Blessed by the Potato

Nikki made a dangerous gamble, going for a healthy oatmeal pumpkin cookie with raisins (blech) against my tried-and-true brownie cookie with peanut butter chips. Both were soft-textured cookies, so no one could get the upper-hand based purely on texture.

The judges were impressed with both cookies, and smiles were to be found all around. Several people independently reported that Nikki’s cookie was “like a muffin”, and mine had an “incredible brownie quality while still being a cookie.” I have to say, for a healthy cookie with pumpkin no less, Nikki put up a fierce fight. While I picked out the raisins, I was nonetheless pleased with the taste and texture of her cookie. Surprisingly this was her first cookie battle — but no mercy is shown upon the newblars purely for being new. If there was, well… this might have turned out to be a very different match-up.

In the end, experience prevailed and I got to keep my title, with two of three judges picking my cookie. It was by the skin of my teeth though: though the judge that voted for Nikki’s cookie admitted that it was the health benefits that gave her the edge, the other two judges said that on purely taste merits alone it was a tough call to make. I can’t rest on my laurels any more, assuming my best cookie ever title is unassailable.

I think the lesson we learned here today is that in a cookie showdown, everyone is a winner.