My dad’s alias is the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street. Seriously, if there’s dessert in the house it’ll be gone by morning. Just ask my birthday cake from my sixteenth birthday. But cookies are always his favorite, and of course, his affinity for this confection has passed onto his two daughters, my sister and myself. So, pour yourself a cold glass of milk, because here’s a roundup of some of the best cookies in LA.
1. Beverlywood Bakery
Speaking of my dad, he’s a former New Yorker-turned LA transfer who takes particular pride in finding bakeries that serve up the cookies he loved growing up with on Long Island. Beverlywood Bakery is it. He’ll bring their signature pink boxes home all the time filled with black & white cookies, you know the ones, rugelach, marzipan, and cookies with rainbow sprinkles, of course! Located in Beverly Hills, on the border of West Hollywood, hit up Beverylwood to find all those traditional cookies you’d ever want from an old-fashioned deli.
2. Dolce Isola
If you’ve ever gone to the Ivy and received one of their little goody bags of chocolate chip cookies at the end of your meal, you may have wondered where on Earth those chocolatey and nutty treats came from. Well, it’s not from the kitchen in the back!
They hail from Dolce Isola on Robertson, the Ivy’s resident bakery. While you can also feast upon omelettes and sandwiches at the locale just a few blocks from the 10, I’d highly recommend their baked goods section. Hello, it’s not called a bakery for nothing. Their famous chocolate chip cookies are an obvious favorite, but the seasonal pumpkin cookies are not to miss either. They even gave us all the ones they had left when we went in one day, free of charge. Now THAT’s service, if you ask me.
3. Milk
There’s the ice cream sandwich, and then there’s the macaron ice cream sandwich. Milk is the go-to place for these babies in the LA area, a pistachio one featured above. But they’ve also got other delicious ones like red velvet. In addition to their macaron cookies, they’ve also got an entire bakeshop dedicated to cookies including chocolate chip (with or without walnuts), red velvet chocolate chip, oatmeal with dried fruit, snowcap, ooey gooey double chocolate, peanut butter, molasses, oreo, and snickerdoodles. Beware of a busy night like Friday or Saturday though–the line will most likely be crazy.
4. Viktor Benês Bakery at Gelson’s
A favorite of mine since my days as a little tyke, Viktor Benês knows how to attract a youngster’s attention. Their frosted shortbread cookies with beautiful and colorful designs were all the rage with every kid in my neighborhood. They had frosted dolphins, flowers, rainbows, smiley faces, and more. And they are consistently delicious. Plus, they even gave us kids free sprinkle cookies (either chocolate or vanilla). Who wouldn’t love Viktor Benês? You can certainly find some of the best cookies in LA at Gelson’s.
5. Gjusta
Gjusta is a hotspot of Venice, which of course made me want to venture over when I was working in that area last semester. On my roommate’s recommendation, I tried the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie and was NOT disappointed.
In case oatmeal is more your poison than your pleasure, rest assured, they have other assorted cookies like double chocolate, sprinkled sugar, and peanut butter depending on the day. They’ve got other baked goods too, naturally, including financiers, pies, cakes, and brownies in case you want something else in addition to your snazzy Venice cookie.
6. Gjelina and/or GTA
I knew I’d love this place when I saw they used the British form of “to-go”: “take-away.” Gjelina and its take-away option, GTA, are situated right along uber trendy street, and home of First Fridays, Abbot Kinney. Their dessert options are top-notch. Their cookies are baked fresh daily, and their chocolate chippers are thin but have that melty chocolate goodness we all can appreciate on a cool Venice morning.
7. Huckleberry Bakery and Café
Truth be told, all of Huckleberry’s baked goods look insane. I ate there with my friend last semester and we both could not decide what to try for a solid 15 minutes because we were so overwhelmed by all the sweet joy our eyes were beholding. Although they’re not technically a cookie, their maple bacon scones brought me right back to my days living as an expat in London last semester. Oh how I’ve been missing my favorite London bakery Gail’s.
