As the song says, “Grays skies are gonna clear up,” and they have. Finally, after months and months, spring has descended upon us New York mole people in all her green, tuliped, pollen-filled glory. I’ve relocated my Claritin and my SPF 100 (don’t judge; even Angelina agrees that prevention is the best medicine) and have put on my happy face, as instructed.

Mostly. There have been some big changes afoot in my usually quiet life. Patience, children. I’ll tell you about them in due course. For now, suffice to say that I’m more reluctant than ever to leave my lovely little Brooklyn home.

I will divulge, however, that some days are bitter, some days are sweet, and some days require cookies. When I walked into Du Jour Bakery in Park Slope, a neighborhood bakery that opened last year to accolades, I ostensibly wanted something celebratory. Deep down, I really wanted just a cookie.

But looking at the case, filled with puffy, golden croissants, mini cheesecakes molded into roses, and muffin cups stuffed with monkey bread, I tried to talk myself out of the cookie. You can get a cookie anywhere, logical Me thought. You should get something French here. A pastry perhaps?

As I always do when in doubt I asked an employee for a recommendation. This is always a tricky thing to do. You can never assume that someone else’s taste is akin to your own, especially a stranger’s, and yet I continually hope that someone with “knowledge” will steer me in the right direction.

“The chocolate chip cookie,” the cashier said, “is one of my favorites. You should get that.” Fate.

And this is, truly, a lovely cookie. It is for those who like their cookies chewy and pliant, with just a hint of brown sugar and a modest scattering of dark chocolate chips. This is not a decadent cookie. It is conveniently average. Marginally on the larger side, it is not so large that you’d have trouble finishing it in one sitting. It is thin, but definitely not crisp. I prefer something that I can really bite into, but this worked in a pinch

In fact, this cookie is so thin and soft that I nearly had an accident while walking it over to my table. See that lovely little morsel? That was where I was holding the cookie. Within ten seconds, the cookie started to wilt, and I knew that I was in danger of losing it all to the floor.

 

Luckily, the Forces of Good were on my side; I saved it by dashing over to the table just in time. Gray skies clearing up, indeed.

Du Jour Bakery
365 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215 (map)