On the recordThe Flour
Janie's Mill
Ashkum, IL · 90 miles southOrganic, stone-milled to order, one grade. Stone milling keeps the germ in, which is where the flavor lives.
The record
The suppliers.On the record.
Every name behind the cookie, in two files: what goes into every bake, and what rotates in by the drop. On the record means it is in the recipe today. Under evaluation means it is still being tested against the same blind standard.
File one
In everycookie.
The base build. These names are in the dough no matter which two flavors are on the docket.
On the record
On the recordThe Butter
Nordic Creamery
Westby, WICultured, 85% butterfat. The extra five points over standard butter is where the chew lives.
On the recordThe Eggs
Slagel Farms
Fairbury, ILPasture-raised, already standing behind the eggs on Chicago's best menus. You can see the difference in the yolk before you taste it.
On the recordThe Vanilla
Nielsen-Massey
Waukegan, ILBourbon Madagascar vanilla paste, flecks visible in the raw dough. Paste, not flavoring.
On the recordThe Finishing Salt
Jacobsen Salt Co.
Netarts Bay, OregonHand-harvested flake salt from the Oregon coast for the finish. A short list of one unless something beats it in a blind pass.
On the recordThe Sugar
India Tree
Seattle, WAMuscovado wherever a recipe wants deeper molasses than commodity brown sugar can give.
On the recordThe Malt
Soda Fountain
Colfax, WIMalted milk powder made in Wisconsin since the soda-fountain era. The quietest upgrade a cookie can carry.
File two
By thedrop.
The rotation. These enter the dough only when a flavor on the docket calls for them, and each one is named when it does.
On the recordThe Dark Chocolate
Republica Del Cacao
Single-origin · 65%Chosen for the flagship after documented side-by-sides. Reads as fruit and roast, not just sweetness.
On the recordThe Milk Chocolate
Blommer
Chicago HQ · since 1939A Chicago chocolate name since 1939. Chosen in blind side-by-sides against the fashionable imports.
On the recordThe Cocoa
Blommer
Chicago HQSame maker as the milk chocolate, so the chocolate argument stays one supplier deep.
On the recordThe Oats
Janie's Mill
Ashkum, IL · same mill as the flourHeritage rolled oats off the same stones. If the flour is Janie's Mill, the oats had no business being anything else.
On the recordThe Espresso
New Mexico Piñon Coffee
Albuquerque, NMThe far outlier, and it had to earn the seat. Nothing closer behaved the same way in the dough.
On the recordThe Spices
The Spice House
Chicago, IL · Old TownSpice merchants since 1957, with walk-in pickup in Old Town. The likely anchor for every spice a future drop calls for.
Under evaluationThe Cranberries
Honestly Cranberry
Wisconsin Rapids, WIFourth-generation Wisconsin farm, unsweetened, heirloom vines. On file for an oat-forward exhibit.
Where it all ends up
The Kitchen.
One licensed commercial kitchen in Chicago. Two flavors a month, batches small enough to get right. Every drop's full sourcing record is published here, on the record.
For the record
Allergens.
Everything is baked in one licensed shared commercial kitchen that also handles peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, milk, eggs, and soy. Each exhibit lists its own allergens on its page and its label.
Judged onthe evidence.
The sourcing is the argument. The cookie is the proof. Two flavors a month, four to a case.