If you give a Tara a cookie...

Well, clearly she'll want some milk to go with it, but the cookie is the only real non-negotiable part. On this, a gorgeous Mother's Day weekend, Middle Chip and a took a mid-morning jaunt to a lovely little mecca called Milk & Cookies. We oohed. We aahed. We got there 20 minutes after opening.

Cookie porn after the jump.



So, what, you ask, brought us to this lovely little cookie-ry? ("Cookie" just doesn't lend itself to neologisms the way "cupcake" does. "Cupcakery" is so catchy.) A fabulous thing called Groupon, my friends. Way way back in October, before this blog was even a twinkle in my eye, I found a deal for Milk & Cookies in my daily email from the folks at Groupon.

(Reader's digest explanation of what Groupon is for the uninitiated, courtesy of their website: Groupon negotiates huge discounts—usually 50-90% off—with popular businesses. We send the deals to thousands of subscribers in our free daily email, and we send the businesses a ton of new customers. That's the Groupon magic.)

I snatched up that Groupon, printed it out...and let it sit on my desk for seven months. Because I'm that dumb. Well, actually because I don't get downtown as much as you'd think, but this isn't the time for excuses. I got there before the Groupon expired on June 1! Anyhow, Middle Chip and I decided to split the offer, which was for a baker's dozen of Milk & Cookies' sweet, sweet offerings.

Sitting on the bench outside with our giant box of (still warm) cookies. Excitement at this point is palpable.

Selections ran as follows:
3 chocolate chip
3 s'mores
2 sugar M&M
1 oatmeal raisin
1 double chocolate
1 sugar
1 peanut butter chocolate
1 milk chocolate caramel

COOKIES!

Middle Chip's double chocolate (the one that looks like a molten brownie in the photo above) was so fresh out of the oven that it literally could not hold its shape. It imploded into a pile of freshly baked goodness seconds after this photo was taken and had to be emergency-airlifted into a separate bag. See below.

Sad broken cookie. I'm guessing still delicious, though. It's like the principle of conservation of matter. Can't be created or destroyed...just changed.

After a bit of wandering around the Village (during which time we found a hole-in-the-wall Belgian waffle-ry that also sold cream puffs and muffin tops--have I mentioned I love New York?), Middle Chip and I started the journey home.

Not that we could wait until we got there to sample our cookie haul...

This chocolate chip sadly did not make it off the train. Not so sadly, it was scrumptious and our bellies were happy the whole way home.

For your viewing pleasure, a tour of (nearly all of) Milk & Cookies' offerings, in photos. What are you waiting for? Get your butt there, stat. And maybe get some cookies for your mom, too.

Sugar M&M cookies. Hiding bits of candy goodness. Excellent for tea dunking, fyi.

Baby Chip requested that we bring her back a sugar cookie. If you couldn't tell, she was unable to wait until after this photo shoot to start snacking.

Delicious-looking (though slightly unexpected) s'mores cookies.

And a close-up so you can see the marshmallow bubbling to the top of the cookie.

Peanut butter chocolate on the left, milk chocolate caramel on the right. Mmmm.

Spotlight on the peanut butter chocolate. Heavenly smells.

Last but not least, oatmeal raisin!

Of all the ones I've tried so far, the s'mores have been my favorite. I was actually expecting them to be chocolatier--maybe in a cocoa batter rather than the sugar one they're baked in--but the combination of flavors totally works. The marshmallow really adds to the chewy texture of the cookie, and the chocolate bits sprinkled throughout mimic a real s'more startlingly well. A+ for cookie-eating experience.

So should you find yourself near NYU/Washington Square Park and in need of a cookie fix, you now have an unbeatable destination. You're welcome.

I hope you all had wonderful days with your mommas--no one bakes cookies like they can!

Links in this post:
http://www.milkandcookiesbakery.com/site/
http://www.groupon.com