Insomnia Cookies

By now you know I'm a dessert lover, in particular baked goods.  But I've never been really into cookies.  Not packaged cookies, not homemade cookies, not fancy bakery cookies.  Just, generally, not my thing.  I think my "eh" feeling towards cookies grew even more in adulthood, when I became more snobby, and thought of them as "not even a real dessert", as in, not worthy enough, as they were "just cookies", not some plated Michelin star dessert, or at *least* something warm, freshly baked, and a la mode.  Maybe an ice cream sandwich made with fresh cookies and fancy ice cream could be a "real" dessert, but the rest?  Got a big "eh" from me.

That is, until the pandemic, until I was at home all the time, and I had a lot of changes in food preference, many born out of laziness, many born out of lack of access to fancy things.  One of said changes was regarding cookies.  I didn't just come to tolerate them, I ... became a bonafide cookie monster.  I craved them.  Particularly chocolate chunk cookies, warm, dunked in milk.  Glory.  I'm not sure what took me so long.

Anyway, during early 2021, I started seeking out cookies, everywhere.  When many places scaled back their menus, cookies seemed constants.  While many places stopped making things in house, cookies seemed constants, again, even corner pizza places still baked off fresh cookies.  And thus, cookies it was, often picked up as part of daily ritual to get out of the house, enjoyed later at home warmed up slightly, with requisite glass of milk.

Which brings me to Insomnia Cookies, where I walk by frequently.  The aroma of fresh baked cookies is inescapable, and people are always coming out, boxes (pizza box style) of fresh cookies in hand.

I finally had to try them.  Insomnia is a chain, ~100 locations nationwide, and now, two locations in SF.

Cookie Bag.

One key feature of Insomnia Cookies is that their cookies are always warm.  Until 3am.  Sure, not because they are super fresh, but because they are kept in a warmer.  I guess when your entire business is cookies, you gotta nail them?  They also have a club, with a monthly fee of $9.99, the CookieMagic club, which gives you a free cookie "every day that ends in 'y'".  If you really did stop by daily, that puts your cost-per-cookie at only $0.33, which sure is a deal.  Um, if you frequent the area and really want a daily cookie.

Anyway.  Insomnia offers mostly cookies, "Classic" ones (chocolate chunk, oatmeal raisin, sugar, M&M, and other classics), a handful of vegan options, a couple gluten-free, and "Deluxe" larger sized, cookies with more interesting additions (triple chocolate, s'mores, chocolate peanut butter cup, etc).  They also have a few flavors of ice cream, and cookies are available made into ice cream sandwiches as well.

Original Review, May 2021

White Chocolate Macadamia. $2.25.

"This snack operates on island time. A coconut-y cookie with bits of macadamia nut and creamy white chocolate chips."

For my first cookie, I went for the most exciting, not caffeinated cookie: white chocolate macadamia. I was tempted to start super simple, with the sugar cookie, but, white chocolate macadamia really is my fav.

It was handed over, warm as expected.

I was a little shocked at how greasy the bag got, quickly.  Picking up the cookie, my fingers were instantly covered in grease (butter?).  It was honestly a little off-putting.

It was an ok cookie.  I appreciated that it was warm, and it was the perfect soft texture I like.  All that was great.  And it did have large white chocolate chunks, and nearly full size macadamias.  Again, good.  But it was very very sweet, very very buttery, and not necessarily in a winning way.  A bit hard to describe really, but, it wasn't quite as awesome as I had hoped it would be.  Fine, but not great.

Well made, the right texture, kudos for warm cookie, but not something I'd get again.

***.

Double Chocolate Chunk. $2.25.

"Our dark chocolate cookie is taken to its drool-worthy peak with chunks of smooth, melty milk chocolate."

My second cookie was not any better.  Again warm, soft, looked and smelt great.  The chocolate was all melty.  Awesome.

But it was just ... chocolate.  Chocolate brownie-like base, and the melty chocolate chunks were nice, but, still, it didn't pop.  Missing something essential, like a dash of sea salt?

