The Tate's Bake Shop Cookie Flavor We Ranked Best Overall

Southampton, New York, bakery Tate's Bake Shop has been anointed the best bakery in the Hamptons several times. Now that the company has stepped up production to make its thin cookies easy to buy across the country, they've become a cult favorite, with fans including none other than Ina Garten. But not all of its mostly classic flavors are made equal, as Chowhound found out when ranking Tate's Bake Shop cookies from best to worst. Our reviewer's criteria centered around the cookies' taste and texture: They should be crisp (except for the few soft-baked options in the ranking) and offer a balanced sweetness, without being stingy on the add-ins (chocolate chips, nuts, oats, and so forth).

The cookie that came out on top was the walnut chocolate chip option, which goes for around $5 for a 7-ounce package if you look for them in supermarkets. Despite some initial misgivings (visually speaking, it didn't look like the cookie had many walnuts in it), our reviewer loved the company's commitment to getting that walnut flavor into the cookie. The scent of them hits you right when you tear open the package, and a matching flavor is nicely spread throughout the cookie, even if it doesn't have large pieces of nuts. Plus, it hit the requirements of being crispy and just the right amount of sweet. This Tate's variety could even compete with famed New York City bakery Levain, our reviewer said: a pretty big statement.

Taste may be subjective, but it seems that other cookie fans generally concur that this is a top-notch choc-chip cookie. The buttery texture of the cookies is one compliment they receive, alongside praise that they don't go stale or soften up inside the packaging (important, since they are billed as "uniquely crispy"). It seems that despite being mass-produced, buyers feel that the walnut chocolate chip cookies taste fresh and homemade, or even comparable to professionally baked chocolate chip cookies. It's not hard to find people who are tempted to tear through the whole package at once.

This Tate's cookie flavor does have its detractors, though. There are complaints out there about the $5 price tag (some fans of the cookie even note this, although they say it's either worth the price or something to buy as an occasional treat). Those who want a cloyingly sweet cookie may not love them either, as it's been noted that they have a salty flavor, which has led to both compliments and complaints. Plus, while it may seem strange to buy an explicitly thin cookie and complain about that trait, the slim build of these cookies isn't to everybody's taste.

As for which Tate's Bake Shop cookie to avoid? That would be the salted caramel chocolate chip variety, which came last in the ranking, thanks to an aggressively sweet flavor.