7 of our best chocolate chip cookie recipes

Aug. 4 is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day and a perfect opportunity to whip up a batch of said cookies. For some, chocolate chip cookies are an American cultural icon not to be meddled with. For others, the recipe is a starting point for creative expression, respectful of tradition while embracing new flavors. These recipes play off of the classic — some just a little, some a lot.

If you are only allowing yourself one cookie and you want it to be “the real thing,” Oven Spoonful’s giant chocolate chip cookies are the go-to for you. Crisp on the edges and chewy-gooey on the inside, each cookie is made from a full ¼ pound of dough — way more cookie than you would get from one 3-inch cookie.

Also rather large, Mom’s chocolate chip cookies are a somewhat updated version of what a mid-20^th century mom might have made as an after-school snack. The recipe calls for unsalted butter instead of Crisco and 71% Valrhona chocolate in place of generic bittersweet chocolate chips. It also includes rolled oats, which give additional texture and allow for a claim that they are healthy-ish.

Incorporating rye flour into the dough brings a more complex flavor to Sycamore Kitchen’s chocolate chip rye cookies. Accidentally vegan chocolate chip tahini cookies with halva and cardamom sport an unmistakable sesame flavor from the combination of tahini in the dough and halva on top.

Fragrant with vanilla, vegan, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies taste extra rich from a generous amount of coconut oil yet still have the crunchy edges of a classic chocolate chip cookie — and one would never guess that they are either vegan or gluten-free.

A bit more cakey than chewy, tangerine and thyme chocolate chip cookies feature a soft balance of chocolate and citrus and a hint of the fresh earthiness of thyme. The instant espresso powder in uber-rich brown butter espresso cookies adds a depth of flavor that plays well with the browned butter and chocolate chips.

Whichever you choose, each of these variations on the classic chocolate chip cookie will surely delight and perhaps even astound whoever is lucky enough to eat one.