The Great Williamsburg Bake-off
Insomnia Cookies and Cookie Chris both opened in Williamsburg in the summer of 2022, giving College of William and Mary students a very difficult but very tasty question: where should they buy their cookies?
RYAN GOODMAN // FLAT HAT MAGAZINE
For too long, students of the College have been deprived of tasty cookies to snack on during long study sessions. Many changes came to Williamsburg in recent months, including the arrival of Cookie Chris and Insomnia Cookies, both of which opened just miles from one another. With two cookie shops in such close proximity, the debate quickly arises: which cookie shop should be your go-to, and which should be left in the dust?
If you’re one of the students seeking an answer to this question, then look no further — my roommate and I sacrificed $50 to answer this question for you.
To make this information a bit easier to swallow, I will assign each store an overall score and award a special mention to one outstanding cookie from each establishment. After that, it’s up to you to decide where your loyalties lie.
We tasted eight cookies at Insomnia Cookies and six at Cookie Chris.
First up: Insomnia Cookies.
Insomnia Cookies
As tradition dictates, we entered Insomnia Cookies after nightfall, carefully perusing the selection offered. For just under $24, we left the store with four “simple” cookies and four “deluxe” cookies.
We first sampled the classics:
Chocolate chip: 8/10
A standard chocolate chip cookie. Good distribution of chocolate chips, but we did dock some points because it lacked the freshness that gives chocolate chip cookies their appeal. Not much more to say.
Sugar: 4.5/10
As far as sugar cookies are concerned, we agreed that there are much better options out there. The top was very crunchy, which was nice, but it was very buttery. Insomnia Cookies, you may need to modify the recipe on this one.
Oatmeal raisin: 5/10
A middle-of-the-road cookie — after much rumination, my roommate concluded, “I think I could make better ones.” It was a bit stale, but it was a well-spiced cookie. Overall, there was nothing too special about this cookie.
Snickerdoodle: 8/10
I would like to share my initial reaction to Insomnia’s signature cookie: “See, I feel like ... they did the sugar cookie, and they were like ‘this isn’t good enough,’ so they had to make one that was like the sugar cookie, but not.” I stand by this response.
Now for the review that you’ve all been waiting for — our favorite. Our favorite cookie from Insomnia Cookies was the Deluxe Salted Caramel. Here is an exclusive look at our first reactions to the only 10/10 score that we gave Insomnia Cookies:
As we bit into the cookie for the first time, we were left speechless.
“Mm. No, that’s good. It’s got good crunch,” my roommate said, gazing at the cookie.
“They did good on this one.”
“They popped off…woah. The second bite.”
I was in awe. This was everything I’d ever wanted in a cookie. The caramel was perfectly melted, and the cookie itself was soft on the inside but firm on the outside. It was truly deserving of a perfect score.
After averaging all of the scores for the eight cookies we tried, the final verdict for Insomnia Cookies: 6.8/10.
RYAN GOODMAN // FLAT HAT MAGAZINE
Cookie Chris
To keep things consistent, I will go over four cookies from Cookie Chris comparable to the ones I rated above:
Chocolate chip: 8.5/10
It was very gooey — we gave it 0.5 more points than Insomnia Cookies’ counterpart because of its freshness and consistency.
“Again, it’s a chocolate chip cookie,” I concluded.
Peanut butter: 6/10
The peanut butter was not overpowering, and we preferred it to the Reese’s cookie that we tried at Insomnia Cookies. They used peanut butter chips as opposed to just adding peanut butter to the dough, which was a fun change from your run-of-the-mill peanut butter cookie.
Frosted oatmeal: 4/10
“I like it when they have raisins in them; I like the frosting, nice touch ... but I don’t know why they took away the raisins,” I described. As you can probably tell, this cookie was a bit disappointing. It felt like a big, freshly baked Frosted Flake.
Cinnamon roll: 7/10
“It does taste like a homemade cinnamon roll,” my roommate observed. This cookie also had a nice consistency, and it made that nice flaky sound when you broke it. It really exceeded our expectations.
Finally, we come to our second 10/10 of all 14 cookies: the double chocolate chip.
“Straight up, it’s like a brownie ... but a cookie,” my roommate observed.
“It’s like a brownie, but if the top was crunchy. Most brownies I feel like you don’t get that. You have the thinnest layer of, like … ”
“Flake.”
“Flake. There’s crunch, but then goo.”
“This is delicious.”
“This is so good.”
For any chocolate lovers out there, I would one hundred percent recommend this cookie. It was chocolate on steroids. It was an enlightened brownie. It was truly something special.
After spending $30 (wowza) on these six cookies, the average score for Cookie Chris comes out to 7.25/10.
I would also like to give Cookie Chris some credit for their atmosphere and overall cookie experience — the store itself had a lovely aesthetic, and the employees were enthusiastic and helpful as we made our decisions. Immediately after we entered their store, one employee confirmed that it was our first time in their store and walked us through the weekly flavors. It was clear that they give each of their customers special care, so I will give Cookie Chris one extra point for the overall quality of our experience. This brings the Cookie Chris score up to 8.25/10.
There you have it. Two cookie shops. Fourteen cookies. One winner.
Congratulations, Cookie Chris — we hope you’re ready to bear the responsibility of 8,000 hungry college students showing up at your doors during finals week.