Guide3 min read
The best cookies in India, and how to tell a great one from a packet
Search for the best cookies in India and you mostly get lists of biscuit brands. Those are packaged biscuits, made to last for months on a shop shelf. A cookie baked that morning is a different thing to eat, and it is worth judging differently.
We bake cookies for a living, in Bengaluru and Chennai, so we are not neutral. What follows is how we judge a cookie, ours included, and what to look for wherever you buy one.
The short answer
The best cookie is one baked within the day, with butter and real chocolate, soft in the middle and crisp at the edge. In India that usually means a cookie shop or bakery near you, or one that ships cookies made to travel. Packaged biscuits last longer and cost less, and they are made for the shelf.
What to check before you buy
The fat
Butter gives a cookie its flavour. On a packet, look for butter in the ingredients; many list edible vegetable oil or vegetable fat instead. At a bakery, ask. We use Président butter.
The chocolate
Real chocolate gets its melt from cocoa butter. Compound chocolate replaces some of it with vegetable fat, which melts differently and can taste waxy. We use couverture chocolate, which has more cocoa butter than ordinary chocolate.
The filling
A filled cookie is only as good as what is inside it. Check whether a "hazelnut filling" is Nutella or a cheaper copy. Ours use real Nutella and Lotus Biscoff spread.
When it was baked
Ask. We bake in small trays through the day at every shop, so a cookie you buy in the evening was not baked at dawn.
Eggless or not
Many Indian families prefer eggless baking, and most classic cookie recipes use eggs, so it is worth asking. Every cookie we make is eggless.
Questions
Which are the best cookies in India?
For a fresh cookie, the best is one baked the same day with butter and real chocolate, from a cookie shop or bakery near you. Packaged biscuit brands are made to last on a shelf and are a different product.
Can I order fresh cookies online anywhere in India?
From us, yes: most of our cookies and three of our four cookie tins go by courier to most PIN codes. Filled cookies with a short life, such as Red Velvet, stay within Bengaluru and Chennai.
Are your cookies eggless?
Yes, every one. Our kitchens do not use eggs.
Do you have gluten-free cookies?
Yes. The Ragi cookie (₹60) is made with finger millet instead of wheat flour.