But back to Huckleberry, I love how they offer traditional but also seasonal flavors of cookies, with the staples of chocolate chip and peanut butter but also gingerbread. If you want one of the best cookies in LA from one of the best bakeries in LA with a a staff that doesn’t mind if you struggle to choose something to order because everything just looks too good, Huckleberry is the spot.
8. Urth Caffé
Yes, I know, I know I could sing the praises of Urth Caffé all day. And frankly, I already have. But their cookies are huge monstrosities that would most definitely have the Cookie Monster wanting to chow down. They’ve got chocolate chip, of course, triple chocolate chunk, chocolate chunk pecan, oatmeal-raisin, and more. What are you waiting for? I’ve been sitting here at my Urth table sipping on my matcha latte for over an hour already.
9. Sweet Butter Kitchen
Sweet Butter Kitchen was THE after school hangout everybody went to in between the time when the last bell rang and our after school rehearsals and practices started. But now, it’s just a sugar-filled sanctum that I choose to visit whenever I’m home.
Sweet Butter has every baked good imaginable and in such cool combinations: crème brûlée cheesecake, chocolate croissant bread pudding, and don’t, don’t even get me started on their pancakes. But we can’t forget, of course, some of the best cookies in LA made with their oh-so-sweet butter (get it?). They’ve got the s’mores variety, as seen above, freshly-made chocolate chip, macarons, gluten-free and vegan options like peanut butter. Another awesome tid-bit: because the café is set up like a mini-market, you can buy their cookie dough in their freezer section!
10. CREAM
Known as “where you go post-Blaze” at USC, since it’s right next door to the Chipotle of pizza, CREAM is the SF ice cream parlor we never knew we wanted but are so grateful to have now. They serve up mix-and-match ice cream sandwiches, choco-tacos, and the straight out of the oven cookies a la carte. Standout flavors include carnival (with M&M’s!), snickerdoodle, and turtle. They’ve also got gluten-free and vegan options too, like “Chocolate Banana Bliss,” “Fudging Awesome,” and “Oatmeal Me Crazy.” Might have to order one of those just for the names alone.
11. Diddy Riese
I’ve got to give it to UCLA, Diddy Riese is the ORIGINAL college ice cream sandwich hotspot in LA. Even as a kid, I’d wait online with my parents post-dinner in Westwood to get my snickerdoodle on. And ALL the cool kids in elementary school would bring these for our homeroom snack times. Their cookies are thick like little mini cakes and have large, chocolate chunks if you get chocolate chip or white chocolate macadamia nut. Plus, you get serious bang for your buck: one cookie is 50 cents. A half dozen is $2.50. I’m sold.
12. Bottega Louie
Located in a former bank smack dab in DTLA, Bottega Louie is the high-ceiling, glamorous Italian restaurant SC kids go to for a lovely dinner when their parents are in town or for a swanky brunch with their friends on the weekends. They’ve got pasta, pizza (the Tartufo with the drizzly egg ~ooh~), and lasagna, but they’re most known for their dainty, pastel-colored boxes filled with macarons. Their rainbow assortment of macarons are by far some of the best cookies in LA, but my personal favorite is the “Birthday Cake,” which tastes just like the frosted circus animal cookies that were always stocked in your pantry as a kid.
13. Valerie Confections
Enter Grand Central Market in DTLA, skip Eggslut, pass go, and right next door you’ll find Valerie Confections. Their version of a chocolate chip cookie, the Durango, is crunchy on the outside but chewy and gooey on the inside. In addition to the buttery texture, you’ll find roasted almonds, cocoa nibs, and a pinch of Durango hickory smoked salt. Basically, one of the most artisanal versions of a chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had the pleasure to encounter.
Hopefully you’ve finished up that glass of milk by now and are reaching for your keys to head to one of these lovely bakeries that serves one of the best cookies in LA. Hey, embrace it. Cookies are a very important food group and an essential part of anyone’s diet. Just ask the Cookie Monster.