Sometimes you have to give a cookie another chance.

Even when you’re pretty sure you don’t like it.

This is one of those cookies.

The recipe comes from Sugar Spun Run, and I actually have a little history with it because I’ve already made it seven times.

Yes.

Seven.

And now I’ve made it an eighth time.

Before you start wondering why on earth I would make a cookie eight times if I don’t particularly like it, there’s a story.

It started with another cookie challenge.

I originally found this recipe because Sugar Spun Run had done her own experiment comparing this chocolate chip cookie made with different ingredients.

Her results were surprising; her words.

She found that the store-brand ingredients performed better than some of the more expensive options.

That caught my attention because, well, that’s exactly the kind of thing I want to know.

So I used her recipe for a cookie challenge of my own. I wanted to know which was better. I made her same recipe multiple times while changing the ingredients.

Seven times, to be exact.

I divided those seven cookies into two rounds.

In the first round, I compared Walmart store brand, Aldi, and name-brand ingredients.

And Walmart won.

The second round included Trader Joe’s, Hy-Vee store brand, organic ingredients from Sprouts, and Dollar Tree ingredients.

Trader Joe’s won that round.

And the organic ingredients?

They came in fourth.

So apparently spending more money on your ingredients does not automatically make a better chocolate chip cookie.

Who knew?

Well…

Apparently Sugar Spun Run did.

But I had one more cookie to make.

While I was doing that challenge, I kept thinking about my own everyday baking ingredients.

The flour I normally buy (Costco Kirland). The vanilla I keep in my kitchen (Mexican Vanilla bought in Mexico). The ingredients I reach for without making a special trip to the store.

I had already made the recipe seven times with all these different combinations of ingredients, so I figured I might as well make it an eighth time.

But this time, I wasn’t buying ingredients specifically for the challenge. I was using what I actually keep around. My regular baking ingredients. The stuff I use all the time.

And since I was already doing a chocolate chip cookie challenge again, this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Let’s see how this cookie stacks up against the other recipes when I’m making it the way I normally bake.

I did learn something about this recipe.

The first time around, I followed the recipe exactly.

And I did it seven times.

One thing I noticed was the refrigeration.

The recipe calls for chilling the dough, and Sugar Spun Run actually notes that the longer the dough sits in the refrigerator, the harder it becomes.

She wasn’t kidding.

When I made the cookies for my first challenge, the cookies my family ate were made after the dough had been refrigerated for about 30 minutes.

But the cookies I saved for other people to taste came from dough that had sat in the refrigerator overnight.

That dough was hard.

Like, why am I fighting a bowl of cookie dough? hard.

Scooping it wasn’t my favorite part of the process.

So this time, I decided I was going to follow the recipe but pay attention to that detail.

Thirty minutes in the refrigerator.

And then I baked them.

Immediately.

Much easier.

And the cookie itself?

It looks like a chocolate chip cookie should look.

There’s nothing wrong with its appearance.

It’s a perfectly respectable-looking chocolate chip cookie.

My problem has always been the sweetness.

It is really, really sweet.

There is a lot of sugar in this recipe, and for me, it is more than I want in a chocolate chip cookie.

The first time I made it, I remember not really wanting to eat much of it.

So clearly, I have some opinions.

But that’s also exactly why I wanted to put it into this challenge.

Because I’m not the judge.

Well…

I am.

But I’m not the only judge.

Just because I don’t love a particular cookie doesn’t mean someone else won’t absolutely love it.

That’s one of the things I’m hoping to learn from this whole chocolate chip cookie experiment.

We all have different ideas about what makes a cookie good.

Some people want crispy edges. Some want soft centers. Some want a lot of chocolate. Some want less. And apparently some people want a whole lot more sugar than I do.

That’s okay.

I’m not here to convince anybody that this is a bad cookie.

I’m here to see how it compares.

So this is round three.

The Sugar Spun Run recipe gets another shot.

This time with the ingredients I actually use in my kitchen.

No trying to recreate the ingredient combinations from my previous challenge.

Just me, my normal baking supplies, and a recipe I’ve already made seven times.

And honestly, I’m curious.

Because the first challenge wasn’t really about whether this was my favorite cookie. It was about what happened when you changed the ingredients.

This time, I’m asking a different question:

How does this cookie compare to all the other chocolate chip cookies I’m testing?

Maybe I’ll still think it’s too sweet.

Maybe somebody else will take one bite and declare it their favorite.

And if they do?

Fine.

That’s the whole point of a blind taste test.

The cookie gets to make its case.

So, Sugar Spun Run…

Let’s see what you’ve got. 🍪