deliciously warm from a "warming counter".

The Bitter:
Their deluxe cookies are decadent to the max.

Conclusion:
Now, decadence isn't necessarily a bad thing, but for me, I think what a makes a snack great is the ability to ride that fine line between being satisfying, yet leaving you wanting for more. If you like to leave your snack exchange without feeling like you overdid it, I would try to limit your selection to something in the standard cookie category. Having that deluxe cookie, as much as I enjoyed the peanut butter portion, it left that, I-think-I-had-too-many-Krispy-Kremes-feeling (somewhere between piggish and insulin shotville).

Keep it to the standard and you will be rewarded with a cookie that brings the great homemade fresh out of the oven feel without the mess.

Video of the Week 

They are back! (Sorta)

I'm a little late to the game, but I recently discovered this new track by Johnny Gill. As cool as Johnny is, the real draw is the reunion of New Edition with him on this single after no new material by them since 2004. If you are a fan of NE like I am, this is great news. The song is old school awesome and they still have their dance moves. Somehow I don't look as good them when I do the steps in the shower.