Well, Mt. Juliet — you certainly take your chocolate chip cookies seriously, and honestly, we are here for it!
Over the past few weeks, we’ve met some incredibly talented bakers and tasted some truly amazing cookies. The happiness this contest brought our judges — along with some very unwanted calories — is something we'll be talking about for a long time. But enough of the warm fuzzies—- the results are in, so let's get to it!
Now, we have to address a little controversy — yes, really! 😄 This is a Best of MJ competition, which means the winner needs to call Mt. Juliet home. However, fans of two Lebanon bakeries were so passionate about their favorites (getting over 100 nominations!) that we just couldn't say no — and we had to see what we were missing. After further discussion by our judges though, it was determined that in order to keep the integrity of the competition, the winners would need to be from Mt. Juliet. While they aren't eligible to win, I absolutely have to give them the honorable mentions they deserve:
🍪 Durci Chocolate and The Village Sourdough — these two are the real deal. Their cookies were absolutely incredible and either of them could have won this whole thing. Durci has an incredible chocolate shop in Lebanon and The Village Sourdough can be found in Foodland, among other places. If you haven't made the drive to visit either of them, consider this your sign. You will not be disappointed.
Durci Cookie
The Village Sourdough Cookie
Now, on to the main event! Our judging panel consisted of adults and teens (because we know kids love cookies!) — and don't let the teens fool you, they took this to heart. Each cookie was scored on Taste, Texture, Chocolate Chip Ratio, Freshness, the all-important "Would I Buy This Again" factor, and the coveted Wow Factor.
Our contestants were nominated by hundreds of our readers and community residents, and the finalists were chosen based on the results of a local Facebook poll. Here are the official finalists:
🍪 Saradough Bakery-
🍪 Sweet Armenia Bakery-
🍪 Blade's Bread Shed-
🍪 Crumby Bites-
🍪 Emeraude (in collaboration with Cookies and Cravings)-
🍪 Hillside Hangout-
🍪 Billy Goat Coffee Cafe-
🍪 BJ's Wholesale Club
181 Adams Ln, Mt Juliet
Let me just say — this was not an easy job. 🍪😄
All of these cookies were absolutely amazing, and it's easy to see why Mt. Juliet voted for these bakeries as the best of the best. Many of them were incredibly close in flavor, texture, and overall "wow" factor — and our judges did not take this job lightly. There was plenty of debate, a few strong opinions, and maybe even a little friendly trash talk along the way. 😂 We each had our favorites and we were not afraid to go to bat for them!
But after much deliberation, the results are in — and without further ado... here we go! 🎉
🏆 The Golden Chip Award — Best Overall Cookie (Highest Total Score): Sweet Armenia Bakery
Overall, our judges found this cookie to have exceptional flavor—rich and buttery with a subtle hint of salt, a perfectly chewy center, crisp edges for just the right touch of crunch, and a balanced amount of chocolate chips in every bite.
🍪 The Worth Every Crumb Award — Highest "Would I Buy This Again?" Score: Saradough
This cookie stood out with a unique depth of flavor that most cookies lack, along with some of the best-tasting chocolate chips around.
✨ The WOW Cookie Award — Biggest Wow Factor & Most Memorable Cookie: Crumby Bites and Hillside Hangout (tie score)
The Crumby Bites cookie was packed with chocolate and had a soft, chewy texture, while the Hillside Hangout cookie carried a hint of espresso that really brought out the rich flavor of the chocolate chips and the cookie as a whole.
🥛 The Most Dunkable Cookie Award — Best Cookie to Enjoy with Milk: Billy Goat Coffee Cafe
This cookie earned top honors as the ultimate milk companion. Crispy edges, a chewy center, and large, soft chocolate chunks made for the perfect dunking experience. Delicious on its own—but even better with a cold glass of milk nearby.
And there you have it, Mt. Juliet — your Best of MJ: Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Quest winners have been crowned! 🎉 We absolutely loved finding out more about these small local bakers and bakeries. We had so much fun taking you along on this delicious little adventure and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
Stay tuned — next week we'll be sitting down with our Golden Chip Award winner, Sweet Armenia Bakery, for a full feature article. You won't want to miss it! 👀
In the meantime, please go show all of these incredible local bakeries some love. They pour their hearts into what they do, and small businesses truly are the heartbeat of our community. 💛🍪