Craving Cookies

Still no baby. And at 1 cm, even Friday (my due date) is looking unlikely at this point. However, I can't complain too much. Being pregnant has come with an intense craving for chocolate chip cookies, and I don't think I could live in a better place for fulfilling that craving! I found a list of the 11 best chocolate chip cookies in New York (visit the list here). Hannah and I have made it to most of the bakeries on the list, plus some very important additional places. Not all of our trips have been successful (Almondine was closed since their owners went on holiday for the summer, Blue Ribbon Bakery was out of cookies, and Yura on Madison was 11th and therefore has been lowest priority but will still be visited at some point). I have opinions on all of them (I won't bore you with my full list), but here are some of our favorites:

Jacques Torres (the famous chocolatier) makes the best cookie in the world!! Somehow this cookie didn't make the top 11 list (it must not have been included in the judging, otherwise it would have taken the prize!). The chocolate is incredible and the cookie is perfectly balanced.


Alice's Tea Cup provides a great cookie in an adorable environment! Perfectly chewy and delicious.
Levain makes an amazing chocolate chip cookie (which could feed you for 4 days), but it's the chocolate peanut butter chip cookie that won my heart at this bakery.
Max Brenner is also known for his chocolate, but this chocolate chip cookie was also high on the list. It was really good but had a few too many walnuts for me. Sorry for the sideways picture from my phone.
Milk and Cookies also didn't make the top 11, but we had to try it out since we'd heard great things. I really loved it (and so did Hannah!) - it's somehow crispy and chewy at the same time, and I really like the oat flavor.
Always the sign of a great chocolate chip cookie!
Chocolate chip cookies have been foremost in my mind, but there are a few honorable mentions in the treats category. We celebrated Adalyn Kerr's first day of school with an AMAZING dark chocolate cupcake from Sprinkles. I'm not really into cupcakes, but these are so good that I almost understood the cupcake craze!
Dylan's Candy Bar is a fun place near the tram and makes Hannah run around like crazy! Here she is cheesing it up at the bulk bins.
Barilla hosted a great exhibit in Central Park, featuring great Italian cooking activities, recipes, and workshops. Hannah and her friend Lucas made pasta necklaces and homemade pasta.
Eating yummy samples
The most exciting part of the day was a cooking workshop with Scott Conant (a Food Network chef). The class was great, but best of all, I won the raffle at the end! My prize was $100 gift card to Scott's famous restaurant Scarpetta in the Meatpacking District!!! Perfect for a date night after the baby is born (when I have room to eat a big meal again!).
Another great treat was a surprise baby celebration my friends threw for me (thanks for planning it all, Kimber and Emily!). It was fun to be with everyone and the cake from Crumbs was amazing!