I didn't care for it much, although it was better with ice cream when I got home.

**+.

Vegan Birthday Cake. $2.50.

"Sweet vanilla and all of the sprinkles make this an extra special vegan treat for an extra special day."

Am I vegan?  Ha, far from it.  So why on earth would I get a vegan cookie?

Well, I mostly did it out of curiosity, but also, for the flavor.  I like sprinkles!  Insomnia doesn't have a birthday cake classic cookie (although they have Deluxe Confetti one, which is a sugar cookie with rainbow sprinkles and white chocolate chips).  So if I wanted sprinkles, I needed to splurge for Deluxe, or go vegan.  So vegan it was.

I was pleasantly surprised by this cookie.  It was warm like all the others, and perfectly soft.  The texture was quite different though, not as greasy/oily as the others, and I appreciated that greatly.  The cookie was sweet and decadent tasting, in a buttery sugar cookie way, and I loved the sweet sprinkles throughout.  

I wouldn't go out of my way for this cookie, but I did enjoy it, and would get it again.  The best Insomnia cookie I tried.

***+.

Update Review, March 2022

Since my previous visits to Insomnia always smelt and looked better than they actually were, I didn't seek Insomnia Cookies out again.  Except, um, Insomnia Cookies seems to have sought *me* out.  Yup, they opened a location on the corner of my block.  Doh.  Remember that aroma I told you about?  Yes, inescapable, really, now.

So of course, I stopped in the first day they were open.

Lemon Poppyseed. $2.
(Spring 2022 Special).

"Melt in your mouth cookies with a pop of fresh tart lemon essence, sprinkled with poppy seeds."

In early Spring 2022, Insomnia launched two new cookies, for about a month only: lemon poppyseed, and hibiscus berry.  Although the hibiscus berry looked pretty, I wasn't really interested in it.  And I wasn't really excited about the idea of a lemon poppyseed cookie either, but since I hadn't been in love with any previous cookies, I went for it, mostly out of curiosity.  How *would* lemon poppyseed, a flavor I most associate with muffins, translate into cookie form?

Like all Insomnia cookies, it was served warm, so it was beautifully soft, just a slight chew to the edge.  It tasted like ... well, an overly sweet lemon poppy muffin?  I think it would have worked better as a shortbread base, with lemon accents and poppy seeds, rather than a sugar cookie base.  Somehow, it was basically just a sweet muffin taste, but, yes, in cookie form.  In a muffin, I can usually detect the poppy seeds as textural bits, but here I never really detected them, so that crunch was lost.

Overall, different I guess, but perhaps there is a reason we don't see lemon poppyseed cookies?

***.

Birthday Cake (Vegan). $2.

"Sweet vanilla and all of the sprinkles make this an extra special vegan treat for an extra special day."

The only cookie from Insomnia Cookies that I quasi-liked before was the Birthday Cake, available only in vegan form.  Nothing else called out to me, so I got it again, although I was tempted to try another vegan option, either chocolate chunk or double chocolate chunk.  If I didn't really care for the regular one, maybe the vegan base was better?  One of these days, I'll splurge for the Deluxe Confetti cookie, that has sprinkles and white chocolate chips, but costs nearly double ($3.50).

Anyway, the cookie was about as I remembered.  Soft and warm as always, sweet, sorta buttery tasting (even though, clearly, not butter), sorta cake batter tasting.  A good enough cookie, better with some ice cream sandwiched between it.

***+.

Update Review October & November 2022

Double Chocolate Chunk. $2.

"Our dark chocolate cookie is taken to its drool-worthy peak with chunks of smooth, melty milk chocolate."

I'll admit that I forgot I had tried this variety before, and didn't care for it.  I was really in a chocolate mood though, and this just called out.

