NYT Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge: FINAL RANKINGS

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for - my crack team of cookie tasting experts have submitted their lists. Here are the rankings:

First Place

Recipe #1, the Jacques Torres cookie, had some close competition. But its chewy texture, the chocolate and salt, combined with recipe size (makes 4 dozen cookies!) and storability (doesn’t dry out quickly and freezes very well) edged out the other contenders.

Second Place

Recipe 10, The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie, came very close to knocking Recipe #1 out of the lead. Lighter texture but still chewy, you can’t go wrong here. It makes a small batch, so you won’t need to freeze them (although they do freeze just fine) or worry that they will get stale. Because you will eat 5 at a time.

Third Place

Recipe 5, Gluten Free, was the shocker of the series. I mean, a gluten-free cookie? Isn’t that just a poor substitute for the real thing, for all those poor gluten-intolerant folks? What starts out as a gritty unappetizing dough bakes into a delicious cookie that gets gobbled up everyone, gluten-free or not. Fun fact: I took these to a party and as soon as I removed the “gluten-free” sign, they were gone.

Fourth Place

Recipe 7, Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread, landed in 4th place, despite - IMO - needing some fine-tuning. But the dense shortbread-like texture, the chocolate and the salt offer an interesting and tasty twist on the traditional chocolate chip cookie. Look for an update on this one as I play around with the recipe.

The Best of the Rest

Fifth Place: Recipe 2, Salted Tahini

Sixth Place: Recipe 6, Vegan

*Seventh Place: Recipe 9, Quintessential

*Eighth Place: Recipe 8, Nieman Marcus $250 Cookie

*Ninth Place: Recipe 4, Giant Crinkled

*Tenth Place: Recipe 3, Tollhouse

Eleventh Place: Recipe 11, Banana Everything (note: placed last mostly because reviewers did not consider it a cookie. It does taste good though.)

*would not bother to ever make these again

Recipe #10: Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies (with bonus Failed Bake!)

Intro

My brother challenged me to bake my way through the New York Times Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes, mostly so maybe I would send him some to “taste-test.”

And why not?

I printed all the recipes, scanned the ingredients and spent about $60 on the stuff I did not have, like cake flour and coconut sugar - not including the cookie scoop that I have always wanted and finally bought. I did not buy any super special ingredients. No chocolate feves, no Maldon salt.

The Recipe

Yes, we are out of order with this recipe - the aptly-named “Perfect” cookie. I made these a while back and they were very good! But I forgot to document it all, so had to make it again, how awful.

And my second attempt was, actually…awful! I have no idea what I did, but they spread…and spread…and kept spreading:

They didn’t taste bad, but had no texture (although they might make a decent ice cream sandwich).

So, I made a 3rd batch. No, you cannot move in with us.

Whatever I did wrong before did not go wrong again.

Since I am not a fancy ingredient baker, generally, here is my list of exceptions: no super-fine sugar, just “regular old whatever granulated is in the bin” sugar. And no hand-chopping a block of chocolate into “large chunks” when I have bags of chocolate chunks in the cupboard, I mean, come on. I am sure there is a reason to chop your own, but I really could not think of one that was good enough other than to make the claim of “hand-chopped artisanal chocolate” and we just…don’t do that here.

The recipe is different in that it does NOT call for mixing the butter and sugar until “fluffy,” like most cookie recipes. The resulting dough is a little grainy, but delicious. AGAIN with the place the balls of dough on the baking sheet and chill overnight - who has that much space in the fridge? - so I just shaped them and plopped them in the plastic container to chill.

The baked cookie has a nice chewy texture. A little sweet, to me, but it’s a very very good cookie and has the potential to crack the top 5.

The Reviews

Resident reviewers rated this cookie an 8-8.5/10.

Guest reviewer CR is back with us, and seems to imply that his rating could increase as he ate more cookies - and, hey, that seems fair and accurate. “Had to look back and compared notes on this one. Another trip back to previous times, but even better! A direct cookie, no salt, with chunky instead of long standing chocolate chips. The flavor of the cookie is delicious, like a slight tuneup on days past! A full 8.5, but with a second one I may go straight to a 9 on this one!! Thanks for a real treat!!”

