Ranking 16 Store-Bought Chocolate Chip Cookies from Worst to Best

The cookie aisle of the grocery store is, in one word, overwhelming. There are so many bright colors competing for your attention, and package sizes range from “maybe I’ll eat this whole bag as a snack” to “enough cookies to feed an army and then some” — not to mention the seemingly endless number of cookie varieties at your disposal. One of the most iconic types of cookies is, of course, the classic chocolate chip.

Sure, chocolate chip cookies are one of the most beginner-friendly bakes and can be made using store-bought cookie dough, but how easy it is to pick up a pack of already-baked cookies from the snack aisle and eat a couple on the drive home from the store — or, if you can hold off, save them for a late-night snack? Chocolate chip is easily the most universal type available at the store, and I wanted to see which brand does it best.

Fair warning: I’m unapologetically a chocolate chip cookie snob, so I have high standards for what constitutes a good one. At first, I wanted to find a cookie that I could pass off as being homemade. But, seeing as none of these brands really delivered on this big ask, I settled for the ones that had the most balanced flavor and pleasant texture, as well as those that kept me coming back for more.

If there’s one thing that you should know about me, it’s that I hate hard-to-open packages — like these Mightylicious cookies. I tried to pull, push, and even gnaw (apologies to my dentist) at the bag to open it before resorting to kitchen shears in defeat. What I discovered in the bag was a first for me in nearly three years of food writing and reviewing: a moldy product.

I should have known better, seeing as this was the only brand that was fully stocked at my local Walmart. While its stock may have been due to its location — above more well-known brands like Chips Ahoy! — I can’t help but wonder whether this patchy, fuzzy mold is the reason other shoppers left it on the shelf.

It’s ranked the lowest here because, well, I can’t eat moldy cookies. Now, is it a fluke or a regular occurrence? I guess we’ll never know.

I think that Keebler’s may have left the Fig Newton machine on when it made these Chips Deluxe cookies. I have no clue why they are so flat and awkwardly shaped. It’s almost like someone flattened the dough with a book before baking them.

Not only are these cookies not very attractive, but their flavor is also awful. When I leaned in for a whiff, I noticed that they gave off burnt notes. That aroma was amplified when I took a bite and was met with the taste of both burnt chocolate and burnt dough — it was almost like I was eating a piece of dough that had somehow fallen through the oven grates and burned to the bottom of the oven. I couldn’t discern any other flavors, including sweetness, because my palate is so overwhelmed by those acrid notes. I think it’s about time to give those pesky elves their pink slips.

Great Value doesn’t always offer the best products, so my hopes were not high for these chocolate chip cookies. This large package, which was surprisingly more expensive than name-brand Chips Ahoy!, was filled to the brim with adequately sized cookies. They weren’t massive, but you can probably get about five good bites in. They’re perfectly golden and well-studded with mini chocolate chips, but that’s about all the positives I can say about these cookies.

These Great Value cookies are way too crumbly. After one bite, I had to brush myself (and my desk) off. While it’s important for a cookie to have at least some crunch and give to it, this one was far too messy to be enjoyable. There was very little butteriness to these cookies, and any fatty flavor present was more reminiscent of rancid oil than flavorful butter. The chocolate chips didn’t taste super chocolatey either, though there were more than enough of them to go around.

It was only a matter of time until I found a chocolate chip cookie that tasted like cardboard. Today was just not Homestyle’s day.

These cookies look, well, cookie cutter. It was almost like someone was standing behind the oven counting just how many chips were added to each one to make sure it was absolutely no more than 10. This bare-minimum approach to cookie baking shows up in more ways than one. Homestyle’s cookies didn’t really taste like much of anything, in the same way that Great Value’s chocolate chippers lacked any redeeming complexities or flavor nuances. But, these cookies held together just slightly better than its competitor, which helped Homestyle forge ahead of it in the ranking.

These cookies remind me of the ones sold in my high school cafeteria. I found a two-pack of them in the checkout aisle of my local Walmart, which leads me to believe they’re more of an impulse buy than a pantry staple. The first thing I noticed was how soft these cookies were – though they were unsettlingly soft, like you could tell that they were loaded with preservatives. The flavor was also far from buttery. While Great Value’s chippers had a rancid oil undertone, I felt like eating these was like eating a spoonful of Crisco. That oily lacquer coated my taste buds and I could taste it for the whole day. They weren’t really sweet and otherwise lacked flavor.

The chocolate chips are few and far between here, and if I were blindfolded, I probably would have guessed that they were sugar cookies. One thing’s for certain, you’re definitely not confusing these with your own grandma’s cookies.

