Before I came to college, I had no idea that getting freshly baked cookies delivered to your doorstep at 1 am was even a possibility. Now that I’m here, it seems to be the norm with not just one, but two of these delivery services in town, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic about it. Don’t get me wrong, I love my hometown, but Tallahassee has my heart in terms of late night cookie delivery services.
As a bit of background information, I had never actually tried Z Baked or Insomnia Cookies before this experiment, so I wasn’t judging on any prior experiences I have had with either service before. I’m actually pretty disappointed in myself for not having ordered from either of these places sooner since I’m a complete dessert fanatic and I’ve heard such great things about both.
Now, this article is not intended to bash one cookie shop or the other, but I think we can consider this a friendly competition between Z Baked and Insomnia Cookies. Let the games begin.
Round One: Menu
As I ventured onto both websites to place my order on a Sunday around 7:00 pm, I noticed one very distinct feature between the two cookie shops.
In terms of variety and selection of the two menus, Z Baked definitely has the advantage with not only offering cookies, but also donuts, cheesecake, croissants, muffins, and other sweet treats.
Photo by Natalie Schulte
Insomnia’s menu consists mainly of cookies, brownies, and ice cream. I’m definitely not complaining about that, but if you’re looking for a wider variety of desserts to satisfy your sweet tooth, Z Baked is the one you should be ordering from.
Round Two: Price
After I had made my selections on each website it was time for me to pay up.
My total from Z Baked, which included a Chocolate Chip Cookie, an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, a Slutty Brownie, and one Vanilla Sprinkle Donut, totaled $6.46, without tax or tip. Not a bad price for 4 desserts, right?
My order from Insomnia, which consisted of one Chocolate Chunk Cookie and an Oatmeal Raisin Bigwich came out to $6.80 without the tax, shipping, or tip. After shipping and tax, my order totaled $9.30.
Photo by Natalie Schulte
I think that the shipping charge of $1.99 from Insomnia is really what differentiates the two in terms of price since Z Baked doesn’t charge a dime for shipping.
If you’re looking to stay on the more inexpensive side of things, I would stick with Z Baked.
Round Three: Time
If you’re anything like me when you’re craving something sweet, you need it ASAP and anything less than that just won’t do. So obviously I was staring down the clock the entire time I was waiting for my orders to arrive in excited anticipation to devour my treats.
It was about 7:10 by the time I had placed both orders and by 7:20, I heard a knock at my door. I immediately sprung off the couch and scurried to the door, the whole time wondering who was the first one to have made it to my apartment.
Insomnia took the prize for this one. I quickly tipped the delivery girl and ran back to my seat to open the box and admire the beauty of what I had ordered.
I sat waiting until about 7:45 before my order from Z Baked finally arrived, but I was just as excited to sit down, open the lid, and take a look at their tasty desserts too.
Photo by Natalie Schulte
To be fair, I do live much closer to Insomnia Cookies than Z Baked, but still, 10 minutes compared to 35 minutes is a pretty glaring time difference if you ask me. Insomnia has the upper hand in terms of speediness for sure.
Round Four: Taste
The most important part of any food comparison is how tasty the food is. Of course, this part of the experiment is more subjective than the other three rounds, but I still thought I would share my opinion with all of you.
First up, Z Baked. The Slutty Brownie was without a doubt the best thing that I ordered from Z Baked. For starters, it was HUGE and more importantly it was super chocolaty and delicious. The two cookies that I had ordered were okay, but definitely not great, and the donut was your average vanilla sprinkled donut. Good because it was a donut, but not the best one I’ve ever had.
Photo by Natalie Schulte
Next was Insomnia Cookies. I was especially anxious to try the infamous Bigwich since I had heard from many sources that it’s one of the best foods you’ll ever put in your mouth. And those statements are correct. The Bigwich was my favorite dessert that I ordered from both Insomnia and Z Baked that night. Icing between two freshly baked cookies of your choice is the absolute dessert, in my opinion, and Insomnia did this perfectly.
Photo by Natalie Schulte
I then went on to try the Chocolate Chunk Cookie (which was still warm, by the way). This cookie topped both of the cookies from Z Baked for sure. It was much more rich and decadent than the other two which didn’t taste that different from a cookie you could buy from Publix. The Insomnia cookie tasted like a real bakery treat and left me wanting to stuff my face with two or three more.
Photo by Natalie Schulte
Although Insomnia Cookies’ desserts tasted a lot better to me, there are still a couple of downfalls to ordering from there like the limited menu and the steep price. I know that since a lot of college kids are on a pretty tight budget, the $1.99 delivery charge they have could turn a lot of their market away.
Z Baked being in close proximity and offering a lot more budget-friendly prices with no extra delivery cost may add the edge us college kids need to order from there.
Both Z Baked and Insomnia offer options for a wide variety of people in Tallahassee. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer as to which delivery service is better. I think you’ll have to take the plunge and decide for yourself which one seems like the better fit for you and your late night sweet tooth.