As promised, here are some Milk Bar Cookie Photos.
Here’s the first of the Milk Bar Cookie Photos. And you should know that this cookie had a lot of butter!
I carried it back to the hotel on the subway and grease seeped through the bag. By the time we got to Canal street, I couldn’t wait any longer and ripped open the bag. I tried the Cornflake Cookie first. It tasted like browned butter and corn flakes. The edges were a few degrees short of burnt which in this case, made the cookie better. My big issue with this cookie and the others is I fear a homemade version in a non-commercial oven just won’t be the same.
Still, that won’t stop me from trying to clone the cookie which was my favorite — the Compost. Yes, it was a bit sweeter than the others but I did not find it overly so (like a few people have said) and it did have a lot of different things going flavor-wise. I could see how someone would say the flavors were jumbled, but I think the almost whole pretzels and potato chips made the cookies special. I didn’t taste the coffee grounds, which are also (so I’ve heard) part of the cookie.
No complaints about the peanut butter cookie, either. It had enough peanut butter and would probably satisfy a craving, but the other flavors at Milk are so much more interesting this cookie was an afterthought. I don’t even know why I bought it. Oh, wait. Because I love peanut butter. Of the cookies, this would be the easiest to duplicate.
Julie
I’m a longtime fan of yours and live about 2 hours outside NYC. Coincidentally, I took my first trip without kids (I have 2 boys under 4) to the city in almost two years on Weds–the day after you went to Milk Bar. It was my first destination. I was really pleased that I chose the same 3 cookies as you to try–they were out of the corn–and I agree: they are sublime. I can’t wait to go back and try the Arnold Palmer cake and get more cookies! I’ll be sure to try out whatever clone recipe you come up with. I can’t imagine how the OCG’s clone could come close without the coffee grounds.
Louise
Maybe Crack Pie Crust isn’t baked before it’s added to the compost cookie. Maybe some quantity of the raw dough is added to the cookie base. Just a thought.
Katy
there’s another Landmarc in Time Warner, convenient to Bouchon and Levain
Katrina
What a fun cookie with endless possibilities. Just throw it all in there. Next time I have any “leftover” cookie that need used up, I’m throwing them in another cookie. 😉
I like calling Oatmeal Cookie Guy OCG as well. Except that sometimes I think of OCG as obsessive compulsive guy. ha
Anna
Boy, I really need to write a trip report. We ate so much great food! No great pizza though.
Not counting the three nights in CT where the food was okay but not worth writing about, we had meals at Gramercy Tavern, Otto, and Landmarc in Tribeca.
Gramercy Tavern’s food was beyond great (we ate in the casual tavern part).
Otto was probably good, but I couldn’t enjoy the meal because they were playing incredibly loud music like Led Zeppelin and pounding bass rock & roll. I don’t like loud music while I’m eating so I just kind of suffered through the whole meal. We almost left and went over to Babbo, but I didn’t want to do that because teh waitress was so sweet.
My very favorite restaurant was Landmarc in Tribeca. The kids menu was fantastic and the atmosphere was relaxing, cozy and upscale. Food was excellent as well, but I think it was the combination of atmosphere, service and what was on the menu (for dessert, they had ice cream cones and cotton candy!) that made it so great.
Randi
I must visit Milk Bar on our next visit to NYC. Did you have any great pizza? You were so close to Grimaldi’s that I hope you ate there.
Anna
M,
Well, since they’re compost cookies and a compost is about recycling, then coffee grounds make sense. The pretzels probably come from the candy bar pie (they taste roasted) and I think the cookies might even have bits of crack pie crust baked in. Maybe that’s where the oats are hidden. It might be fun to bake up the oat crust as written below (crack pie recipes are already on the Internet), crunch up the crust, then add it to the cookie batter.
Crack Pie Crust
Oat Crust
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light-brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix together above ingredients. Spread in an even layer on a sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until golden. Cool on a rack. Crumble in a bowl and stir in ingredients below. Press into 2 pie plates.
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon light-brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
To make it as a pie crust, crumble it up in a bowl, pour in butter, brown sugar and salt. toss until crumbly and press into 2 10 inch pie plates.
HeartofGlass
Why would someone add coffee grounds to a cookie, btw–for texture? (As opposed to instant coffee, for flavor).
BTW, I’m not sure if you posted it elsewhere (you can delete it if it is redundant, but here is the menu for you readers to drool over 😉
http://www.momofuku.com/bakery/bakery%20menu.asp)
Kimberly
Thanks for the pics! I can’t WAIT to get to NYC and try these!
Lisa Ernst
Thanks for the cookie review. I was just in NYC last month, and my two cookie destinations were Jacques Torres and Levain, being a CCC lover. My favorite cookie of all was one I didn’t even buy (a friend let me try hers). It was the JT chocolate chocolate chunk cookie. Perfect ratio of chocolate discs to cookie and not too sweet. I’ll have to try Milk Bar next time. There’s a review on a blog for ice cream sandwiches in NYC and that may be my next mission when I’m there. 🙂
clumbsycookie
I’m having breakfast and drooling at the pictures and at the though of all those flavours together! Come home Anna and start working, lol!
Ps- The cookies are quite cheap then, aren’t they? I mean, compared with other cookies in NY…
Anna
Thanks for the link. I’m pretty sure Serious Eats is what sparked my interest in the first place.
I think I paid $4.52 for three cookies.
Katrina
Thanks for the photos! I read something (in my interest and hunting) that the Compost cookie does have oats in it.
So fun to taste and test!
In my earlier hunt to find pictures, I found these at Serious Eats which has pictures of just about everything they serve at Milk Bar, if anyone is interested. Some dang yummy stuff.
When do you come home, Anna?
http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2008/11/momofuk-bakery-and-milk-bar-its-damn-good-east-village-nyc.html
Oh and just wondering, what is the price for one cookie? Just comparing.