...She Said

by Kristyna Mauch

I’m a little weird about cookies. I don’t like them warm or gooey; I prefer them hard and cold. After I bake a batch of cookies, they go straight into the freezer until they are hard enough to eat. I believe this stems from baking when I was younger and having to hide the cookies from my brothers, otherwise they would all be eaten before I was done. No one ever thinks to look in the freezer!

Despite my bias, my encounter with a Chocolate Duet cookie with walnuts from Panera Bread was surprisingly delicious. According to the menu, the cookie consists of chocolate cookie dough with walnuts, semisweet chocolate chunks and bits of white confectionery chunks. Translation: Yummy goodness.

The cookie is fairly large, about the size of a small plate. It is just the right amount of cookie without having to go back for more, which is good especially if you are on a diet. It is delicious to look at with a dark chocolate color and sprinkles of white and light brown from the nuts and confectionery chunks. The rim of the cookie was hard (Yes!), and the inside was soft without being too soft or gooey.

The cookie broke apart easily in my hands, which helped me eat such a monster of a cookie. Once in my mouth, the chewy cookie is pleasantly complemented by a splash of smooth chocolate whether it was the white confectionery chunks or chocolate chunks. The cookie has a lot of chunks and walnuts. If you are not a chocolate-lover, this cookie might be too heavy on the chocolate and beware if you are allergic to nuts.

I thoroughly enjoyed the white confectionery chunks within the cookie and if I had a hankering for chocolate, I would definitely reach for another Panera Break Chocolate Duet cookie.