Recipe #11: Banana Everything Cookies

Intro

My brother challenged me to bake my way through the New York Times Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes, mostly so maybe I would send him some to “taste-test.”

And why not?

I printed all the recipes, scanned the ingredients and spent about $60 on the stuff I did not have, like cake flour and coconut sugar - not including the cookie scoop that I have always wanted and finally bought. I did not buy any super special ingredients. No chocolate feves, no Maldon salt.

The Recipe

Wait, what happened to Recipe #10? Holiday Baking Extravaganza 2021 happened. Between a book club cookie exchange, gifting the relatives, a few gatherings…I baked hundreds of cookies from late November to mid-January. Decorated cutouts, tassie (mini pecan pies), snowballs, all the favorites…even a few batches of chocolate chip cookies.

I did actually bake Recipe #10 “Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies” - and we all thought they were excellent and definitely a contender, but did I take any photos or make any notes? Hell no. My tasters will be terribly burdened by the need to eat. them. again. Oh noes.

So these banana things. I used plain old oatmeal, and I did not have any walnuts so used pecans. I think you could really toss all kinds of odds and ends in here - craisins or any kind of dried fruit, nuts, m&ms or chips, etc. I did use vegan chips (which are delicious if you haven’t ever had any).

The cookies are more of a breakfast biscuit perhaps (and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that!) - not sure I would call them a cookie. They are not terribly sweet, which is fine, and you can taste more than the “hint” the banana suggested in the description. The texture is very “soft granola bar,” IMO. But also - yum. The dough is delicious - and vegan, so no “raw egg” concerns, if you are One Of Those People. You could easily make these gluten-free with GF flour and oatmeal, I think. I avoided the rather complicated instructions about sticky dough and wetting your hands by using this high-tech tool called a dough scoop <insert eyeroll>.

With a 1.5 TBS scoop, my cookies were little bigger, so I baked them for 12 minutes. Makes about two dozen cookies.

The Reviews

Verdict: These are tasty. Great breakfast, or afternoon snack - but I am not sure I would serve these as a cookie. A great additional to the vegan baked goods collection, for sure.

Guest reviewer CR was not impressed either: “And now for something very different. What type of cookie is this? We had to look into this a bit.” (Ed Note: I am sure this is code for What The Hell This Is Not A Cookie) “This cookie includes oatmeal, walnuts, and bananas, along with chocolate chips. Ok, that’s fine!” (Ed Note: <narrator voice> It was, in fact, not fine) “In fact, as presented this cookie fills an important need: a well mixed source of energy for a quick pick me up. I’ve had several types over the years. Rearrange the mix just a bit to your taste and you will be right there! And for some of you, this cookie may already be there. However, compared to the wonderful range of chocolate chip cookie introduced to date, this one is a bit heavy. (And yes, I myself prefer a touch more sweet and chocolate.) So, let us give this a 6.5, and recognize that for some a slight tweak may quickly be a 7-8 for you.”

Recipe #9: Quintessential Chocolate Chip Cookies

Intro

My brother challenged me to bake my way through the New York Times Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes, mostly so maybe I would send him some to “taste-test.”

And why not?

I printed all the recipes, scanned the ingredients and spent about $60 on the stuff I did not have, like cake flour and coconut sugar - not including the cookie scoop that I have always wanted and finally bought. I did not buy any super special ingredients. No chocolate feves, no Maldon salt.

The Recipe

You know you are deep into the last few recipes with generic titles like “Quintessential” - and next up is “Perfect” - all the good names are taken. My first read of the recipe elicited a mumbled “Not sure what is so quintessential about this” and that thought was supported through to the end product.

A few things to note - this recipe calls for weighing ingredients, although there are measurements in parentheses, which is what I used here (I generally do not measure cookie ingredients by weight, and many recipes do not even use weights). I used bittersweet chocolate, the old reliable Kroger Simple Truth 70% chocolate chunks. While I am a fan of higher cacao percentages, there is not enough sugar in the dough to balance it.

