Crumb Trail

RANDOM ORDER COFFEEHOUSE AND BAKERY At NE Alberta’s favorite coffee spot, celebrated pie bakers also roll out a cookie worth mentioning. While not quite the religious experience that Random Order’s vanilla-salted caramel apple pie is, the kitchen’s nutty multidimensional cookies boast a satisfying almond crunch while oozing two types of superdark cocoa buttons. ($2) 1800 NE Alberta St

TWO TARTS BAKERY For the true salt freak, this petite cookie turns the meeting of sweet and savory into a pas de deux. two tarts packs a dulcified punch into its mini chocolate chip fleur de sel cookies, with a combination of dark toffee undertones and big, concentrated sprinkles of crunchy sel de guérande that adds yet another layer of depth to this classic. (80¢) 2309 NW Kearney St

ALMA CHOCOLATE This altar to cocoa, known for its dark chocolate icons painted in edible 23-karat gold and aphrodisiacal bonbons, doesn’t mess around when it comes to chocolate. And that includes the timid little cookies hiding in a corner case, packed with superdark, 74 percent–cacao Dominican chocolate and sporting a buttery, burnished exterior. ($1.25) 140 NE 28th Ave

TASTY N SONS The hottest brunch spot north of Burnside may be known for its frittatas, hashes, and french toast, but the baked-to-order chocolate chipper will change the way you think about mornings. Get good and comfortable to dive into this plate of amber dough, sprawled out like hardened magma with a warm, gooey core and a cool scoop of vanilla ice cream slowly melting on top. ($5) 3808 N Williams Ave.

COURIER COFFEE Formerly a bicycle-only delivery service, Courier’s downtown café pedals past the rest with help from pastry whiz kid Leala Humbert. By day, she tastes and tests high-end cocoa for Cacao. By night, she perfects her buttery half-dome wonders in a cramped convection oven by layering 72 percent Arriba cocoa from Ecuador within doughy strata. ($1) 923 SW Oak St

KEN’S ARTISAN BAKERY Even the most ravenous cookie fiend will find a challenge at Northwest Portland’s go-to spot for rustic French breads and pastries. The Valrhona Chocolate Chunk Cookies are hulking frisbees of chewy dough dotted with superlative hunks of extra-bitter chocolate full of fruity notes. And to make up for the sugar haze that hits after consuming this family-size cookie, Ken’s has the critical crunch to-chew ratio down to a science. ($2.25) 338 NW 21st Ave

PEARL BAKERY For guilty gluttons—those who can’t help but squeeze the last dollop of raw dough from the Pillsbury tube—this downtown fixture has you covered. The house Chocolate Chunk Cookie is a lofty mound of slightly underbaked dough studded with pecans and a hint of orange zest to cut through the buttery behemoth. ($1.50) 102 NW Ninth Ave

MEAT CHEESE BREAD We hoped we’d hit the jackpot when we spotted jars of fresh cookies at this killer Buckman sandwich shop, and indeed, these nut-filled confections prove every bit as satisfying as their sandwich counterparts. The crumbling waves of blond and brown dough, tumbled with buttery pecans and crackling Maldon salt, offer a roller-coaster ride of taste and texture. ($1.95) 1406 SE Stark St

OUI PRESSE No place serves the back-of-the-bag classic better than this relative newcomer on SE Hawthorne Boulevard. The kitchen specializes in small, homemade batches of perfectly bronzed, buttery-to-the-finish archetypes, and the “afterschool special” of milk and cookies ($2.50) will take the edge off the worst of days. ($1.25) 1740 SE Hawthorne Blvd