From jumbo-sized versions sprinkled with fleur de sel to flavorful recipes made with aged dough, America’s best bakers are putting incredible spins on the classic Toll House Cookie.
Winslow’s HomeSt. Louis
This rustic urban restaurant and café makes a buttery, shortbread-esque cookie studded with a combination of Guittard semisweet and bittersweet buttons. The locally milled unbleached flour is responsible for the cookie’s signature chew, which pastry chef Cary McDowell prefers over crispiness.Greg RannellsLevain BakeryNew York City
Co-owner Connie McDonald developed the Upper West Side bakery's mountainous semisweet chocolate chip–walnut cookie as a post-Ironman training treat a decade ago: “It felt so good to eat one after a 10-hour bike ride,” says McDonald, with a laugh. The crisp shell gives way to a wonderfully thick, gooey, cakey interior.Courtesy of Levain BakeryRustica BakeryMinneapolis
The bittersweet chocolate cookie is the sleeper hit at this Minneapolis bakery known for its European breads. The cookies are deeply colored and richly flavored with bitter cocoa and Callebaut chips, then baked to a pliable texture with a crackly, sugar-dusted top. Each bite is a decadent treat.Susan PowersTartineSan Francisco
The husband-and-wife dream team of bread genius Chad Robertson and pastry chef Elisabeth Prueitt created a large, flat chocolate chip cookie that follows the expert bakers’ axiom that darker color means better flavor. Their cult bakery's cookie—made with oatmeal, walnuts and Valrhona Guanaja chocolate—is baked until it’s beautifully deep brown, with a caramelized butter flavor.Courtesy of Tartine BakeryBeurre & Sel from Dorie GreenspanNew York City
Beloved cookbook author, blogger and baking authority Dorie Greenspan calls these her World Peace Cookies: a base of dense chocolate sablé dough made with local butter, studded with hand-chopped bittersweet Valhrona chunks and a hefty measure of fleur de sel. For the full list, click hereClaudia Ficca