Dough flavor was fine. I used a 1 TBS scoop, so cookies were on the small side and I did not get 4 dozen. I baked them right away and did not refrigerate.

This is an unremarkable recipe. My team of tasters felt the same way, with “hey it’s a cookie” shrugs. I mean, it’s good, but it’s not going to knock any of the front-runners out of the top 5. Notably, this cookie does not age well - tasty out of the oven (and they look great), but starting to dry out by the next day even in a covered container.

Universal review: meh.

Recipe #8: The $250 Cookie Recipe

Intro

My brother challenged me to bake my way through the New York Times Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes, mostly so maybe I would send him some to “taste-test.”

And why not?

I printed all the recipes, scanned the ingredients and spent about $60 on the stuff I did not have, like cake flour and coconut sugar - not including the cookie scoop that I have always wanted and finally bought. I did not buy any super special ingredients. No chocolate feves, no Maldon salt.

The Recipe

So the back story here is that a woman had chocolate chip cookies in the cafe at a Neiman Marcus department store, declared them to be the best cookie she had ever had, and asked for the recipe. Staff at the cafe was happy to accommodate her and for “two-fifty” handed her the recipe. She noticed afterwards that her credit card had been charged $250 for it.

For the record, Neiman Marcus says this never happened.

Yet here we are. And I have to say, this is $250-worth of work for a cookie that, while pretty darn good, is not amazing. Important disclosure: I am not a fan of milk chocolate, or nuts in general, so my bias may be showing.

I am not a milk chocolate person, and generally have little to no milk chocolate on-hand, because - let’s be honest - it’s an inferior product no matter who makes it. However! I just happened to have a bar of Godiva milk chocolate in the cupboard - 3 oz, so I was a bit short but whatever.

Grating milk chocolate with a microplane is…ridiculous, messy, and time-consuming and in the end, I am not sure it made any appreciable difference in the flavor of the cookies (and I don’t think that extra ounce would have mattered either). I used my Zyliss, and kept having to clear out wedged bits of chocolate. Then I switched to my tiny hand microplane, which wasn’t much better or faster.

While grinding oatmeal in a processor is hardly difficult, my thought here was just…”why?” Well, actually, I can guess why - it adds to texture and thickens the dough for a thicker cookie I suppose. Still - an extra step and more equipment to clean for a cookie that is good but not amazing.

For nuts, I used walnuts and chopped them for smaller bits. This is personal preference, since I don’t love walnuts and find small pieces don’t ruin the entire cookie for me.

The dough is tasty but very stiff. I alternated between making these using a one tablespoon scoop, as written, and the 1.5 tablespoon scoop for a little larger cookie. They do not spread much at all, and they also don’t drop much as they cool, resulting in a chubby little cookie.

If I thought this was a better cookie, I might be tempted to use different nuts - almonds or peanuts might be interesting. I also think the addition of dried fruit - raisins, cherries or even cranberries - might improve things, but there is already an awful lot going on in this cookie.

Overall, I was underwhelmed. Like I would never have asked for this recipe at Neiman Marcus, that woman must have never had an excellent chocolate chip cookie before.

The Reviews

Me: Eh. It’s an oatmeal cookie, and not even the best I’ve ever had.

Recipe #7 - Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies

Intro

My brother challenged me to bake my way through the New York Times Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes, mostly so maybe I would send him some to “taste-test.”

And why not?

I printed all the recipes, scanned the ingredients and spent about $60 on the stuff I did not have, like cake flour and coconut sugar - not including the cookie scoop that I have always wanted and finally bought. I did not buy any super special ingredients. No chocolate feves, no Maldon salt.

The Recipe

When I first went through the stack of cookie recipes, this was the one I was most excited about. And it does not disappoint, although some fine-tuning might be in order.

The dough is easy enough - and delicious, because we always review the raw dough here. I weighed the flour for this one because the “tip” mentioned in reference to the flour is a weird and somewhat significant one - a 1/4 cup discrepancy because the NYT and recipe originator Alison Roman use different equivalents, which I did not know was even possible. And a 1/4 cup of flour is…a lot, actually. So, just weigh it and you’ll be OK.

