Having a cookie (or two) when half the year has crumbled away.

Our experience

Wow, how have we arrived at the last day of June, already?  Has half a year already gone by, just like that?!  Last month, we resumed our dessert adventures, albeit by delivery, reviewing an extravagant breakfast pastry box, an assortment of elegant afternoon tea desserts, and a pie slice sampler.   This month, we have started to give you a glimpse of our favourite dessert spots in our Brooklyn Heights / Cobble Hill neighbourhood.  From a rainbow assortment of American-style cakes from Mia’s Bakery to an escapade redolent of honey, cinnamon and cloves at Damascus, we thought we would end the month of June with something small and simple, yet just as sweet.  Just a few minutes away from Damascus, Ella Crown Bakehouse opened its doors on Atlantic Avenue at the beginning of the lockdown here in NYC.   Of white tones, marble and gold features, and a neon light fixture, it certainly beckons the Instagram-loving crowd.  To date, it has focused on offering coffee, cheesecake and cookies.  And it is the latter for which we recommend Ella Crown to you.

Ella Crown sells a variety of chunky cookies: one with mixed nuts, another with walnuts, one with matcha etc.  Our two favourite would have to be the chocolate chip and the dark chocolate almond.  Ella’s chocolate chip cookie is delightfully chocolate-y, rimmed by a crispy edge that yields at the slightest touch as you near the centre.  By contrast, the dark chocolate almond hold its form perfectly, and because of that, certainly knows how to pose for a photo.  😛  Taste-wise, it has discernible cocoa tones.

Almost a year ago now, long-time readers of this dessert blog will remember that we featured NYC’s formidable range of chunky, dinner-plate-sized cookies and home-style cookies in two detailed chapters of our cookie encyclopedia.  Consider this present review of Ella Crown as an update to that list of the best dinner-plate-sized cookies in NYC, and plan for a visit soon.

Our verdict

In a year that has seen the economic landscape as we know it crumble away in the space of a few weeks – where both large conglomerates and smaller family ventures file for bankruptcy protection with increasing frequency – so too has the dessert landscape continued to evolve.  When we first came to NYC four years ago, Levain held dominion as NYC’s cookie tourist hotspot, where its two outlets required carefully planned visits in order to avoid being jostled in long lines.  Fast forward to today, Levain has not been satisfied with two outlets, and has instead, become the Alexander the Great of cookie purveyors, so far conquering five further neighbourhoods of NYC, with a sixth soon to succumb.  And yet, the cookie crowns that Levain (and Chip, our other favourite cookie store) respectively hold are increasingly being challenged by new contenders, including for example, Ella Crown.  What else will the future bring, we wonder…

Dessert adventure checklist

1. ☑ Dessert destination: Ella Crown Bakehouse, 149 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn Heights/Cobble Hill, New York.
2. ☑ Budget: $ ($4.25 each).
3. ☑  Sweet irresistibles: Baked goods.
4. ☑  Must-eat: Chocolate chip cookie, and the dark chocolate almond cookie.
5. ☑  The short and sweet story: Having a cookie (or two) when half the year has crumbled away.