Consumer Reports tests tasty chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate chip cookies can be a great lunchbox treat or after-school snack. If you don't have time to bake them yourself, there's no shortage of ready-made chocolate chip cookies. So which ones are the best?

Trained tasters at Consumer Reports tackled the crumby job of tasting 18 different chocolate chip cookies. Many packaged cookies rated just OK. They were dry and gritty, including the top-seller, Chips Ahoy.

Skip the Weight Watchers as well. They had the fewest calories and some fiber but were the lowest rated. The tasters were left with a chalky-mouth feeling, and the chips were gritty. And each cookie still packed in 90 calories.

Instead, Consumer Reports says splurge on the top-rated chocolate chip cookie from Tate's Bake Shop. It was the only one to rate excellent. With big butter and chocolate flavors, it's probably not surprising the Tate's were also the highest in fat and calories. Tate's chocolate chip cookies are sold in specialty supermarkets, such as Whole Foods.

For about half the cost, 37 cents a serving, Pepperidge Farm Double Chocolate Nantucket Dark Chocolate cookies were the next best. They're big in chocolate flavor.

Four of the chocolate chip cookies Consumer Reports tested came from fast-food restaurants. Dunkin' Donuts Triple Chocolate Chunk didn't rate as well as those from Starbucks, McDonald's and Subway, which all rated very good. But you might want to make eating any of them an occasional, on-the-run indulgence, as none is low calorie or low cost.