I rolled the dough into 2 logs as instructed. I am not sure why they recommend a serrated knife for cutting the cookies - I found a regular slicing or steak knife worked better. The slicing goes better if you let the dough sit at room temp for a few minutes after removing it from the fridge.

I did not have Demerara sugar, and the only sanding sugar I had was red, silver or gold (which would not have been horrible choices, but maybe better for turning these into a Christmas cookie). I did have that silly coconut sugar from the vegan recipe, so I used that for the first dozen cookies.

This was messy, between the egg and the sugar and the chilled dough and the serrated knife.

But they came together after baking. The coconut sugar sorta worked, although I would not use it again (not very nice-looking, and it has a bit of a bitter taste to it). For the second roll, I used regular granulated sugar, which still isn’t right but at least looks better (see first photo).

“Let cool slightly before eating them all” - they are not messing around. These are excellent. The less sweet, shortbread cookie is a nice change of pace.

My minor changes are…minor:

• I used 70% bittersweet chunks. Great if you really like your dark chocolate, but with the less-sweet dough it’s a little intense. I would use 60% or straight-up semi-sweet next time, and possibly chop the chunks a bit smaller, or use chips.

• Sugared edge - I’m not sure this adds much. I will try another batch using the correct sugar, but this step can easily be skipped without affecting the overall cookie.

• Maybe a smaller cookie? It’s a small recipe - just 2 dozen cookies. I can see how perhaps a smaller cookie might look better and stretch the recipe a bit.

The Reviews

Me: I would eat an awful lot of these. A few minor changes, but these are definitely going in the cookie rotation here.

Husband: Really like the shortbread, but needs sweeter chocolate or less of it, or both.

And Now, A Word From Our Expert Cookie Reviewers

Top-rated recipe…so far…

While I am generally happy to review my own baking, I reached out to a select group of friends and family to provide unbiased input on the NYT Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge.

While perhaps unbiased, several of my reviewers are perhaps not especially discerning in the cookie department. My beloved husband, for example, eats stale baked goods. Not that there is anything wrong with that - after all, very little goes to waste! - but still. One does wonder. Others are happy with pretty much anything that contains sugar and chocolate.

And then there is one friend “CR” who should be writing reviews for the NYT. I picked him specifically for his love of sweets, and a memory of a ski vacation where I watched him quietly sit in the condo in the mornings with a cup of coffee in one hand and, stacked next to him on the arm of the couch, about 5 Double-Stuf Oreos. Talk about Breakfast of Champions.

So here are the rankings, so far:

• First Place: Recipe #1, the Jaques Torres cookie

• Second Place: A surprising result, Recipe #5, the Gluten-Free cookie

• Third Place: Recipe #6, the Vegan cookies

• Fourth Place: Recipe #2, the Salted Tahini cookie

• Fifth Place: Recipe #4, the Giant Crinkle cookie

• Sixth Place: Recipe #3, Tollhouse

The Reviews

Recipe 1, the Jaques Torres cookie:

From CR (note that the “cookies for breakfast” thing is still going strong) - “With just a bit of crunch and my first cup of coffee this was a fine start to my day. As my head clears, what comes to mind? Mmm, Yummy! Just the right size & amount of chocolate chips for this one, not too much or too little. And the sprinkling of salt crystals sets off the sweet & salty flavors very nicely. As for the base, there is a touch of something here, subtle, just a hint, that settles in as a fine aftertaste. All in all a very, very good CCC, at least an 8 out of 10 (0-10).”

Husband: Really good cookie, too much chocolate.

Son: These are great. Maybe less chocolate next time, but it doesn’t keep me from eating them.

Coworker 1: I love the salt. It’s like a pretzel but better, because it’s not a pretzel.

Coworker 2: These are great. Make sure you bring some from the next batch. No need to bake them.

Party 1: ate more than was probably good for them, and maybe liked the gluten-free ones (Recipe #5) more.

Party 2: “best cookies I’ve ever had” was one comment.

