Where: 72-34 Austin St. Forest Hills, NY, 11375

Critic Rating: 8/10

One of the most popular instagrammable places that have been gaining traction lately is Chip City. They are best known for their huge, soft cookies, and when I say huge, I mean they are literally the size of my whole hand. They could probably pass for a whole (very unhealthy) lunch meal. This week, they launched the new Horchata cookie flavor, and I decided to try it out. 

The first thing that came to my mind when I took a bite was snickerdoodle. The cookie overall tasted very similar to a traditional snickerdoodle cookie. It was cinnamony, with an iconic sugar-crusted top. It also had a very soft, chewy sugar cookie texture on the inside. It really brings you into a warm embrace, bringing me Christmas season flashes. 

What was lacking in this cookie, however, was the Horchata aspect. I guess the idea behind this flavor was that cinnamon-forward flavor that’s associated with Horchata, and the yellow and white creme in the center was supposed to be representative of the rice milk, which I didn’t taste the flavor of. The creme in the center tasted like standard vanilla creme, not too dissimilar to the kind you would find in a doughnut, not giving any sort of rice milk flavor. The colors of the creme were hard to decipher from each other as well. I think it’s a really good cookie, but should be re-labeled as Snickerdoodle, as it resembles that more.  

One of the things I liked most about this cookie however, is that for a sugar cookie base, the sweetness wasn’t alarmingly high. Many of the Chip City sugar cookie base flavors are known for their very saccharine profile. This one was slightly more balanced, and it didn’t feel like I needed to chug a water bottle after two bites. 

Chip City is also really convenient for Townsend Harris students, as they have a location on Austin Street in Forest Hills, only a 5 minute walk from the end of the Q64. It’s a great after school snack for when you find yourself on Austin Street, or if you are really craving cookies. Chip City also delivers on UberEats. 

Overall, I’m giving this an 8/10 because I think that it had a relatively balanced sweetness profile, and a really nice and nostalgic flavor, but I feel like it didn’t live up to its proclaimed ‘Horchata’ label. 

The Horchata flavor will be available at all Chip City locations until this Thursday (10/27), and is on their rotating menu (You can see their weekly menu on their website), so make sure to get it while you can!