But then by the grace of the Cookie Gods, I was fortunate enough to receive a box of chocolate chip cookies from a friend. Those cookies were from Max & Erma’s. A place where I never have had the privilege of tasting their take on the classic, yet understated treat.

The quality of a chocolate chip cookie is based on much more than the taste or how many chocolate chips are placed in it at baking time. Here is a list of the features I look for:

• Overall taste. Is it mouthwatering or am I trying to force it down?
• Texture.
• Presentation and packaging.
• Distribution of chocolate chips throughout the cookie.
• Size of the cookie for the price.
• Pre-packaged or baked fresh.
• Service received when cookies are bought. We all can agree that if you get greeted with a smile and friendly customer service, the cookie will be much more tasty.

Now that the guidelines are set, let’s begin with our first delectable cookie!

I start off by saying that the cookies were a gift, so that took their value and taste up a considerable amount. The packaging was neat and clean, but take into consideration that this was a to-go box. This only gives me hope that their presentation in-house would be just as good, if not better, if their carryout was this well done. You can see in the picture above that it was neatly lined with Max & Erma’s wax paper and put into an easily carried box. This is something I always appreciate and will remember.

After some research, I found that Max & Erma’s cookies are made in-house! This is great. I’m glad they don’t cheap out and offer a pre-baked cookie in a place where the rest of the food is made daily. The downfall with made daily is that the cookie can become hard and crunchy if not stored properly. Fortunately, this was not the case here! I enjoyed a great cookie.

The cookie itself was quite small and almost what I call a “2-bite”. I don’t discriminate against these size of cookies when they can be bought in multiples at a good price, and you can do this with Max & Erma’s chocolate chip cookies. Also, the cookie only consisted of 3 or 4 large chunks of chocolate. Which didn’t make for a great texture. I was either overloaded with chocolate or eating all cookie. The texture and consistency was a little off.

Overall taste wasn’t too bad though. My favorite cookie? Not so much. But I would like to end by saying that presentation and packaging always are wins in my book.

Next post: Cheryl & Co.