Recipe #2, the Salted Tahini cookie

From CR - “An unexpected cancellation resulted in an open morning, time for another cup of coffee, and the chance to try a second CCC recipe. Small chocolate chunks in this one, along with the former salt crystals. As before, a solid win, maybe even just a bit better with this chocolate. And here the batter includes tahini! Always a sesame fan, this additional touch of nutty flavor to the cookie itself works just fine for me. Easily an 8.5 compared to the former 8, a very pleasurable cookie on a beautiful sunny morning!!”

Me: The raw dough was delicious, but the tahini nuttiness gets lost in the baking. Eh.

Husband: I like these, but the texture is pretty soft. The salt, again, is great. Not too much.

Son: These are good but I like recipe #1 the best so far.

Recipe #3, Tollhouse

From CR - “For this third batch we return to our earliest cookie memories, the long-standing Tollhouse. Decades ago this was the center of our sweet attention, and large bowls never even completed their destination to the oven, but were fully and directly consumed. (Yes, this did occasionally happen!) Alas, either late adulthood has again readjusted previous conceptions, or my grandmother’s recipe may well have been better than I knew - or perhaps a bit of both. In any event, here we have a solid standard chocolate chip cookie (CCC) no frills or special flavor enhancements, enjoyable in a pinch - or after a long absence. However, we are rating 10 select CCC recipes as currently appreciated, so I will designate this as a 6 and look forward to tasting what else will be offered for comparison.”

Me: Ugh. These are so buttery they are almost greasy. I never make these - too much butter, inconsistent browning, unattractive cookie overall.

Son: I still like the first cookie the best.

Husband: Weakest of the three.

Other random comments revealed a surprising number of people who also never make this recipe, OR…they add more flour to get a better result.

Recipe #4, the Giant Crinkled cookie

From CR - “After a delightful vacation in the Pacific Northwest, a return home to a slower pace and the arrival of our 4th CCC recipe.

Just a single, large cookie.

More flat than all the others, but still a cookie and not quite a crisp. The result is that the chocolate is more evenly spread throughout, as opposed to the distinct chocolate morsels or chunks mixed in with and accompanying the baked dough. The baked dough is itself distinct, but not directly discernible, likely due to my limited exposure. This appears to have a different oil and/or flour, as well as a subtly distinct flavor. However, not quite rivaling the truly delicious taste of our previous tahini CCC. So, a fully distinct cookie to which we again will assign an honorable 8.

Postscript: With such a large cookie, I broke it in half and placed a portion aside for later. Given the subsequent puzzlement of flavor and dough I was looking forward to a second tasting. Alas, our dog “ate my homework!!”

Me: Too much work for a mediocre cookie.

Husband: These are OK but they seemed like a lot of noisy work.

Deck guests: Granted, they each only had a sliver. But the universal opinion was a solid “eh, OK, where are the others we had before?”

Recipe #5, the Gluten-Free

CR had these under less-than-optimal conditions, so his review will come along after a do-over.

Me: Surprisingly great. Only complaint is texture is almost too chewy. And salt seems to be a prevailing theme in these recipes - to lots of positive comments.

Party group: Really good! Would not have guessed gluten-free, although the texture is different.

Gluten-free guest: <eats three>

Other comments: “really like the chocolate chunks” “love the bittersweet chocolate” “nice almondy flavor” “love the salt, in the dough and on top, perfect amount”

Recipe #6, the Vegan

From CR, who waxes poetic on the larger impact of vegan choices on the world: Well, a vegan cookie! Wonders truly never cease! Going the extra innovative step, whether for a cookie or for a refined source of protein, is clearly essential to alter our broader dynamics and directions.

But I get ahead of myself.

About the cookie itself, fully satisfying and delicious! Again we have just a dash of salt for taste on top and a deep, flavorful chocolate. The batter is well flavored, with a very slightly different crunch to the bake, but not as distinct as that with Batch 4. So, fully a solid 8, with a noted asterisk or “+” sign, since something unique and potentially important is represented here.

For some this will truly matter.

For others they will welcome this extra bit of information and find it another source of discovery and thought.

For others it may not matter either way.

For a few, regrettably, perhaps another source of ridicule.

For me, an 8.5, because improvement, change and progress deserve attention and do matter.

