I tried 12 fast-food chocolate chip cookies - here’s how it went down.

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I take my chocolate chip cookies VERY seriously around here.

So it just seemed natural that I would do a very (in)formal taste test of all the fast food cookies I could get my hands on. Consider it my public service so you don’t have to waste money on the ones that were truly SO BAD and instead head straight towards the ones that absolutely shocked me by being unreasonably good.

You can watch the whole process on my Youtube Fast Food Cookie Taste Test video (warning: lots of visible crumbs) or you can let me describe it to you here.

A close up of a Wendy's chocolate chip cookie dupe.

The Taste Test Process

First, I went on a little journey to grab all of the fast food chocolate chip cookies I could find.

Here are the competitors:

Carl’s Jr.
Chick fil A
Mcdonald’s
Subway
Jersey Mike’s
Wendy’s
Burger King
Starbucks
Firehouse Subs
Swig
Jimmy John’s
Zupas

Then, I judged each cookie individually and meticulously.

I started by giving each cookie an appearance rating. Were they cute? Thick? Chewy? Crunchy? Do they look like they have enough chocolate? I did not hold back.

Second, I tasted. And listen, I wouldn’t normally consider tasting a bunch of chocolate chip cookies a sacrifice. But there were some that totally were. Like, I helped you dodge a bullet, they were so bad. But some of the cookies??? SO GOOD. No business being that good. I’ll tell you all about what taste rating each cookie received below.
Finally, I rated the cookies’ textures. I may have even waxed poetic about some of them, but you can find out all about that below.

chick fil a cookie copycat recipe on the counter next to some oats and chocolate

The Final Rankings

Okay, here’s what you’ve actually been waiting for. THE RESULTS. Seriously, my winner is going to absolutely gobsmack you.

In a very particular order, from worst to best, here’s how I ranked 12 fast food chocolate chip cookies.

12. Burger King. This was our cheapest cookie and honestly, thank goodness for that. This was so bad. Overdone, crunchy, tasted like tater tots. NOPE.

Appearance: 0, Texture: 0, Taste: 0.

11. Carl’s Jr. This was also not good ha. It had definitely been frozen and looks like it was sliced from a log. It was dry + crumbly.

Appearance: 1, Texture: 1, Taste: 1.

10. Subway. I worked at Subway and I will just say that the cookies I made were better than this. It was thin and honestly tasted like the smell of Subway, no thank youuuuu.

Appearance: 5, Texture: 5, Taste: 2.

9. Starbucks. This was the most expensive cookie! And the taste was not my favorite. It kind of tasted like banana bread and had hints of cinnamon? But it was served warm, so kudos there. Overall, it was dark, burned, and kind of hard to chew.

Appearance: 4, Texture: 8, Taste: 3.

8.Chick fil A. This particular cookie did me dirty. I normally LOVE chicky’s cookies. I even have a copycat recipe for them! But today’s version was way overbaked and I had a hard time breaking it in half. It did look cute though? I would give this one another chance because it is typically a thick cookie with oatmeal, a chewy center / crispy edge, and loads of chocolate.

Appearance: 10, Texture: 2. Taste: 4.

7. Mcdonald’s. The cookie was small and didn’t have a ton of chocolate chips in it. The texture was chewy and tasted like your run of the mill grocery store cookie.

Appearance: 3, Texture: 8, Taste: 5.

6. Firehouse Subs. I think this is a very average cookie. I wouldn’t necessarily seek it out, but I wouldn’t outright reject it. It was soft with a moderately sweet dough and semi sweet chocolate.

Appearance: 7.5, Texture: 6, Taste: 6.

5. Jimmy John’s. This had a Ghirardelli stamp on the bag and you could taste that it was made with quality chocolate. There were lots of types of chocolate chips and a very rich dough. Overall, very sweet.

Appearance: 7.5, Texture: 7.5, Taste: 7.5.

4. Swig. They only have mini chocolate chip cookies and they come in a cup! The cookies were cold (like, just pulled out of the freezer) but very cute. They were nearly underdone and very soft and chewy. The taste kind of had a hint of lemon? Maybe from being next to a lemon cookie in the freezer? IDK. Enjoyed overall.

Appearance: 7, Texture: 8, Taste: 8.

3. Jersey Mikes. This cookie had a very soft-baked vibe with LOADS of chocolate. It looked average, but I’m cool with that.

Appearance: 5, Texture: 9, Taste: 8.5

2. Zupas. This cookie was not like any of the other cookies. It was definitely the most gourmet! With sea salt on the top + a very sweet (strong vanilla) dough, I really liked this one! I will be making a copycat of this cookie, so stay tuned!

Appearance: 9, Texture: 9, Taste: 9.

1. THE WINNER OF IT ALL: Wendy’s Chocolate Chunk Cookie. YOU GUYS. These were unfathomably good. Appearance, taste, texture, the whole gambit was far beyond what I was expecting. I hyper-fixated on these so fast that I literally made an immediate copycat recipe. Here’s my version (it’s spot on) of the Wendy’s Chocolate Chunk Cookie Recipe. I go on & on about what I love about this cookie on my copycat post, so be sure to check it out!

Appearance: 8, Texture: 9.5, Taste: 9.5

A pile of Wendy's chocolate chunk cookie copycats.

There you have it, my hot takes on your local fast food chocolate chip cookie offerings. Some were great, some were mid, and some were down right bad. But now I’m curious – how did my opinion match up with yours? Did I accidentally hate your favorite? Do I need to give a certain restaurant another try? Is there one that I loved that you abhor? TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT!

And if there are any that I missed that I simply must try, let me know.