Still Hot on the Cookie Trail
Welcome to the continuation of the cookie series - series length will be dictated by number of cookies we can scarf without getting wedged in the Muni door while trying to board. Part two is devoted to the Ferry Building, that prime stop for exotic mushrooms, hungry tourists, fancy olive oils - and cookies.
By contributing SFist Amber Adrian
Miette: A Ferry Building favorite. Here are our notes, transcribed verbatim from the wax paper bag in which the macaroons were served: "soft light fluffy chewy yum". Not your typical welded together cement hockey pucks courtesy of Safeway. Small, organic, and so fluffy that the top will slide off in the bag. They're also so light a gust of wind almost knocked the bag clear out of our hand. We tried rose geranium, vanilla and hazelnut. They also have chocolate, pistachio and a few other irresponsibly un-recorded flavors. The rose geranium wouldn't have made us think "Oh, THAT's rose geranium" if we hadn't seen the label, but pleasingly soft – almost bland, if the rose perfume clinging to the walls of any given elevator is an indication. Then we tried the vanilla, wondering for two blocks what that unidentifiable yet altogether pleasing taste was. Could it be…rose? It took one more block for the realization to hit. What we thought was bland rose was really vanilla and vice versa. This is why we review cookies rather than design rocket ships for Nasa. Shrugging, we reach for the hazelnut. Real hazelnut, none of that Nutella crap. (Forgive us, Nutella. We love you, but you don't compare.) Final word: Miette is a must. Stop reading this and go there. Now.
Scharffen Berger: Basic chocolate chip but with that delectable Scharffen Berger chocolate. We always think "Snarfenberger chocolate" because you can't help but snarf it down. Our uneducated - yet supremely refined - palate thought it detected extra brown sugar. The cookies are good, but you may not want to skip the Scharffen Berger stand if you're a chocolate lover likely to be gulled into purchasing a dark chocolate cookbook and six chocolate bars. (Not that we know anyone like THAT.)
Boulettes Larder: Favorites included the walnut brown sugar shortbread and the peanut/sea salt chewy cookie - this one makes your mouth tingle from the lovely salt/sweet juxtaposition. It was the lightest, chewiest peanut cookie we've ever shoved in our craw. Soon stopped caring about cookie genres and upended the bag of crumbs into our mouth for one tasty mouthful.