Me: These are much better than I expected. The dough texture, and the cooked appearance made me think these were going to have a “healthy cookie bite” texture, i.e. dense and maybe a little tough. But they don’t. The texture is different, more of a chewy cake feel, but not a deal breaker at all. My only complaint - other than the expense of the ingredients - is this is not an especially attractive cookie.

Son: Not bad, considering. Texture is weird but didn’t keep me from eating them.

Husband: I like them. A fine chocolate cookie, I would never have guessed this was vegan.

Stay tuned for the next 5 recipes!

Recipe #6 - Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

My brother challenged me to bake my way through the New York Times Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes, mostly so maybe I would send him some to “taste-test.”

And why not?

I printed all the recipes, scanned the ingredients and spent about $60 on the stuff I did not have, like cake flour and coconut sugar - not including the cookie scoop that I have always wanted and finally bought. I did not buy any super special ingredients. No chocolate feves, no Maldon salt.

This is a surprisingly good cookie, despite looking like one of those “healthy” cookie bites. If you’ve never used a “flax egg” before, this is one of those simple vegan substitutes, and no, I do not know how this works, but it does. The flax and the water combine to create a gel similar to an egg white. This recipe is different as it has you adding the flax right away - the recipes I have used usually say to let it mixture sit and gel for a few minutes first. But, this seems to work.

The dough itself (delicious!) has a dense whole-wheat appearance due to the coconut sugar and the flax - so I expected a very dense texture, but the cookie is cakey and lighter than I thought it would be. The recipe seems to be concerned with spreading, but these cookies do not spread much at all.

There are negatives, however. First of all, this is an really expensive cookie to make, so make sure you really really like those vegans in your life. Vegan butter (I used Flora brand, $3.29 for 8 oz)) isn’t cheap. Neither is coconut sugar (Simple Truth Organic, $4 for 16 oz). Flax meal is about $4 for 1 lb (Bob’s Red Mill). Vegan chocolate chips are about $4 for 10 oz (I used Simple Truth for these but usually use Enjoy Life chips).

I did not use cane sugar, although my usual go-to granulated sugar is sugar cane, not beet. The description in the recipe is the first I’ve heard of sugar being processed using animal products, specifically bone char to whiten the sugar, although none of it ends up in the sugar in the end. The coconut sugar is subbing for brown sugar (same processing issues as granulated).

And this recipe makes a very small batch of cookies. All of these NYT recipes seem to make giant cookies - this one makes 8. As usual, I made normal-sized cookies using my 1.5 TBS scoop and got about 2 dozen.

“The resulting cookie looks, bakes and tastes like a classic chocolate cookie.” - eh, not quite. But it’s a really good alternative.

Reviews Pending!

Recipe #4 - Giant Crinkled Chocolate Chip Cookies

Intro

My brother challenged me to bake my way through the New York Times Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes, mostly so maybe I would send him some to “taste-test.”

And why not?

I printed all the recipes, scanned the ingredients and spent about $60 on the stuff I did not have, like cake flour and coconut sugar - not including the cookie scoop that I have always wanted and finally bought. I did not buy any super special ingredients. No chocolate feves, no Maldon salt.

The Recipe

Cookies should not be this much work.

Seriously, this one gets an F from the baker perspective. Refrigerate the dough? Ok, sure, that’s pretty standard. Freeze the cookies - also not unusual, although I really want to know what the hell freezers these people have that they can fit an entire baking sheet full of cookies into one. I suppose I could manage…if I had nothing in the freezer.

The dough itself is nothing special, and seems short on chocolate (but works out in the end). Also, the recipe has a surprise “add 2 tablespoons of water” in the directions that is not included in the recipe, so watch for that.

But the real deal-breaker here is the “easy trick of banging the pan a few times during baking.” I’m sorry - NOT EASY. Also, hot. And complicated.

The idea here is that when the cookie is at that stage of just starting to spread - the edges are firming up but the centers are still raw and domed - you bang the cookie sheet, the center drops a bit and the raw dough fans out the edges and creates the crinkles. Although the directions say you can just drop the pan on the rack, like, ONCE, I needed to bang it several times to get the dough to drop and fan out.

