Cookie Plug Review

410 words published on Oct 2, 2023

Over the last year, my neighborhood has had the blessing of, not one, but two new specialized cookie shops within a few blocks from my home. One of them is much better than the other.

Cookie Plug in Emeryville, CA

Cookie Plug's Pixie Junkie Sugar Cookie — “Pixie Junkie” Sugar Cookie

Cookie Plug's Purple Haze Velvet Cookie — “Purple Haze” Purple Velvet Cookie

Yesterday was the grand opening of Cookie Plug in Emeryville, a gaudily-wrapped corner store with confusing graphics that seem to market themselves to the apparently burgeoning demographics of children, crackheads, and nostalgic millennials. It’s a national chain mostly spread in the Southwestern US. They sell t-shirts, cheap plastic branded merch, cloyingly sweet lemonade, and a loyalty program.

Oh, and almost as an afterthought based on how hard they push those upsells, they also sell disc-shaped bricks they apparently found a legal loophole to call “cookies”.

Cookie Plug's Keto Chocolate Chip cookie, half eaten, and wasteful plastic container

Cookie Plug’s concoctions are dry, cold, oversweet, and have a strange texture that’s too consistent to feel like a cookie. They’re more like dense, dry, cakes. They are “baked daily” so if you arrive an hour or more after that bake happens, you get a cold disc for $5+. I can make better cookies using the premade dough they sell at the supermarket for about the same cost. Those would be warm and I’d have a dozen of them.

This place reminds me of Voodoo Donuts, a gimmicky, social media fueled business that puts presentation and attention-seeking far ahead of flavor and actual customer experience. The difference is, at least Voodoo Donuts are pretty decent tasting. I took two bites of my Cookie Plug monstrosity and couldn’t finish it. I threw it out with the wasteful plastic cylinder it came with.

Recommended Alternative: Butter Pecan Bakeshop

Butter Pecan Bakeshop Emeryville Storefront

Butter Pecan Bakeshop's Dark Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookie

Butter Pecan Bakeshop has cookies that look like this. They evoke homemade, classic techniques while still innovating with interesting flavor options that change seasonally. The edges are crisp, the centers are chewy, and the toppings are generous and well-distributed. Each one looks unique and you can point to the one with the shape you want (always go for the tallest piled ones if you like them chewy like me).

Butter Pecan Bakeshop bakes their cookies throughout the day. You can see the workers bringing the trays out as they empty in front. I’ve only ever received warm cookies there. They are a small local black-owned business with only two locations nearby. They deserve your sweet tooth much more than Cookie Plug ever will.