Gideon's Bakehouse Cookie Flavors, Ranked Worst To Best
Gideon's Bakehouse has two locations in central Florida: in the Disney Springs shopping district and Winter Park at the East End Market. Disney Springs typically has a wait of at least 20 minutes to enter, but Winter Park usually is much less. Inside, the Bakehouse offers giant cookies weighing roughly half a pound each. You can also purchase beautiful and delicious cakes that rotate regularly, candles, pins, sticks, and even clothing. In Disney Springs, you can also order a variety of cold brew coffees. Our personal favorite is the peanut butter cold, and we never miss an opportunity to snatch up one of these tasty coffees.
Gideon's Bakehouse is no doubt unique and even has its own origin story. According to Gideon's, the founder, Steve Lewis, purchased an old cookbook published in 1898. Inside, a young baker named Gideon had doodled and written notes alongside the recipes to suit his cookie dreams. The bakehouse's namesake longed to become a baker, and these bakeries help realize Gideon's dreams.
Each month, new cookies get rotated onto Gideon's cookie menu, but there are several available year-round. Daily, you can order Original Chocolate Chip, Pistachio Toffee, Peanut Butter Crunch, Banana Bread Chocolate Chip, Cookies & Cream, and Triple Chocolate. For a taste of everything, consider the bites. These little cookies are covered in chocolate and are a mix of popular flavors as well as some other limited options. During our most recent visit in December, Gideon's offered two holiday cookies: Kris Kringle and Krampus.
10. Cookies & Cream Cookie
Gideon's says that the Cookies & Cream cookie is a "cult cookie" because it has a fairly intense, opinionated following. Yes, even though it's our least favorite, it's still that good. This cookie begins with a vanilla bean cookie base with loads of chocolate sandwich cookies. These Oreos add a chocolate flavor as well. On top, you get a bunch of crushed-up chocolate cookies with cream still clinging to the cookie. As a result, this cookie cream adds a sort of frosting to the top of the larger cookie.
While we love an Oreo, this is not our favorite Gideon's cookie. Combining an already good cookie but taking out more of that cream taste means a reinvented Oreo cookie, with, in our opinion, not necessarily a better result. We love this cookie's concept, but in execution, it tastes primarily like an Oreo.
You get even smaller bits of cookie throughout the vanilla bean base. And oddly enough, the Oreo topper cookie pieces on the top are a little on the soft side rather than the crunchy Oreo side. Also, this cookie isn't winning any beauty contests anytime soon. The other cookies at Gideon's are quite pretty, but that is just not the case with this one. Unfortunately, for us, that semi-ugly appearance doesn't help the cookie at all. Just looking at it in the case, you probably wouldn't choose it unless you happen to be in love with the cookie and cream flavor.
9. Banana Bread Chocolate Chip Cookie
Freshly baked banana nut bread is such a homey feel. Gideon's has created a cookie that harnesses this deliciousness. And it is so good, in fact, that it changed the menu. According to the Gideon's staff we talked to on our visit, this cookie found a semi-permanent home on the menu in the beginning half of 2022. It was so popular that customers and staff more or less begged to add it to the regular menu, at least for now. This cookie begins with a base of vanilla bean coffee cookie dough mixed with ripe bananas and chocolate. You get dark and semisweet chips with this one. Plus, on the top, it is accented by candied walnuts and little pieces of banana chips.
With this cookie, the banana comes through exceptionally strong. You may not be expecting it to be as powerful as it is, and if you're used to mild banana bread, this may be a little bit of an unwelcome surprise. We found the walnuts on top a welcome addition but thought they could have been more candied and toasted than they were. Though the cookie should have banana chips on top, we didn't really notice any, unfortunately. While this is a favorite of many, we didn't enjoy it as much as others. What's more, we even found this one oddly salty and not as sweet. We welcome unique flavors but feel our banana bread is best when it's a sweet treat.
8. Pistachio Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookie
If you're looking for a chocolate chip cookie that takes the flavor to a whole new level, the Pistachio Toffee Chocolate Chip cookie is an absolute must. Gideon's takes its classic and beloved Original Chocolate Chip and mixes it with some tasty crunchy toffee. Then, as if that weren't enough, while they finish it off with a nice topping of chocolate chips, they also include an unexpected crunch: salty pistachio. Together, these flavors take the chocolate chip cookie and elevate it to something extra special and worth visiting the bakehouse.