The chips were nicely melty.  The cookie was soft and warm.  It *should* have been good, but ... I just really didn't care for it.  It was too rich, and not in a good way.  I tried dunking it in milk, I tried doing it a la mode, and it was just ... too much sweet and too much I didn't like.  I still don't understand how I dislike it so much, but, I do!

Dear self: do not be tempted by this one again.

*+.

Side: Chocolate Cookie Butter. $3.50.

"We’ve blended our ooey-gooey Classic Chocolate Chunk into a spreadable treat. Amp up the warm, delicious dessert action by adding to ice cream, brownies and your favorite cookies."

At some point I discovered the fun sides at Insomnia.  I think intended to be spread on a cookie, but they have things like buttercream or cream cheese icing, and some different cookie butters, all available as a side.  I decided to try the most decadent sounding one, the chocolate cookie butter, after having gone through a bit of a cookie butter craze after trying crazy delicious cookie butter (lotus cream) from Anita Gelato.  Now, obviously this would be different, since made with their chocolate chunk cookies (which I don't care for), and not Lotus cookies, but it still had potential right?

When I picked it up, I mentioned that it sounded fun, and the staff member told me pretty clearly that she doesn't like it.  She said it was too rich, too chocolatey.  Well, that wasn't an endorsement (and it kinda mirrored how I felt about the double chocolate chunk cookie ...).  I appreciated her honestly.

I thought it was fine - it was indeed quite rich, it was reasonably chocolately.  Very thick.  Slightly nutella-eque, even though it doesn't have hazelnuts.  It was tasty enough spread on just about whatever I had around - pretzels, strawberries, toast, rice rusks, etc.

I probably wouldn't get this again, but it was tasty, and the portion was quite generous for $3.50.  ***.

Update Review, September 2023

Confetti Cookie Cake: Hunk.

"A tricked-out sugar cookie filled with rainbow sprinkles and vanilla-flavored chips."

My co-workers ordered one of those big cookie "cakes", and had plenty left over.  I of course took a hunk, curious to try the non-vegan version of the confetti cookie, as I had actually quite liked the vegan one.

It was soft, sweet, buttery, loaded with sprinkles and some sweet chips, and it was quite enjoyable.  Definitely my style of cookie.  ***+.

Vegan Double Chocolate Chunk. $2.95.

"A vegan spin on our Classic Double Chocolate cookie with the same levels of dark chocolate decadence and melty (dairy-free) chocolate chunks."

Pretty much the only cookies I've liked from Insomnia are the vegan birthday cake and the confetti cookies.  I always want to like their chocolate cookies, but, never have.  But the vegan birthday cake is so good, I decided to try another vegan cookie, to see if maybe the vegan chocolate base was better than their regular chocolate base.

This was an ok cookie.  Soft, nice chew.  Decently deep chocolate flavor.  Definitely didn't taste odd or vegan.  Nice melty chips.  Better than the regular ones I think, but not a particularly compelling cookie overall.  ***.

Update Review, Dec 2023

As you know from my previous reviews, I have no particular love for Insomnia Cookies, but, I do love freebies, and they do them frequently, and there happens to be one literally on my street corner.  And thus, I find myself eating far more of their cookies than makes sense for someone who generally considered them "meh".

My visits this time all featured seasonal specials, which I enjoyed trying just for variety sake, and, my first ever Deluxe cookie (since not normally included in the free options, I've never splurged for one).

Candy Apple (Fall Seasonal). $3.20.

"Sugar cookie packed with toffee, apples, HERSHEY'S Kisses + M&Ms® MINIS."

This cookie just sounded, well, confused.  Toffee apples are a thing, and fall seasonally appropriate.  But ... why add Hershey Kisses and M&Ms to it?  Yes, those are also fall seasonally appropriate in the trick or treat sense, and are a version of "candy" as in "candy apple" but ... I mostly got this because it just sounded odd.

