And the winner is...

There is no better place to start than with the very best. Despite trying countless chocolate chip cookies in the past year, one of the first cookies I tried in New York City remains my favorite. This cookie is large enough to feed a family for a day (or me and my daughter Hannah for an afternoon snack). It is soft and chewy in the middle with a crispy exterior. But it's the chocolate that makes the cookie. Giant discs of the best very dark chocolate are layered throughout the cookie so that every bite has the perfect balance of the sweet cookie and slightly bitter chocolate. It totally melts in your mouth (especially if you have them warm it up!). And the winner is...

Jacques Torres' Chocolate Chip Cookie!

I'm sure this doesn't come as a shock to many of you. Jacques Torres is a famous chocolatier, so it's no surprise that these celebrated chocolate chip cookies are very well known. And thanks to the New York Times, you can make them at home by going here. But beware, they are only as good as the chocolate that you use!

There are 5 locations: Upper West Side, Rockefeller Center, Chelsea Market, Hudson Street, and under the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn.

 One last tip: if you go to a location that serves ice cream (UWS and Brooklyn), go for an ice cream cookie sandwich. You get to choose two full-sized cookies and a scoop of ice cream for much cheaper than buying all three separately! And at least try a sample of the wicked ice cream...it's chocolate with ancho and chipotle chili peppers that give it a great kick.

And introducing Hannah, my sidekick (this picture is almost a year old...she knows better now than to smile for a picture and leave her cookie unprotected!). Notice that the cookie is roughly the size of her head!