Like Great Value, Stop & Shop’s products can too be a swing and a miss (especially when it comes to pound cake). These cookies only scored slightly ahead of Great Value’s chippers because of their prominent and pleasant buttery flavor, and because they included a few (emphasis on “few”) more chips.

However, the texture of these cookies were all wrong. While their golden brown color might suggest a passable bake (if not a decent one), their consistency threw me for a bit of a loop. They had the same consistency as a hard tea biscuit. It was too snappy — in all the ways that even crunchy cookies shouldn’t be. Rather than turning powdery in my mouth, the cookie piece broke off like a piece of cement fracturing from a sidewalk. It offered an almost squeaky crunch that was, you guessed it, distracting.

If you could put headphones on and eat these cookies, you probably wouldn’t mind them. They’re also cheap enough to buy and crumble for a cookie trifle or something to help hide their idiosyncrasies.

I think the packaging on this box is a little deceptive. I saw “chocolate chip” in bold letters, yet failed to realize that these cookies were more of a kitchen sink cookie deal. They have peanut butter and oatmeal in them, along with the bare minimum number of chips to earn them the title of “chocolate chip” cookies.

If you’re looking for a classic, cheap-tasting cookie, look elsewhere. You can tell by the rubbing effect on your molars that the recipe definitely contains oatmeal. You might like this, though, depending on how you feel about oatmeal raisin cookies. They seem like the kind of cookies you eat when you’re trying to make something “healthy,” but still want to pacify your hankering for sugar. If I asked for a chocolate chip cookie and someone handed me a bag of these, I think I would riot.

I could tell that these cookies had a little more character than the other mass-produced brands on this list. There are bumps and ridges, which is a far cry from the uniform Chip’s Ahoy! and Great Value cookies of yesteryear. If you served Matt’s soft-baked cookies on a plate, you might even be able to pass them off as homemade.

But the flavor is not something that any home baker would want to be associated with. The exterior is quite pale and looks almost raw. While their texture is soft, at least compared to the crunchy varieties on this list, it breaks off in chunks and does not have the pliable, bendable consistency of a quality soft-baked cookie. Their flavor is wicked sweet and cloying — and I felt like I had to go brush my teeth and chug a glass of water after I ate a few bites. You can certainly do worse than these cookies, and I think they are a tastier alternative to some of the other cookies on this list. But they’re still not ones I would buy again.

I am a big fan of Glutino’s gluten-free pretzels and sandwich cookies, so I had a feeling that I would appreciate its chocolate chip cookies, as well. Folks who have eaten both gluten-free and gluten-containing foods know that there’s often a difference between the two — mainly because gluten-free baked foods tend to have a powdery, starchy aftertaste. While it’s not noticeable for some foods, like crunchy pretzels, it’s a bit harder to hide in a chocolate chip cookie. Unfortunately, Glutino puts this starchy mouthfeel on blast.

These cookies are dry and crumbly, yet still hold together better than Great Value’s offering. But I felt myself constantly licking my lips and trying to dislodge pieces of gluey, starchy cookies from my molars. I can usually tolerate the texture of gluten-free cookies with no problem, but the aftertaste that Glutino left in my mouth gave me pause. Glutino’s cookies are not super sweet and the chocolate is otherwise fine, but unless you’re buying them specifically for gluten-free eaters, I don’t think these cookies are really worth a buy (and there are far better gluten-free brands out there).

Ina Garten loves Tate’s Bake Shop cookies – it’s one thing that the Barefoot Contessa and I disagree on. These expensive cookies look borderline burnt, though I came to realize this was due to their brown butter profile. While I love brown butter, it needs to be used in small doses in order to work. The richness, almost coconut-like flavor of these cookies quickly overwhelmed my palate. Compounded with the sugar, which on its own is not overpowering, it makes for an overwhelming bite.

I like the crispiness of these cookies, though they are more brittle-like than cookie-like. I don’t really get what the hype is all about, though maybe that’s just because I just picked one of Tate’s more lackluster offerings.

So when Annie’s said “bites,” it really means it. These cookies are about the size of a quarter, making them the tiniest option on this list. Because they’re so small, they only have one or two chips each. As such, the chips-to-cookie ratio is a little off-balance, and makes them taste more like sugar cookies than chocolate chip.

The mouthfeel of these cookies is weirdly dry and powdery. The cookies themselves aren’t powdery, but each one is coated in a weird dusting that makes them very messy to eat. I appreciate that they didn’t have the same rancid or mouth-lacquering consistency as some of the lower-ranked brands, though I think their size limits their potential. If you wanted to dip them into milk, you’d be better off eating them like a cookie cereal.