It tasted basically exactly as I expected.  It was kinda just a simple M&M cookie, but then it had little chewy bits of apple, and little bursts of toffee.  I don't think of chocolate and apples as going together particularly well, and they didn't really.  I did like the different textures, and every component was fine, but, it tasted as muddled flavor-wise as I thought it would.  A nice soft cookie though.  **+.

This seasonal special flavor was $3.20, slightly more than the rest of the classics that are $2.95.

Reese's Peanut Butter Filled Deluxe (Fall Seasonal). $4.95.

"HERSHEY'S dark chocolate cookie + mini REESE'S peanut butter chips filled with the iconic REESE'S peanut butter you're obsessed with."

For Halloween, Insomnia went all in Reese's candies, stuffing this one with Reese's peanut butter and including their peanut butter chips.  No iconic Pieces or cups, but, all the chocolate and peanut butter vibes nonetheless.

The cookie itself was a chocolate cookie, not particularly interesting, not a nice deep brownie like flavor, even though they said it was made with dark chocolate.  Because it is a Deluxe cookie, it is much thicker than the classics.

Reese's Peanut Butter Filled Deluxe: Inside.

The cookie was studded with a few tiny peanut butter chips, but the real peanut butter component was inside, as the center was entirely made of peanut butter.  It was not particularly good peanut butter, and not particularly creamy, but it did taste strongly of peanut butter.  It was much better warm and gooey.

Like most Deluxe cookies, it clocks in a heavier calorie count, which is also expected due to the peanut butter, with 630 calories.  A solid "meh" and not a cookie that I felt was worth eating unless warm and topped with ice cream.  ** plain, *** with ice cream.

This seasonal Deluxe was $5.45, a bit more than the rest of the regular Deluxe at $4.95.  I can't imagine paying that much for this.

Speculoos (Winter Seasonal). $3.20.

"A cookie made with cookies? Nope, you’re not dreaming. Well, maybe you are, but it’s real. Cookie-butter inspired cookie dough with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove."

Ok, so I don't really like Biscoff cookies (e.g. speculoos) but I do love cookie butter, so when I saw this seasonal special I somehow looked right past the fact that it was made more seasonally appropriate with winter spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove).  I was thus a bit surprised when I took my first bite and tasted, well, savory seasoning, and not just delightful sweet cookie butter.  

Frankly, I didn't really taste *any* cookie butter, and mostly just tasted a spiced cookie with some sweet bits (which turned out to be caramel chips and Heath toffee bits).  It was a fine "winter spice cookie", nicely soft, and I liked the pops of caramel/toffee, but it certainly let me down in the cookie butter department.

Like all Insomnia cookies, I appreciated the soft nature, but didn't find it actually that great.  I wouldn't get this flavor again. **+.

This seasonal special flavor was $3.20, slightly more than the rest of the classics that are $2.95.

Update Review, December 2024

By now you know that I don't love Insomnia cookies.  But, they give a lot of random free cookies, and I like free things, and thus, I keep trying more.  Most are pretty average, and not something I'd go purchase, but I've continued to find a few that I do enjoy.

Chocolate Chunk (Vegan). $2.95.

"A vegan cookie that warms your soul with generous amounts of rich, buttery flavor and ooey-gooey (dairy-free) chocolate chunks."

Insomnia makes 3 vegan classic cookies: the birthday cake that I like, the double chocolate chunk that I liked more than the non-vegan one, but still didn't like, and this, the classic chocolate chunk.  It was the last of the vegan cookies that I tried, because chocolate chunk is just kinda boring to me in general, but, I wanted to see if my theory that the vegan regular base really is better than the non-vegan for all of them held true.

And ... it does.  While I still won't rave about this cookie and proclaim it amazing, the soft, strangely sweet, vegan base worked for me.  The edges were less crispy than the non-vegan version, which I also prefer.  Chocolate chunks tasted pretty normal, even if they were dairy free.  The distribution and quantity of the chunks was not great, but not that offensive.

So overall, decent base taste, nicely soft, and some chocolate.  ***.

Peanut Butter Chip. $2.95.