We very much enjoyed this one. You first notice the little flecks of green from the pistachios hidden amongst the big chocolate chips. You'll get that traditional chocolate chip flavor we love when you bite into it, but with a little extra crunch. The toffee of the crunch has a very mild flavor, and we wish it were a little stronger. However, the pistachio is a fabulous addition. Since you don't always get a taste like this with cookies, it's a pleasant diversion from what we've come to expect from a chocolate chip cookie. We would like to see even more pistachio chips to have it be a more featured flavor. Understandably, bakers don't want flavors like these to be too overwhelming, but we'd still love to see even more going on here. Usually, toffee elicits a slight sticky teeth feel, but since there's not much toffee here, there's not much of that going on.
7. Original Chocolate Chip Cookie
In the world of cookies, chocolate chip cookies may very well be king, and if you've had one before, you may have a very firm belief in what the best chocolate chip should taste and feel like. And while we're not here to say your grandma's original, tried-and-true recipe favorite is wrong, this Original Chocolate Chip cookie could give it a serious run for its money. Gideon's claims that its recipe took 15 years to create and then perfect, but we think the time was well spent.
Though quite large, this cookie is basically just a typical chocolate chip cookie covered in big chocolate chips all over the top. We enjoyed the texture of this cookie, and the flavor was perfect. It straddles the line of feeling homemade while also being professionally delicious and crave-worthy sweet. Obviously, this cookie is much more basic than others available at the bakehouse regularly, but we still really enjoyed it, even if it wasn't our favorite cookie of the bunch. In fact, the only real criticism we can offer here is that this one is just a little simple.
6. Triple Chocolate Chip Cookie
Why have regular chocolate chip cookies when you can have triple chocolate? Despite the name, this cookie actually has five different types of chocolate. Gideon's says that some of these tasty chocolatey bits come from Ghiradelli (one of our favorite chocolate chip brands) and Callebaut, among others. Bakers also put delicious and creamy chocolate ganache into the mix as the cookie is being prepared. All of this love is obvious the moment you bite into it.
The cookie is rich and thick. It tastes and feels similar to a decadent brownie with the moist feel inside the cookie and then the generous amounts of chocolate chips covering the top. Knowing that this is the base for the Krampus cookie skews our taste of it a bit because it feels like the cookie is strangely missing something. There's so much chocolate going on here that only the most devoted chocolate lover is going to find themselves reaching for this one on a regular basis. The richness of the chocolate can be a little overpowering. However, if you want a chocolate cookie that will totally spoil you, this is going to be your absolute best option. A word of warning, though: This cookie needs a side of milk.
5. Kris Kringle Cookie
Like the Krampus cookie, the Kris Kringle is the other December limited edition cookie. And just like any holiday tradition, this cookie is full of all kinds of elements. It's like a mix of several Christmas cookies your family loves, all rolled into one with coconut, caramel, vanilla, coffee, and white chocolate. The very first thing you'll notice is that this cookie seems to have a kind of sparkle to it, thanks to the crunchy coarse sugar on top of the white chocolate chips.
The first flavor you get in this cookie is coffee. Considering it only appears in small grounds, that's a little surprising. However, after the coffee, you get a caramelly and vanilla flavor. The coconut is extremely mild, but you do get some slight hints of it. The white chocolate flavor is really only present in the chips, which we enjoy, but we wish they were a little softer. While we find the texture of this cookie pleasing, we're a little stumped on the flavor. It's certainly exciting and different, but the combination of flavors feels like there is just too much going on at once. After all, those sweet flavors are also complemented by the saltiness of sea salt throughout.
We look forward to this flavor throughout the year, but, considering the many flavors, it's one best tried and not eaten entirely on your own. Gideon's also claims that there's some Christmas cheer in this cookie, and we think even the biggest grinch would agree.
4. Peanut Butter Crunch Cookie
Make no mistake about it: Gideon's knows how to do extraordinary cookies, but they also do classic favorites very well. The Peanut Butter Crunch cookies are almost entirely peanut butter with big pieces of crunchy peanut on top. Little peanut chips cover the top along with little flecks of salt. This is a great cookie for little kids to enjoy since the peanut butter chips are small and it has a source of protein (albeit minuscule) in the peanut butter. The peanut butter chips also melt a whole lot slower than the chocolate chips melt. In the hot Florida sun, this is always an important consideration.
