Cookies are just a vessel for transporting chocolate to the mouth.

That’s what Megan thinks, anyway.

We had to start out with a classic. The food that inspired the “real best” idea.

Thus, we bring you, the “real best” chocolate chip cookie.

The contenders:

• Mom’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Nestle® Toll House® chocolate chip cookies (or, find on the back of a bag of Nestle® chocolate chips)
• The New York Times best chocolate chip cookie recipe, adapted from Jacques Torres

The nitty-gritty:

Each cookie was scored on a scale of 1-10 (where 1= that’s food? and 10= the best chocolate chip cookie that has ever entered my mouth) for overall score,  the boyfriend/husband test, and the leftover test. We also provide other comments.

Mom’s Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Overall score: 9

The boyfriend/husband test: 6

The leftover test: 9

Comments: ’Pudding mix? In a cookie?’ That was my first reaction upon pulling up this recipe. I think thats what makes these cookies taste sooo sweet. I gave these cookies a solid 9 because they are really good but a little too sweet. I think there is something to be said for letting the undertones of sugar mixed with the semi-sweet chocolate give you the ultimate “sweet factor” in a cookie. These cookies were almost cake-like, the dough did not expand outwards like most cookies but instead “puffed up”. My husband came home from work and of course popped one in his mouth before I could even get a word out and in true Josh fashion gave his knee jerk reaction “I don’t like this”, followed by “why did you make so many?”. Later, I gave him half of another one I felt guilty eating and he said “this one is better than the other one”, which I think is because it had more chocolate chips. See what I have to deal with? Anyway, these cookies held up the next day and although I don’t LOVE them, they are pretty good, so I am giving them  their rightful rating of a 9. Oh- and the recipe said to bake for 10-12 minutes, so I did one batch of each (10 mins, 11 mins, & 12 mins), the 10 minute baked cookies were the best tasting (so gooey and yummy) but not as beautifully browned as the 12 minute batch.

- J

Nestle® Toll House® Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Overall score: 10

The boyfriend/husband test: 9

The leftover test: 10

Comments:  I baked the cookies and put them  in the refrigerator overnight and I actually thought they were better the next day when I thawed them out.

- M

The New York Times Best Chocolate Chip Cookie:

Overall score: 7.5

The boyfriend/husband test: 6

The leftover test: 7

*Note: I could not locate either of the two recommended chocolates, so I substituted 10.5 oz of 53% cacao Belgian chocolate and 25.5 oz of 60% cacao baking chocolate. I am sure this does have a slight effect on the taste– however, I think using this more basic chocolate makes this more of a fair comparison, whereas, using the premium chocolate the recipe called for may not have allowed for a fair comparison against the other two cookie recipes that call for more ordinary chocolate. In other words, if its just the chocolate that makes the recipe so good, why not just use premium chocolate in any old cookie recipe? Thus, I think my substitution, while not intentional, allowed my evaluation to be more fair.

Comments: Alright, these cookies are good. However, they are very rich and extremely chocolatey (to the point where my batter almost looked brown, instead of the classic golden color you expect with chocolate chip cookies). One benefit of that, though, is that I didn’t eat 20 as many cookies as I normally would. In addition, the chocolate is expensive. And I’m sure it would have been even more expensive, had I found the type the recipe called for.

In other words, these cookies are delicious, but so rich that you won’t return to the kitchen and eat “just one more bite” every 5 minutes until you have to tell your boyfriend to call you fat if he hears you opening the container one more time (what? that’s not normal?). However, if you are anything like my friend Michelle, who can eat an entire pan of the richest, most dark chocolate brownies known to man in one sitting, then the richness of these cookies will do nothing to help you avoid cookie overload, and you may face the inevitable fate of shame, despair, and disgust that follows the consumption of an exorbitant amount of cookies.

P.S. This batter makes a LOT of cookies. It says it makes 2.5 dozen 5 inch cookies. I didn’t make mine quite that large, and got about 50 cookies out of it.

- M

The winner:

The winner of the “REAL ‘Best’” Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is…

Nestle® Toll House® Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Looks like you just can’t mess with a classic! Now go get a nice, cold glass of milk and enjoy!

And don’t forget to refrigerate your dough!

 Special Diets:

While we can’t guarantee the results, here are some ideas you can use to customize the winning cookies to your dietary needs:

• Gluten free: Use a gluten free flour. (Don’t forget to check that all your other ingredients are, in fact, gluten free!)
• Vegan: Use vegan chocolate chips, an egg substitute, and a vegan butter substitute. You may also use 3/4 cup vegetable oil as a sub for butter.
• Lower fat: Substitute half of the butter for sugar free applesauce.
• Lower sugar/calories: Substitute some or all of the sugar for Splenda® (see conversion info here), Stevia (see conversion info here), or xylitol (measures 1:1 for sugar). Some people don’t like the taste of this, so be sure to keep this in mind! Also consider using sugar free chocolate chips.

Leftovers:

What to do with all those extra cookies? Consider making these:

• Cookie ice cream sandwiches

What is your secret for the perfect chocolate chip cookie?

What is the best excuse you make to run back to the kitchen and grab another chocolate chip cookie?