Cybele’s and I almost didn’t cross paths. My Walmart was fully stocked with two of its other flavors, and I was sad to see that this one wasn’t stocked — until I found one box shoved all the way to the back of the shelf. I consider this a good sign, as it means other customers have picked up what the brand is putting down. And I, too, was not able to put these cookies down — they’re just that good.

These are one of the few cookie brands I tried that were truly soft. Despite containing none of the top nine major allergens, including gluten, dairy, and eggs, these cookies held together remarkably well. I find that some gluten-free products are sweeter than regular ones, but that was not the case for these amply-studded cookies. They are just the right amount of rich and sweet, which made for a harmonious bite.

If it were not for the slightly, rice flour-y aftertaste, I would have crowned Cybele’s the victor. I’ve become attuned to eating gluten-free foods over the years — so this grittiness doesn’t bother me — but that may not be the case for every eater.

Pepperidge Farm wasn’t bluffing when it said “thin and crispy.” When I held one of these sizable cookies up to the light, I could see through parts of it. It’s snappy — though not break-your-teeth snappy — and its flavor was otherwise well-developed. While other cookies on this list were more sugar-cookie adjacent, especially if they were a little skimpy on the chips, these Pepperidge Farm chips were more reminiscent of shortbread. I thought that its flavor was buttery, it manifested more as acidity than butteriness. It was almost like these cookies had a coconut undertone to them that, while pleasant, was a little distracting. The butteriness also presented another concern; if these cookies were left in the pantry for too long, they may start to taste rancid.

Overall, Pepperidge Farm’s cookies are much more palatable than Glutino’s cookies and, as much as I hate to admit it, they’re probably more agreeable than Cybele’s, too. However, I still think they’re far from the perfect cookie.

I can’t say I’ve tried Newman’s Own food before — maybe with the exception of its salad dressing. After trying its cookies, I can say that I’ve been really missing out — because these cookies are quite tasty.

Newman’s Own had some of the same brown butter flavor going on as Tate’s, but it wasn’t as overwhelming. Each cookie was delectably crunchy and snappy, though the inside had the perfect amount of give so it didn’t immediately disintegrate. The chocolate chips were plentiful in the relatively small cookies, unlike Annie’s, and their chocolate flavor enhanced the surrounding cookie, rather than detracting from it. On one hand, I wish they were bigger for dunking’s sake, but I don’t think they really need to be dunked to be enjoyable.

This bag of mini cookies looks nothing like the package of Famous Amos cookies I remember wiggling out of vending machines in my youth. The packaging looks refined and sophisticated, though I can confirm that the cookies inside taste very much the same — a vending machine-quality cookie that will satisfy the itch for something sweet.

These tiny bites are well-studded with chocolate chips. I really like that they’re extra crunchy, unlike so many of the other cookies on this list that promised the same, but failed to deliver. Despite the audible crunch that sounded as I took a bite, the cookie itself stayed intact, rather than disintegrating like some of the lower-ranked brands. The cookies are buttery enough, and I was not able to pick up on any oiliness or rancidness.

One thing to note: These cookies are super sweet, and I wasn’t able to eat more than one in a single sitting. Their small size, while it makes them well-suited to snacking or ending a meal, may not satisfy every eater, either. While they are not nearly big enough to dip into a glass of milk, I have no doubt that dunking them would make them all the more enjoyable.

The main question I had going into this ranking was whether any of the cookies were going to come close to Chips Ahoy!. They’re the gold standard of store-bought cookie brands for a reason — my taste test just proves that. Whereas other cookie brands are too buttery, too sweet, too acidic, lacking chips, and the like, these Chips Ahoy! cookies are like the Goldilocks cookie — they hit the nail on the head in every aspect. Right off the bat, I noticed that the chips were plentiful and about as well-distributed as possible in a store-bought cookie. While they are crunchy, they don’t turn to powder once you bite into them. They also offer just enough brown sugar and buttery flavors to make me want to come back in for another bite.

Despite ranking them at the top of the list, I would still never choose them over a homemade one. But they still beat out every other cookie on this list because they’re the most likable.

I picked up all of these cookie brands from my local Stop & Shop and Walmart stores. In order to taste them at the freshest, I ate them all on the day I opened them. The first thing I considered was their flavor. A good cookie should be buttery, sweet (though not cloying), and have enough chocolate to complement the cookie rather than detract from it. Cookies with rancid, oily, or otherwise unpleasant notes ranked lower on this list than the more flavor-balanced options. The cookies should also be true to their label — if I was eating a thin and crispy cookie, for example, I wanted it to indeed be thin and crispy.

Store-bought cookies are, at their core, a snack food, so I wanted to feel compelled to come back for another bite. While I can’t say any of these cookie brands beat my own homemade recipe, the top few are still worthy of stocking in your pantry.