As a true sweets lover, I have always heard that Insomnia Cookies was the way to go when craving a late-night treat in college. (I mean, warm cookie delivery? I think yes!) But after arriving at Wash U, I started to hear rumblings about Hotbox Cookies as well.
In order to end the debate once and for all, I decided to sit down and compare the two brands head to head. I've compiled my findings here so that no one else has to face this difficult dilemma all by themselves.
First impressions...
Insomnia Cookies
Insomnia has the monopoly on customer ease. They are open (and offer cookies for delivery) until 3 am every day of the week, with a delivery minimum of just $6.
With both a website and an app, ordering from Insomnia is a super quick and easy process. The cookies are offered in mostly standard flavors, but each one has that amazing homemade, straight-from-the-oven texture and taste.
If you like cookies that are thin, soft and melt in your mouth, go ahead and stop reading now, because Insomnia is the place to go.
Hotbox Cookies
Hotbox offers a less intuitive ordering process than Insomnia. The website has some glitches, and you have to spend at least $12 on cookies before they will deliver. The hours are also slightly more limited: they close at midnight Sunday - Thursday and 2 am Friday - Saturday.
That said, Hotbox's flavors are definitely more creative. If you're feeling adventurous and prefer thick, rich cookies, then Hotbox is the right cookie shop for you.
How I Taste-Tested Each Brand
In order to get to the heart of Insomnia and Hot Box, I sampled a variety of cookies from each place with my suite mates. We rated each one on a scale out of 5 points (1 being the lowest) on the categories of texture, ratio of dough to topping, melt-in-your-mouth factor and overall flavor.
Finally, we added up all the points and made a ranking of flavors for each brand. I recognize that not everyone wants to eat the same kind of cookie, so we aimed to make the judging category-specific.
Insomnia: Rankings
1. Sugar Cookie
The Insomnia version of the sugar cookie was definitely everyone's favorite. Because a sugar cookie does not contain any fillings or toppings, we eliminated the ratio category for this one. All I have to say about this cookie is that you just have to try it.
Texture: 5
Ratio: n/a
Melt Factor: 5
Overall Flavor: 5
Total: 15/15
2. Peanut Butter Chip
This one was a bit of a surprise, considering it was difficult to ascertain from pure observation what the flavor even was. I'm not generally that into peanut butter cookies, but I would still categorize this as a definite success.
Texture: 4.5
Ratio: 3.5
Melt Factor: 5
Overall Flavor: 4.5
Total: 17.5/20
3. Snickerdoodle
I think everyone expected to absolutely love this cookie, and yet it didn't quite live up to my expectations. That said, it was a pretty damn good bite if you're looking for a super sweet, non-chocolate option.
Texture: 4
Ratio (cinnamon to dough): 3
Melt Factor: 4
Overall Flavor: 4
Total: 15/20
4. Chocolate Chip
Such a classic. Technically, this tied with the snickerdoodle, but I think that a cookie store should be able to completely ace a chocolate chip cookie to be worth the trip. Because Insomnia simply did not, I gave the snickerdoodle the upper hand.
Texture: 3
Ratio: 4
Melt Factor: 4
Overall Flavor: 4
Total: 15/20
5. Double Chocolate Chunk
One of my taste testers is a chocolate fanatic, and she definitely wanted to rate this one higher than the rest of us—especially in the ratio category, since we thought the chocolate was too overwhelming (while she was adamant that that was the point).
Texture: 3
Ratio: 2
Melt Factor: 3
Overall Flavor: 4
Total: 12/20
Hotbox: Rankings
1. Chocolate White Chocolate
This one was a better version of a super chocolatey option. The intense chocolate flavor of the chocolate cookie with chocolate chunks was cut a little bit by the addition of white chocolate chips. Solid move.
Texture: 4
Ratio: 3.5
Melt Factor: 4.5
Overall Flavor: 4
Total: 16/20
2. Chocolate Chip
Again, I was truly disappointed that the classic chocolate chip cookie was not hit-out-of-the-park good. But still, this was a perfectly acceptable cookie.
Texture: 3.5
Ratio: 3.5
Melt Factor: 3
Overall Flavor: 3.5
Total: 13.5/20
3. Peanut Butter Reeses
It's unclear whether peanut butter chip cookies are just difficult to accomplish or whether these two versions just need more work, but this one from Hotbox managed only an average score.
Texture: 4
Ratio: 2.5
Melt Factor: 3
Overall Flavor: 3
Total: 12.5/20
4. Red Velvet
Sounds like a pretty creative idea, right? Maybe not all red velvet cookies taste like bland, disappointing nothingness—but this one did. I mean, how close can a cookie come to imitating this delicious cake flavor after all?
Texture: 3.5
Ratio: 2
Melt Factor:
Overall Flavor: 1.5
Total: 11/20
5. M&M
I am a big fan of M&M cookies. When baked correctly, the candy shell gives you just enough crunch to add interesting texture and the chocolate inside melts in your mouth immediately. Sadly, these were not even close to perfection.
Texture: 1
Ratio: 4
Melt Factor: 2
Overall Flavor: 3
Total: 10/20
6. Snickerdoodle
I added a sixth cookie to this list because the Hotbox version of the Snickerdoodle was truly awful. 10/10 would not recommend. Please don't get your hopes up about eating a cookie and then order this because it will kill your dreams.
Texture: 2
Ratio (cinnamon to dough): 1
Melt Factor: 1
Overall Flavor: 1
Total: 5/20
Grande Finale
Clearly, Insomnia won. We did sample some other flavors (Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Cookies & Cream) from Hotbox, solely because I was forced to order more, and it's a crime to waste fresh cookies.
I didn't include those reviews because they fell squarely in the middle of the pack—not too memorable, not too horrible, just very eh. Moral of the story is that Hotbox has not quite gotten its act together yet. I have hope for the future, but for now: Insomnia all the way.