Chocolate chip cookies are hands-down the best thing to dunk in a warm glass of milk. Personally, I think the best cookie is chewy in the middle, with a crunchy exterior.
But we all have our personal preferences. We asked the CHOICE community how they prefer their cookies – chewy, crunchy or a bit of both.
"Crunchy" and "a bit of both" tied for first place, each with 36% of the votes, followed by chewy with 18%. Many people are loyal to a particular brand; in this guide, we tested 22 different chocolate chip cookies, sourced from the major supermarkets and some popular online retailers, to find out which is the best.
On this page:
- The best tasting chocolate chip cookies
- What makes the best chocolate chip cookie?
- The healthiest chocolate chip cookies
- How we tested chocolate chip cookies
- Fiona Mair's Simple Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe
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The best tasting chocolate chip cookies
Out of the 22 chocolate chip cookies we reviewed, the top three scorers were not the premium cookies we expected to score highly.
Coles takes the biscuit in this test, with two of its own-brand choc chip cookies coming into the top three, followed closely by Woolworths' (baked instore) chocolate chunk cookies.
This Coles bakery cookie took out the top spot in our test.
1. Coles Bakery Dreams Crumb True New York Choc Chip Cookies
CHOICE Expert Rating: 78%
Sensory score: 83%
Sugars: 19.2g per 100g
Chocolate chips: 30%
Price: $1.83 per 100g
Experts say: "Big round and rustic with lots of dark chocolate chunks. Quite crunchy with a little bit of a chew in the centre. Nice semi-sweet chocolate lifts an otherwise average cookie."
"Cookie was baked well with a subtle vanilla aroma. The texture was a little dry. The chocolate chunks were of good size and added a strong flavour."
"Chocolate not evenly dispersed as there are some very large chunks and some very small pieces. The large chunks are in the middle of the cookie."
This own-brand cookie from Coles surprised our judges.
2. Coles Ultimate Cookies 40% Chocolate Chip
CHOICE Expert Rating: 77%
Sensory score: 84%
Sugars: 36g per 100g
Chocolate chips: 40%
Price: $1.25 per 100g
Experts say: "Great rustic cookie with plenty of choc chips. Light crisp texture, which was a little chewy. Plenty of choc chips with great flavour."
"Slightly rustic appearance, nice thickness, lots of chocolate chips. Nice soft crunch. Lots of dark chocolate. Not too sweet, nice biscuit." "Uniform, visually appealing cookie. Unfortunately it has poor mouthfeel due to fat lining the palate."
A Woolworths own-brand cookie also made the top three.
3. Woolworths Bakery Chocolate Chunk Cookie (baked instore)
CHOICE Expert Rating: 75%
Sensory score: 82%
Sugars: 35g per 100g
Chocolate chips: 32%
Price: $1.77 per 100g
Experts say: "Uneven chocolate, some large pieces and some very small, good bake with a little dry crumb."
"Big dark chocolate chunks, looks rustic and inviting. Chocolate and butterscotch aromas. Not overly sweet, soft cookie, nice flavour."
"Great rustic looking cookie with a lovely golden colour, baked well, with a nice texture when broken. Large chocolate chunks distributed throughout with a great flavour."
What makes the best chocolate chip cookie?
The top performers had higher than average chocolate chip percentages and the top two scorers used real dark chocolate chunks instead of compound chocolate.
Compound chocolate is chocolate's lower quality, cheaper cousin – it uses vegetable fats in place of cocoa fats/solids.
The tastiest choc chip cookie, which received a sensory score of 84%, was the Coles Ultimate Cookies 40% Chocolate Chip, which outperformed the bakery-style cookies in the test. The judges described it as a great, rustic-looking cookie with plenty of chocolate chips.
The healthiest chocolate chip cookies
Most of us accept that when we grab a choc chip cookie, we're going to be getting a fair whack of kilojoules, sugars, saturated fats, and potentially trans fats.
But if there is a choc chip cookie that tastes great and is on the healthier side of what you could expect for a snack like this, then why wouldn't you go for it? Well, the good news is that the Coles Bakery Dreams Crumb True New York Choc Chip Cookies had the highest Health Star Rating of the cookies we tested, and also had a very good sensory score of 83%.
