If you are a long time reader or follow me on social media, it’s no secret that I have a bit of a cookie obsession.  A visit to Blondie’s Kitchen Pop Up at Selfridge’s in London was going to be a treat on my continual quest to find a good cookie in London (it really is a cookie desert of over twenty years in my opinion) – shortbread biscuits don’t count.

A cookie is a simple treat that pretty much makes most people happy or evokes memories of childhood.  When I fly, I always bring cookies with me in my snack bag and those cookies have made me new friends during delays, helped me score an empty row of seats and a free bottle of wine from the flight attendant I shared cookies with and provided a wonderful treat in flight when snacks are lacking.  In every city I’ve visited, I go in search of a good cookie or fantastic local bakery.  Cookies for me are small bites of happiness.  Cookies to my gym routine are destructive.  Cookies to my doctor are on the “do not eat” list.  I’m not sure when cookies became the enemy – even gluten free cookies get a bad rap.  So when I read on Secret London’s Facebook page of a Milk & Cookies Pop Up Shop at Selfridges called Blondie’s Kitchen which would only be open for one month, I was intrigued and ready to be bad and go off my diet for good cookies.  Even better was that my trip to Edinburgh & London would coincide with the final days of the pop up shop so I was able to experience the cookies first hand.

Blondie’s Kitchen is a new venture by two London chefs, both blondes hence the name.  On a visit to New York City, they happened upon a Milk & Cookies shop, MilkBar, and realizing there was nothing like that in London (I’ve been lamenting the horrible cookie scene in London for over 20 years!) they decided to open up their own.  Starting with a small pop up venture inside the Old Street Station they sold out immediately and realized there was a demand for their milk & cookies (cookies are much easier to eat in my opinion than the cupcakes sold by Lola’s cupcakes at many train stations). Their next pop up shop opportunity was at Selfridge’s Food Hall, which is big time exposure and prompted many stories to be written about their indulgent treats.  They are now working on an online shop to complement their catering business to sell direct to consumers. Long term is a physical shop and hopefully dreams of competing with the likes of Ben’s Cookies in the city.

Before I had a chance to taste the cookies, my friend would get there first as I put the Blondie’s Kitchen Milk & Cookies Pop Up Shop at Selfridge’s Food Hall on his London Itinerary.  He was in cookie heaven and was able to enjoy the cereal milk as well.  His Instagram and Facebook post let me know that I was in for a treat during my visit.

As a kid (and maybe a bit today) the best part of cereal was always the leftover milk that you could drink.  Well, blondie’s kitchen captures those milk memories in bottles today – choose from Frosted Flakes, Coco Pops as well as regular milks to enjoy with your cookies.

It took me a while to find their stand as I entered Selfridge’s from Oxford Street rather than the Food Hall side street for which they had a great location near the entrance as Selfridge’s is highlighting local businesses.

There were two ladies working the stand and I mentioned I read about them and was from the U.S.  They had a plate of samples and described each cookie on the stand as they had me try most of the flavors. I’m not a peanut butter or coconut fan so passed on those samples but was rewarding my taste buds with new cookies and that’s always a great experience.  Their cookies are a blend of unique ingredients of today often smashed up with candy favorites like kinder bars and the indulgent cookie “get stuffed” has two favorites – Oreo cookies crumbled on top of a Nutella filled cookie.  For me, the simple milk chocolate and the double chocolate with tahini and sesame seeds were winners.

I was really tempted by their signature cookie sandwich – two cookies with homemade honeycomb chocolate mousse in between.  But I was on cookie overload after the samples to even consider that treat.

They also serve a Gluten Who? Cookie which is a peanut butter cookie made with almond milk and were introducing their raspberry and coconut cookie.  I bought three cookies – one to enjoy now and two to bring home.  The cookies were on the larger side of a normal cookies (so about two servings) and priced at £3 per cookie which was reasonable.

The soft, chewy cookies definitely had a good flavor and held up for a few days retaining that soft texture. I hope that Blondie’s Kitchen does get the next phase up and running soon as I’d finally love to say I have a favorite cookie in London to add to my cupcakes and chocolate walking tour list.  Pop Up Shops are great ways to enjoy a city’s food and support small and growing businesses as they expand their dreams.  I’m glad I could experience the Blondie’s Kitchen Pop Up at Selfridges and look forward to the day I can walk into their shop to order cookies and declare that London is no longer a cookie desert.