This meant that every 2 minutes, I was bending over with my head half in the oven, banging a cookie sheet on the oven rack. Alternatively, you can bang it on your stovetop, which is just as loud and stupid and scares the cats and makes the husband leave the house.

All this banging and spreading…and OMG this sounds like porn.

Uh. Anyway. The chocolate spreads as well. The end result is a somewhat unattractive, flat, wrinkled giant cookie that has had all the structure that flour provides beaten out of it, and the texture from the chocolate chips is also destroyed.

Is it edible? Sure. If you like a super thin, chewy cookie - or if you are only in it for the sugar and chocolate - it’s nothing more than OK. One upside: if you are a Corner Brownie Person, you may like the edges of this cookie. You know who you are.

And because we like science here at Usual and Ordinary, especially Baking Science, I tried making regular-size crinkle cookies, which were a failure:

I tried rolling one up like a taquito, just for kicks, and that was an interesting idea but very messy. And then I made a sheet of regular cookies (bang-free), and that was a little better but not much:

The Reviews

Me: Too much work for a mediocre cookie.

Recipe #5 (out of order, yes, I know) - Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip

Intro

My brother challenged me to bake my way through the New York Times Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes, mostly so maybe I would send him some to “taste-test.”

And why not?

I printed all the recipes, scanned the ingredients and spent about $60 on the stuff I did not have, like cake flour and coconut sugar - not including the cookie scoop that I have always wanted and finally bought. I did not buy any super special ingredients. No chocolate feves, no Maldon salt.

The Recipe

“Where’s recipe #4???” You may be asking. Well, we had a bunch of friends over - yes, all at once, an in-person party! - and we have a few gluten-free folks in the group. So I skipped to Recipe #5, a gluten-free version that called for almond flour. Which is stupid expensive, by the way. This recipe will use most of a 1 lb bag.

This is one of those rare instances when the baked cookie was significantly better than the raw dough. Almond flour is…not really flour, and the dough has the gritty texture of finely chopped nuts. I mean, I ate it anyway, you know - for science. I did refrigerate the dough overnight. I used my cookie scoop and did not flatten them - I can see that being necessary with the larger cookie in the recipe though.

These cookies turned out great. While the cookie had a different texture - I would say it was chewy going on almost tough - it lost the gritty texture of the dough. I used 70% chocolate chunks (10 oz bag, Kroger Private Selection, which seems to be doing yeoman’s work here, subbing for higher-end specialty chocolate).

For this gathering, I also made Recipe #1, the current leader in the chocolate chip cookie sweepstakes. Both cookies got rave reviews, but everyone -was very surprised at just how good the gluten-free one was.

The Reviews

Me: Surprisingly great. Only complaint is texture is almost too chewy. And salt seems to be a prevailing theme in these recipes - to lots of positive comments.

Party group: Really good! Would not have guessed gluten-free, although the texture is different.

Gluten-free guest: <eats three>

Other comments: “really like the chocolate chunks” “love the bittersweet chocolate” “nice almondy flavor” “love the salt, in the dough and on top, perfect amount”

Recipe #3 - Tollhouse

Intro

My brother challenged me to bake my way through the New York Times Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes, mostly so maybe I would send him some to “taste-test.”

And why not?

I printed all the recipes, scanned the ingredients and spent about $60 on the stuff I did not have, like cake flour and coconut sugar - not including the cookie scoop that I have always wanted and finally bought. I did not buy any super special ingredients. No chocolate feves, no Maldon salt.

The Recipe

I was reminded why I never make this classic chocolate chip cookie recipe - and it’s because there are so many better recipes out there. Sorry, Nestle.

The butter: flour ratio is seriously off here, so you get an overly buttery (strange but true) cookie that, made with no adjustments, spreads so much it loses all texture.

One way to save it - refrigerate the dough. I made two trays according to the directions, baking one for 10 minutes (which resulted in an overly browned cookie) and one for about 9 minutes (which ended up under baked). I put the rest of the dough in the fridge for a few hours, and made the rest. They still spread, but not quite as much. I suspect keeping the dough in the fridge overnight might work even better.

