Serving sweet treats baked fresh to perfection for over a decade, Midnight Cookies on Southwest 34th Street offers 15 different flavors of cookies for students and residents all over Gainesville.
Founder and CEO, Jon, and his wife opened the bakery after she baked him one of her specialty cookies and brought it to his work to try.
From that point forward, Jon knew he and his wife had a business opportunity on their hands, and they opened the bakeshop sometime between 2010 and 2011. Noticing that cupcakes dominated the dessert business of Gainesville, they thought, “What better to bring different to the city than cookies?”
Spoon UF went to Midnight Cookies last weekend and tried eight of their flavors, including some vegan ones! So, here is my ranking of what we had to try at Midnight Cookies, from good to absolutely divine:
#8 - Oatmeal Chocolate Chip (Vegan)
Coming in at eighth place is one of Midnight Cookies’ featured specials. At first glance, the dough did not seem as risen as it was in the other cookies, but we knew the taste is what really counted.
Breaking into the inside of the cookie, there was not much noticeable appearance of oatmeal. Upon giving it a bite, there was not much taste of it either.
To be completely honest, if you told me this was an ordinary chocolate chip cookie, I would believe you. Although not-bad tasting, nothing about it stood out as particularly oatmeal or vegan.
#7 - Red Velvet
Just beating out the vegan oatmeal chocolate chip is its fellow featured flavor, red velvet. The base of the cookie had a beautiful red velvet color to it and was baked with sweet white chocolate chips.
Although the cookie did have a nice chocolate flavor that I appreciated, it was sort of boring considering it is a featured flavor for Midnight Cookies this month.
To better mimic the sensation of a classic red velvet cake, I think a topping of some cream cheese frosting would have done the trick.
#6 - Chocolate Cookie Crunch (Vegan)
The next cookie on our list is another vegan option Midnight Cookies has to offer — the chocolate cookie crunch.
This cookie was made with a chocolate base and topped with white chocolate chips and crushed pieces of Oreo cookies.
I was genuinely impressed with how closely the dough tasted to an actual Oreo, and the Oreo topping was certainly a nice touch, but I wish there was an element of frosting involved or more Oreos.
This ranks No. 6 not because it was bad, but because there were others that were simply better,
#5 - Snickerdoodle
Coming in at No. 5 is your classic snickerdoodle cookie. This was your standard sugar cookie topped with cinnamon sugar seasoning.
What I liked about this cookie was that it was not overpoweringly sweet, and I liked how Midnight Cookies made it different by topping it with cinnamon sugar rather than baking it into the cookie.
This was the most basic of the cookies we tried, but its flavor definitely did not disappoint.
#4 - The Midnight Cookie
The next cookie in the middle of the pack is the Midnight cookie. A chocolate cookie topped with a drizzle of homemade chocolate frosting and dark, milk and white chocolate chips, this is definitely a chocolate lover’s dream.
While the dough was rich and chocolatey, I did not get much of the flavor from – or even the appearance of – the chocolate chips in the cookie.
#3 - S’mores
Following the midnight cookie is the classic s’mores. This chocolate chip cookie was absolutely elevated by the melted marshmallow on top.
The gooey toasted marshmallow was the only thing I thought made this cookie s’mores. We unfortunately were missing the piece of Hershey chocolate bar that is supposed to come on top, and I did not get much graham cracker flavor either. Nevertheless, it was still a pretty darn good cookie.
#2 - Dirt Cookie
Hitting second place on our list and another one for the chocoholics out there is the dirt cookie. This was another one with a chocolate base, Oreos and chocolate chips but with a twist – a topping of chocolate pudding.
The chocolate pudding was a delicious reminder of a childhood favorite treat, and the good thing about it was that they did not skimp on it either!
The only thing missing from this delectable dirt cookie was some gummy worms!
#1 - Bananas Foster (Vegan)
And coming in at No.1, the cream of the crop, the best of the best at Midnight Cookies is….bananas foster! And it’s vegan!
Everything about this cookie was banana – from the banana-flavored base to the thinly sliced caramelized bananas on top.
As a banana lover, I may be a bit biased, but the bananas in combination with the accents of brown sugar made for one truly rich and delicious dessert. And it’s healthy too, right?
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, nothing we tried at Midnight Cookies was disappointing. Everything came out fresh and warm, and most importantly, was baked with time and love.
So, the next time you are deep into a study session, go on and treat yourself to a taste of Midnight Cookies – because they deliver, too!