We absolutely adore this classic cookie and typically order it every time we visit the bakehouse. As you probably expect, it tastes a whole lot like a peanut because it has a great deal of peanut butter inside. It's sweet and salty with a satisfying peanut crunch. The salt on top also does a nice job of emphasizing that salty goodness. While many of these cookies benefit from a glass of milk, we recommend pairing this one with Gideon's peanut butter cold brew coffee. In addition to the peanut butter taste you would expect from such a coffee, you also get a nice amount of cocoa powder to create that peanut butter chocolate goodness.
3. Gideon's Bites
What could possibly make a Gideon's cookie better? How about dipping it in chocolate? The bakeshops sell bags of Gideon's Bites, which contain several different types of cookies that are dipped in chocolate. Instead of dipping the whole cookie, Gideon's quarters the cookies, dips them, then decorates the top. In one bag, you'll often get more than one flavor of cookie, and you won't really know what you get until you bite into the cookie. Sometimes, the bag even contains dipped cookies that are limited edition or rarely available. The mystery makes it extra special.
You may imagine that these Gideon's Bites could be something like a sample of many flavors of cookies. And while that sounds great, these bites are not samples. Instead, the chocolate coating creates an entirely new cookie, offering you a unique snacking experience. The chocolate coating adds a deeper flavor that compliments any larger Gideon's cookie, and for someone looking for a snack that's a little different or doesn't want to commit to just one cookie, then the bites may be perfect. We should note, however, that if you are purchasing the bites in a bag from Disney Springs, the bites are $12, which is twice the price of the other cookies. You also can't choose the bites you take home in the bag. However, when you order ahead in Winter Park, you can select which bites you want to purchase. When purchasing individual bites, each one will be $2.
2. Cookie Vom Krampus Cookie
History shares that the Krampus creature is a devil-like monster that lurks during the Christmas season to frighten the children who have not been on their best behavior throughout the year. In essence, he is the opposite of St. Nicholas or Santa Claus. Playing into the dark but lighthearted feel of Gideon's, the Cookie Vom Krampus takes the beloved Triple Chocolate Cookie and adds green Andes mint candies to it, as if causing mischief in the cookie itself.
The cookie is a beautiful brown with peeks of green popping through. Those green peaks don't look like typical chips. Instead, they are chunks of the actual candy. The cookie is richly chocolatey and fabulously salty. There are also flecks of salt across the top in between the giant chocolate chip pieces. We love how refreshing this one is, but it is also very, very chocolatey. We highly recommend enjoying this one with an ice-cold glass of milk on the side because it is so decadent. You'll also notice that Gideon's staff will package the Krampus cookie separately from your other order. They don't want that Andes flavor leaching into your other cookies. While the chocolate is ever present, that Andes mint flavor is just so robust. For this reason, if you do not like mint, we do not recommend this one. However, if you enjoy minty chocolate, be sure you don't miss this flavor throughout December.
1. Coffee Cake Cookie
As if Gideon's cookies weren't special enough, it also offers special cookie events each day. For instance, from opening until stock runs out in the morning, you can order a Coffee Cake cookie. Then, from sunset until it sells out, you can request a Dark Coffee Cake. Plus, at two points in the day, when you catch the timing just right, you can hit "hot cookie hour." During this time, you can order a warm cookie with ice cream. That's right — ice cream.
While we didn't get to order a Dark Coffee Cake cookie, we did get to Gideon's in Disney Springs in time for the Coffee Cake cookie. Honestly, it's worth heading to Gideon's early in the day simply to enjoy this one. It's undoubtedly one of our favorites and very hard to beat. The vanilla bean coffee base cookie creates the foundation, and then it gets covered in a cinnamon strudel. Imagine the moistest and most tasty coffee cake you've ever had, add some cinnamon, and you'll have had this cookie. We love ordering a couple, bringing them home, and enjoying them over a few days for breakfast. Seriously, there may be nothing better than this cookie paired with a delicious latte. If you simply can't wait to eat it, consider ordering it alongside a cold brew. Gideon's recommends the Pumpkin Chai Nitro Cold Brew to complement it, but we think it's hard to beat the peanut butter cold brew in Disney Springs.