"A total peanut butter stunner. Our soft, sweet peanut butter cookie filled with creamy peanut butter chips."

I opened my bag and was really delighted with the incredible peanut butter aroma.  That said, I still doubted it would be nearly as good as it smelt, as Insomnia cookies do generally let me down.

But ... finally a good Insomnia flavor!  And they aren't overselling with the "peanut butter stunner" description either.  These really did deliver in the peanut department.  The first ingredient?  Not even flour/butter/sugar, it is the peanut butter chips (flour is next), then peanut butter as number three.  Really great peanut butter flavor, and the chips gave even stronger bursts of peanut-y ness.

Standard Insomnia pedigree of a lovely soft cookie with slightly crisp edges, served warm, which truly does kick them up a notch.  ****.

Double Chocolate Mint. $2.95.

"Our take on a favorite flavor combo. A warm dark chocolate cookie with mint chips and chunks of milk chocolate."

I haven't cared for the other chocolate based cookies from Insomnia in the past, but ... I was drawn to the idea of mint chocolate, and decided to take a risk again with a chocolate base.

The base cookie was soft, with lightly crisp edges, like most Insomnia cookies.  It had a decent cocoa flavor, but just not one I found very compelling.  The chocolate chips and mint chips were both nicely melty and reasonably well distributed, although there weren't really that many of the mint, and thus several bites were just chocolate.  I did like the mint chips.

A warm bite with multiple mint chips was fairly pleasant, but overall this just wasn't a cookie I really wanted. **.

White Chocolate Macadamia. $2.95.

Even though I found the white chocolate macadamia to be underwhelming when I had it from Insomnia a while ago, when an event I was at had the choice of chocolate chunk, snickerdoodle, or this, I went for it again. 

And ... yeah, I just don't like these cookies, even though I like everything in it: white chocolate, macadamias, sugar, butter ... how do they turn out so blah?  I don't know.  But I really don't care for these.  The cookie is too crispy, the base flavor isn't very good.  The white chocolate chips are the waxy and blah kind that give white chocolate a bad reputation.  The macadamias somehow aren't even very good.  Do not like.  *+.

Sugar. $2.95.
(December Limited Flavor)

"Simply the best. A melt-in-your-mouth, buttery cookie with hints of vanilla."

I had kinda given up on Insomnia and the regular Classic cookies. But I had a free cookie on my account to redeem, and it could only be a regular Classic - NOT any of the limited time great sounding winter holiday Classics, NOT the vegan ones I had liked more than their regular counterparts.  Just the total standard, basic, Classics. The regular Classics that I had not really liked ... any of.  Boo.

So I took a gamble and tried one I hadn't tried yet: the very, very basic sugar cookie.

It wasn't bad (but it wasn't actually all that good either).  Like all Insomnia cookies, it was served lightly warm.  It was nicely soft, with slightly crisp edges.  And like all Insomnia cookies, when I went to pluck it from the bag when I got home, the bag was soaked through with grease/oil, which always slightly surprises me ... how can a cookie be that oily?

It tasted like a sugar cookie sliced from one of those refrigerated store bought dough rolls and baked off. The kind that my mother certainly would have always turned her nose up at - particularly passing judgement on the mothers who sent their children to bake sales with those as "homemade" cookies, or perhaps even worse, those who showed up at potlucks or family events with them (yes, my mother is a firm believer in truly homemade cookies, and I grew up in a house that always had a full cookie jar, always homemade).  Which is to say, it had an extremely familiar and fairly comforting taste.  "Ah yes, generic store bought sugar cookie dough, I know this!"  It was sweet, buttery, sugary. Basic, but it did the trick.

That said, to me, a sugar cookie is only something I have when I make decorated cookies.  So to me, a sugar cookie is a great *base*, but not a standalone cookie.  It is simple blank canvas ready for far too much icing and sprinkles.  And excuse to just eat more sugar.  Thus it just felt unfinished ... where were the toppings?

***.