“C is for cookie, it’s good enough for me,” a furry blue monster once famously opined. But more often than not that Cookie Monster was seen losing it over classic chocolate chip versions. And he isn’t alone in his obsession. Far beyond the borders of Sesame Street, there’s nothing like a chocolate cookie to cause a stampede at a holiday party.
Spiced with nutmeg, sprinkled with crushed potato chips, studded with nuts or scented with orange, chocolate pairs well with practically everything and provides the perfect starting point for any number of cookie recipes. Here we’ve gathered an array of options from our friends at Food52, Food & Wine, “Milkshake” recording artist-turned-bona fide chef Kelis, popular food blogger Coco Cake Land and other illustrious bakers. Choices range from crispy thin cookies to chewy variations to über-chocolatey monsters that defy categorization.
Are you a wholesome peanut butter-and-chocolate cookie type or more of a salted chocolate chip cookie gal? What’s more important to you: crackling edges or fudgy insides? Nutty? Minty? Milk or dark? Distilling what type of chocolate cookie we prefer is a question we must all answer for ourselves and, truthfully, can take decades upon decades to determine. So your best bet is to make a few different batches and let your family and friends decide what their favorite recipe is. Whatever the result, you will be ever-after known as the party host with the most… cookies. Just be sure to have plenty of glasses of milk on hand too.
Want more baking inspiration?
How To Upgrade Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
8 Rules for Altering Baking Recipes
Easy Milk & Cookie Shooters Are PureHoliday Fun
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
From the Guittard Chocolate Cookbook comes a recipe that’s a little spicy, sweet, fluffy and full of comforting winter flavors.Get the recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies here. (Photograph by Antonis Achilleos)
Ultra Thin Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Cookies for breakfast? You might just get away with it if the sweet in question is this crispy, chocolatey creation. The recipe calls for quick rolled oats, so we’re pretty certain that counts as morning food.Get the recipe here. (Photograph by Mark Weinberg)
CrispyChocolate Cookies
From theauthors of Heirloom Cooking with the Brass Sisters, these wispy treats marry cocoa with cornmeal in an unexpected but brilliant pairing.Get the recipe here. (Photograph by Lucy Schaeffer)
Chocolate-Chip-PecanCookie Bars
Got nuts? Pecans add a toothsome crunch to these bookie bars but the recipe works just as well with almonds or pecans even dried cranberries. Get the recipe here. (Photograph by Con Poulos)
Chocomint Cookies With Milk Chocolate Middles
No need to compromise on your love of both milk and dark chocolate. With this recipe, you get the best of both: a dark chocolate cookie dough that hugs a melted knob of quality milk chocolate. The final touch? A kiss of mint extract for holiday spirit. Get the recipe here. (Photograph by Lyndsay Sung)
Nut-ChocolateChunk Cookies
Don’t rush to bake these beauties.The perfectly chewycookies benefit from chilling the dough for 20 minutes. Get the recipe here. (Photograph by Lucy Schaeffer)
Triple Chocolate Madness Cookie
You won’t lose track of this midnight snack.Dark chocolate cookies get the spotlight treatment via a sprinkling of creamy white chocolate chips.Get the recipe here. (Photograph by Joseph De Leo)
Deep Chocolate Cookies with MilkChocolate Chips
A quality cocoa powder is key to perfecting this cookie. The recipe’s author eschews Dutch process for natural versions, and she recommends home cooks try Scharffen Berger for the best results.Get the recipe here. (Photograph by James Ransom)
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Renowned pastry chef and founder of gluten-free, vegan, kosher destination Erin Mckenna’s Bakery NYC keeps her cookies moist with the inclusion of applesauce andcoconut oil. Get the recipe here. (Photograph courtesy of the BabyCakes Cookbook)
Over-the-Top‘Munchies’ Cookies
Featuring a triple dose of chocolate — white chocolate chips! milk chocolate chips! and dark chocolate chips! — plus crumbled Oreos and caramel candies, these cookies are the ultimate late-night snack. Get the recipe here. (Photograph by Samantha Eichenberg)
Chocolate-Orange Madeline Cookies
Sophisticated and scented with orange, don’t be surprised if these madeleines steal all of the attention on Santa’s cookie plate.Get the recipe here. (Photograph by Food52)
Kelis’ Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt Potato Chips
Recording artist turned culinaire Kelis uses crushed artisanal potato chips to add a pop of saltiness to her classic chocolate-chip cookies. She also recommends using chocolate chunks over chips because the“big pieces melt into the cookies better.”Get the recipe here. (Photograph by David Loftus)
Raw Vegan Chocolate Coconut Bars
These chocolate treats are packed with feel-good, guilt-free ingredients like Medjool dates, pecans, coconut, and nut butter but still manage to taste sinful.Get the recipe here. (Photographby Kendra Vaculin)
Cook’s Illustrated’s Blondies
Mix things up with half white chocolate chips and half milk chocolate chips in these chewy-on-the-inside but crispy-on-the-outside crowd pleasers. Food52 also recommends using a“heavy dose” of real vanilla extract for the best flavor.Get the recipe here. (Photo: James Ransom)
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
For Coco Cake Landblogger Lyndsay Sung, when it comes to these cookies the bigger the better. Her plate-sized sweets are rich with peanut butter and studded with semi-sweet chocolate to balance the flavor.Get the recipe here. (Photograph by Lyndsay Sung)
Bobby Flay’s Triple Chocolate Cookies
Instant espresso deepens the chocolate-y goodness of these cookies, which also include toasted pecans, semisweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. Get the recipe here. (Photograph courtesy of Food Network)
The Pioneer Woman’s Mint Chocolate Truffles
Simmered chocolate and sweetened condensed milk create magical marshmallow-like balls in this recipe for Christmas-y truffles that could win over a cowboy. Get the recipe here. (Photo: Food Network)
Sunny’s German Chocolate Cake Cookies
Celebrity chef Sunny Anderson takes all the best flavors of German chocolate cake and distills them into bite-size cookies in this super-simple treat. Get the recipe here. (Photo: Food Network)
Super Yummy Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies
Chef Anne Burrell (Iron Chef, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef) brings together salty and sweet flavors in her go-to chocolate chunk cookie, featuring cinnamon, brown sugar, walnuts and chopped dark chocolate. But don’t worry, the rolled oats balance out all of the naughtiness with something nice! Get the recipe here. (Photo: Food Network)
