Rick’s Bakery Has Most Traditional, Delicious Cookies

Rick’s Bakery April 14, located on College Avenue. Photo by Natalie Demaree for The Arkansas Traveler.

Originally published April 22, 2019 for The Arkansas Traveler.

Cookies are an important dessert in the American culture whether it be for the holiday season or as a congratulatory treat.

This week, I drove around Fayetteville trying cookies to figure out which cookie place is the best in town. Here’s a ranking of the places I went to:

In last place is Insomnia Cookies. Insomnia opened recently on Dickson Street where the Waffle House used to be. It is known for cookie deliveries until 3 a.m., but unfortunately, this availability comes with a trade-off of the taste and quality of the cookies.

I ordered The Sixpack, which is a box of six of Insomnia’s traditional cookies for $8.80 before tax, and got two double-chocolate-chunk cookies, one chocolate-chunk cookie, an oatmeal-raisin cookie, a confetti cookie and a peanut-butter-chip cookie.

My favorite was the double-chocolate-chip cookie. It was sweet and had melted chocolate chunks in it, but these cookies overall aren’t anything new. They are just a classic cookie, only without having to work for it. When I got my box of cookies, I was surprised and a little disappointed to find that my oatmeal-raisin cookie was broken in half.

I can see how Insomnia would be a great, midnight-snack craving, and the delivery factor is a great incentive, but I probably would never go during the day with better options available.

In second place was Whimsy Cookie Company, which also opened recently on College Avenue next to Starbucks.

Walking in, the amount of pink decorations in the shop overwhelmed me a bit because it was not what I had expected for a cookie place, but I was impressed by the quick and kind customer service.

At Whimsy, I ordered the Chocolate Gooey Cookie, which cost $2 before tax. It was delicious and just like it says in the name: it was very gooey. The texture reminded me of biting into a warm chocolate brownie. That being said, this cookie was very rich, and I couldn’t finish it all in one sitting because of that. But I came back a little later and finished the last bit with a glass of milk. Nabisco advertisers may claim that Oreos are milk’s favorite cookie, but I would say that the Chocolate Gooey Cookie from Whimsy Cookie Company goes along with milk even better.

Overall, this cookie taught me that I need to stay away from Whimsy if I care anything about my health. These cookies are too dangerous and too good.

Rick’s Bakery on College Avenue takes first place in this cookie ranking. Rick’s is also located on College Avenue and has been in town since 1980, according to the website.

The customer service at Rick’s always impresses me and always keeps me wanting to go back. They are so nice and quick to serve you. I also love the convenience of having a lot of seating at the bakery– something that makes them stand out among the other cookie places.

I got the large Tie Dye Cookie, which is a sugar cookie with royal icing that costs $2 before tax.

There is something special about a Rick’s cookie. Their cookies are the best because they are baked to perfection and not too sweet. This Tie Dye Cookie looked really cool too. The icing was red, orange and white and in a tie-dye pattern. It was hard on the outside and chewy on the inside just as a sugar cookie should be. I’ll definitely be going back to Rick’s for all my cookie needs (and wants.)

There are a good variety of cookie places for this college town to choose from, each tailoring to specific needs. My favorite cookie place in town is Rick’s Bakery because of its high quality, incredible taste and nice ambiance of the bakery.