Part of the reason why the Health Star Rating was so high for this cookie was that the sugars per 100 grams were much lower than for the other cookies we looked at – 19.2 grams per 100 grams, compared to the average for this category of 36 grams per 100 grams. Watch out though, this cookie, along with most cookies in this test, contains palm oil.
The use of palm oil in processed and fast foods has raised a number of environmental concerns, particularly around deforestation. There is no obligation to label the presence of palm oil in foods, so be aware that unspecified vegetable oil/fat may actually be palm oil.
Trans fats in cookies
Trans fats (also called trans fatty acids) are vegetable oils that have been treated through a process called hydrogenation. These fats clog the arteries and can increase the risk of heart attacks and death. Every year, more than 278,000 deaths globally per annum are linked to the intake of man-made trans fats from food.
Manufacturers don't have to list the amount of trans fats in their products unless the label contains a nutrition or health claim about its benefits for cholesterol levels or heart health, or the levels of saturated or non-saturated fatty acids present.
Every year, more than 278,000 deaths globally per annum are linked to the intake of man-made trans fats from food
Four products in our test specifically state that they contain 0.1 grams of trans fats or less per 100 grams – these are the Paradise Cottage Cookies Choc Chip Indulgence, Coles (Bakery) Choc Chip Cookies, Woolworths The King of Chunky Choc Chip Cookies 40%, and Coles (Bakery) Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie 40% Chocolate Chip.
Anything over two grams of trans fats per 100 grams is considered high.
Be careful of the Woolworths (Bakery) Choc Chip Cookies, as they contain hydrogenated vegetable fat and the label doesn't disclose how much is in the product. As noted above, hydrogenation is a process used to produce trans fats.
Each cookie was numbered so our testers could record their impressions without knowing which cookie they were tasting.
How we tested chocolate chip cookies
Products
We tested 22 choc chip or choc chunk cookie products available in major national supermarket chains, including Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Aldi. We also included popular cookies found nationally on online retailers. We did not include bite-sized, triple choc or gluten-free cookies. The price per 100g is based on the pack price in Sydney stores (not on special) in July 2024.
Tasting
Our panel of three experts tasted the choc chip cookie samples 'blind' (without knowing the brands) at room temperature, and independently judged each sample on appearance, aroma, flavour and texture.
Scores
The CHOICE Expert Rating, our overall score, consists of 90% sensory and 10% nutrition (based entirely on the Health Star Rating).
The sensory weightings are comprised of:
- flavour (50%)
- texture (30%)
- appearance (10%)
- aroma (10%).
We recommend choc chip cookies with a CHOICE Expert Rating of 75% or more.
Fiona Mair's Simple Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe
Makes approximately 17 cookies
Ingredients
2 eggs
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup plain flour
¾ cup self-rising flour
½ tsp bicarbonate soda
200g dark chocolate chips
Method
1. Using a whisk or hand mixer, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt in a bowl until mixture lightens and becomes thickened.
2. Add oil, flours, bicarbonate of soda and chocolate chips. Mix well.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. Once the dough is firm, roll into two-tablespoon portions, flatten slightly and place on a tray lined with baking paper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
5. The cookie dough can be frozen; place into an airtight container and keep in the freezer until needed. Otherwise, continue with the cooking instructions below.
Cooking instructions
1. Preheat the oven at 180°C.
2. Line a baking tray with a sheet of baking paper, place up to 10 cookies onto the paper and allow for the cookies to spread. Bake for 12–15 mins.
3. Allow to cool for 2 mins on the tray, then transfer to a cooling rack, or serve warm with ice cream.
Tips
- Don't crowd the tray, leave approx. 2 cm space between each cookie.
- For a healthier cookie, try one of these two variations:
- Add ½ cup oats or raisins and reduce the self-rising flour by a ¼ cup
- Use ½ whole meal flour ½ white
The cost for each cookie from this recipe is about 47 cents per cookie, which is much more affordable than the bakery-style cookies in this test with an average of 99 cents per cookie.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
