Chewy, gooey, crispy, crunchy, sweet and salty.

Maybe that sounds like a radio jingle, but we’re happy to sing the praises of the Breakup Cookie, a signature item at Church Street Coffee & Books. This scrumptious cookie has a major following in Birmingham, and while it might not actually mend a broken heart, it’s definitely a mood-lifter.

“I would say the Breakup Cookie pretty much is the Church Street name,” said Cal Morris, who owns the shop with his wife, Heather. “If anybody brings someone in, they’re like, ‘You have to try this cookie.’”

The Morrises, who founded the business in 2011, have created a welcoming space in Mountain Brook, combining the virtues of a cozy coffee shop, carefully curated bookstore and social hangout. Their Breakup Cookie has become a standout in the bakery case, but Cal Morris says Church Street aims to be more than just a grab-and-go destination.

“For me and Heather, the passion and desire behind it was, ‘How do we create a space like a dinner party?’ Books are important to me, and it just feels like home,” Morris said in an interview with AL.com. “And like every dinner party, you want good drinks, you want good food and that’s kind of what it flowed out of.”

Church Street regulars know all about the Breakup Cookie, which has been featured in several “best of” lists over the years and earned kudos from The Food Network, Cooking with Paula Deen, Insider.com, Birmingham magazine and more. If you’re a newcomer to the treat — or simply want to know more about it — here’s a handy primer.

WHAT’S A BREAKUP COOKIE?

It’s a chocolate chip cookie, baked every day in small batches at Church Street Coffee & Books, 81 Church St. in Crestline Village. The Breakup Cookie is the most popular item at Church Street, and has been a favorite with customers for more than a decade. “My wife Heather, who was putting (the menu) together, just couldn’t find a good chocolate chip cookie,” Cal Morris said. “A baker of ours actually baked them to break up with her boyfriend. Heather just tasted it, and she was like, ‘This is the cookie.’”

WHY WAS A CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE ESSENTIAL?

“Heather’s desire was ‘We just want to do simple well,’’” Morris said. “At the time, it was kind of the birth of ‘new wave’ coffee, when it was more about new ingredients or new takes on certain things. And Heather was just, like, ‘I want to do simple well.’ Peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies are kind of what we all grew up with.”

WHERE DID THE RECIPE COME FROM?

The cookie recipe originally was created by Jacques Torres, a French pastry chef and chocolatier, and adapted by cookbook author and writer David Leite for The New York Times. The recipe accompanied a 2008 article about the science of making a perfect chocolate chip cookie. In 2021, the Times ranked this treat as No. 1 on a list of readers’ most-loved chocolate chip cookie recipes.

WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS?

The recipe includes butter, two types of sugar, eggs, two types of flour, three types of chocolate chips, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla extract and sea salt.

“We cream the butter and the two types of sugar for five minutes, and then you have to slowly add one egg at a time,” Morris said in a 2016 video for the Food Network. “And then you have to wait five more minutes, and then you have to slowly add the flour into it, and let it go for another five minutes. You always have to go slowly. And then we add three different types of chocolate chips.”

IS THE COOKIE DIFFICULT TO MAKE?

“No, it’s not. It’s just time-consuming,” Morris told AL.com. “The dough has to set. We do double batch now in prep, but we don’t want to get where you’re buying a huge 50-quart mixer, where you’re doing like 12 batches. We keep the batch size pretty small. We have one baker who comes in, does dry prep and makes them, in house, every day.”

WAS IT A SUCCESS IMMEDIATELY?

Church Street Coffee & Books opened in summer 2011 and added the Breakup Cookie to its menu about 6-8 months later, Morris said. The cookie took a little while to catch on, he said, but soon became a hit with customers. Price: $2.25 per cookie.

HOW POPULAR IS IT?

Church Street currently sells about 100-150 Breakup Cookies per day, Morris said. The shop sold even more of the cookies before the coronavirus pandemic, he said, recalling when folks would come in and order dozens of cookies every day. Although buying trends have changed, the Breakup Cookie still rules.

WHAT DOES IT TASTE LIKE?

“I would just say it’s a nice balance of tastes,” Morris said. “And texture — you get a little harder around the edges, with a little softer in the middle. There’s the salt on top, and we use 60 percent cacao chips. It’s just a nice balance. Nothing’s overwhelming.”

HOW DID YOU DECIDE ON THE SIZE OF THE COOKIE?

“It probably just happened that way,” Morris said, laughing. “Let’s just say there were some disagreements when it was first coming out. Heather likes ‘em more plump. So it was: ‘How do it keep them a little doughy? And aesthetically, what looks nice?’ Flat cookies just look stale.”

WHAT SHOULD WE DRINK WITH A BREAKUP COOKIE?

“A cappuccino with a half pump of vanilla and a little cinnamon sprinkled on top,” Morris suggested. “We make our own vanilla.”

WHAT MAKES THE COOKIE SPECIAL?

“What makes the cookie special are the people behind my counter,” Morris said. “It’s hospitality. I truly believe if the employees of Church Street weren’t delivering, I don’t think this cookie would be anywhere close to where it’s at. For me, for 12 years, the majority of the people who have been behind my counter really buy into hospitality, And I think that’s what makes it special.”

WHEN CAN WE GET THE BREAKUP COOKIE?

Church Street Coffee & Books is open daily, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. There’s an online shop, as well, that includes tins of mini Breakup Cookies for the holidays.

WHAT ELSE DOES CHURCH STREET HAVE?

Coffee and tea are on the menu, of course, including espresso, cappuccino and flavored lattes. Church Street also offers muffins, scones, cake slices (like pumpkin loaf and gingerbread loaf), peanut butter cookies, mud bars, ginger bites, Snickerdoodle cookies and more. One item that’s been growing in popularity is a treat called the Tree Hugger. “It’s a cross between a granola bar and a cookie,” Morris said. “There’s a lot of butter that makes it soft. It’s sweetened with maple syrup, but it has flax seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, coconut, raisins. We’ll sell 60 of those, 70 of those a day.”