In the hierarchy of baked goodies, with croquembouche and cronuts occupying the top, cookies don’t get as much respect as their sugary compatriots. The workhorse of many a bake sale, nothing goes better with a glass of milk (or almond milk) than a still-warm chocolate chip cookie. And where would ice cream sandwiches be without them? But lately, cookies are making a comeback. Artisan bakeries from coast to coast are giving Mrs. Fields a run for her money. From s’mores named after a popular rapper to Oreos with a French Laundry pedigree, you'll want to steal these babies from the cookie jar. 

Something as simple as a classic chocolate chip cookie isn't always so simple. IT professional-turned baker Barbara O'Neill spent eight months perfecting her leveled-up version of the Toll House Cookie for her Atlanta-based bakery. The result is a bread-plate-sized cookie that's crispy on the outside with a soft center studded with morsels of Guittard chocolate. Her hard work paid off: Her cookies (she offers more than 18 flavors, along with cupcakes, brownies, whoopie pies and more) have been repeatedly voted the best in Atlanta. O'Neill also follows in another time-honored tradition: the bake sale as fundraiser. When The Cookie Studio first opened, it donated money to the Atlanta Day Shelter for Women and Children, and it still donates cookies for local schools and other nonprofits.

In addition to turning out textbook renditions of classics such as kunefe (a sweet Levantine cheese pastry) and Umm-ali (an Egyptian-style bread pudding), this unassuming Cambridge bakery and cafe serving Middle Eastern-inspired sweets and savories imbues the flavor profiles of Turkey, Greece and Lebanon into Americana staples. Take pastry chef and co-owner Maura Kilpatrick's oatmeal cookie. This is not your Moosewood-era hockey puck. At Sofra, she mixes a little tahini into the batter, which gives the cookie a touch of nuttiness and a softer texture due to its higher fat content. She also jazzes it up with candied orange peel and a pinch of spice mixture called Dessert Rose, composed of halvah, cardamom, sesame seeds and rose petals, for that extra exotic touch.

Photo courtesy of Sofra

Some of Kristy Greenwood's top-selling cookies include the Lemon Lucy and Booty Bars, but our favorite is the Strawberry Margarita. The cocktail-inspired treat originated as a raspberry lemonade cookie, but one day Greenwood wondered, "Why should the kids have all the fun?" So she switched the lemon to lime, removed the raspberries, and added freeze-dried strawberries and lots of booze. And because of Colorado's high altitude, she discovered that adding more liquid in a recipe is beneficial, so adding both tequila and Triple Sec as well as lime oil worked perfectly. To finish them off, Greenwood sprays the hot cookies as they come out of the oven with a mixture of tequila and Triple Sec. Not in Denver? No worries; she ships the cookies, and they’re way cheaper than a Key West vacation.

Photo by Chase Bortz