Sometimes, the best treats are waiting in the grocery store bakery

The best thing about grocery shopping is all of the wonderful smells. The savory scent of bacon sizzling during breakfast. The warm, comforting aromas of prepared lunches. But perhaps best of all: the smell of sugary, vanilla cookie dough rising in the bakery oven.

In an age when modern dessert offerings can be so Instagram-driven—popping with color and dripping with opulence—the grocery store cookie is an unsung hero.

They’re understated because they don’t need to be anything else. The fresh-baked ones are so good, they’ll melt in your mouth even when they aren’t warm anymore. And a cookie is a great base for experimentation with different mix-ins.

Our team taste-tested the cookie offerings from four local grocery stores. We finished with a sugar coma—and a new appreciation for the magic being made daily behind the grocery store counter.

Hover over the image below to see where you cop these cookies, as well as some of our staff’s reviews:

This article was originally published in the November 2018 issue of 225 Magazine.