If I were to make them again (doubtful), I would probably use pastry flour and increase the amount a bit.

Of the three recipes so far, this was the last favorite.

The Reviews

Me: Ugh. These are so buttery they are almost greasy. I never make these - too much butter, inconsistent browning, unattractive cookie overall.

Son: I still like the first cookie the best.

Husband: Weakest of the three.

Recipe #2 - Salted Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Intro

My brother challenged me to bake my way through the New York Times Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes, mostly so maybe I would send him some to “taste-test.”

And why not?

I printed all the recipes, scanned the ingredients and spent about $60 on the stuff I did not have, like cake flour and coconut sugar - not including the cookie scoop that I have always wanted and finally bought. I did not buy any super special ingredients. No chocolate feves, no Maldon salt.

The Recipe

“These chocolate chip cookies…are a great place to start for the home baker seeking more sesame.”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. HA. Right up there with “Pies are a great way to add more fruit to the diet,” and “Ketchup is a vegetable.” But I digress.

The 1:1 flour/sugar ratio gave me pause, as did the amount of wet ingredients with the addition of the tahini. And the dough was very soft.

Some notes:

• Kroger is the main local store here, so I used Simple Truth tahini

• I used 72% cacao chocolate chunks (also Simple Truth)

• I chilled the dough almost 24 hours, and it’s still very soft.

• I used my cookie scoop (about 1.5 tablespoons) and baked 15-16 minutes.

I want these to be better.

The dough is delicious - a fabulous option for all you “why bake them?” folks. Soft texture, subtle nutty flavor - yum. But…the flavor gets a bit lost in the final baked product. And I could not even get the edges to brown without overbaking, so the end result is a pale, bland-looking chocolate chip cookie - not a good look in this category.

The Reviews

Me: The raw dough was delicious, but the tahini nuttiness gets lost in the baking. Eh.

Husband: I like these, but the texture is pretty soft. The salt, again, is great. Not too much.

Son: These are good but I like recipe #1 the best so far.

Recipe #1 - the Jacques Torres cookie

Intro

My brother challenged me to bake my way through the New York Times Top 11 Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes, mostly so maybe I would send him some to “taste-test.”

And why not?

I printed all the recipes, scanned the ingredients and spent about $60 on the stuff I did not have, like cake flour and coconut sugar - not including the cookie scoop that I have always wanted and finally bought. And no, I did not order the Jacques Torres bittersweet chocolate disks, or the Valrhona féves sold at Whole Foods. Kroger “Private Selection” 62% cacao chocolate chunks would have to do. As would the easy-to-find Swan’s cake flour.

The Recipe

So, a couple of notes here.

• I used the volume measures not weight - mostly because that is how I make cookies.

• Swan’s cake flour smells weird and although it worked fine, I would probably upgrade this. Unless all cake flour smells weird? I dunno.

• I used kosher salt, since it was the only coarse salt I had other than sea salt

• 1 1/4 lbs of chocolate chips is… a lot.

• This is a heavy, stiff dough - especially after your refrigerate it.

• It tastes amazing. Yes, we eat raw cookie dough (homemade) here.

I made minor adjustments - I used my brand-spanking new cookie scoop, which I think is about 1 1/2 tablespoons and ended up with 4 1/2 dozen cookies. I cannot imagine making 18 cookies out of this, they would be HUGE.

With a smaller cookie, the bake time is about 13-15 minutes.

The Reviews

Me: I cannot believe these words are even coming out of my mouth, but…these cookies are too chocolaty. Who knew that was even a thing? But the balance is off - the chocolate overwhelms the delicious chewy dough. When I make them again (oh yeah, they will be in the rotation), I would reduce the amount of chips to 15 oz (I used 20 oz).

Husband: Really good cookie, too much chocolate.

Son: These are great. Maybe less chocolate next time, but it doesn’t keep me from eating them.

Coworker 1: I love the salt. It’s like a pretzel but better, because it’s not a pretzel.

Coworker 2: These are great. Make sure you bring some from the next batch. No need to bake them.