Life is busy, especially during the holidays. You may not have time to bake a dessert from scratch and that’s totally understandable. Thankfully, there are a number of delicious cookie brands out there that’ll satisfy your sweet tooth. These cookies are also perfect for snacking on while decorating your Christmas tree or while binging on tv shows during your holiday break. Almost as good as homemade, with way less fuss, pick up these cookies now and enjoy.
That’s what we’re here for: to make sure you’re snacking on only the best cookies from the best cookie brands. In the words of Cookie Monster, “Sometimes me think, what is friend? And then me say: A friend is someone to share last cookie with.” Grab a big glass of milk and dunk on.
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Best Crunch: Tate’s Bake Shop
Do you like your chocolate chip cookies well done? A craving for crisp, buttery cookies requires Tate’s Bake Shop. The brand makes brownies, pies, and cakes, but the chocolate chip cookies are king. Uniquely thin, melt-in-your-mouth buttery, and extra crisp (without any burn). Don’t even attempt to eat just one. You’ll down a package and you know what, you should. They’re on the pricier side, so make it a special cookie occasion. Bonus: amazing gluten-free chocolate cookies also.
Most Gooey: Toll House
You want that half-baked ooey-gooey cookie and we’re with you. To achieve this consistency, you gotta decide the bake time on your own. Grab a roll or pre-shaped Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and undercook those bad boys. If they seem too gooey when you take them out — GOOD. The cookies will continue to cook as they cool and give you the perfect softness. Toll House also uses no preservatives or artificial flavors or colors, so the cookies taste homemade, with the perfect balance of rich chocolate chips and salty vanilla dough. All of this leads to the perfect color, smell, butter factor, and goo-potential.
Best Biscuit Cookie: Biscoff
The European speculoos darling that took over in-flight snacking, Biscoff wins for best biscuit cookie by a long, long shot. Made in Belgium and safe for people with nut allergies (it’s made in a nut-free facility), this simple and beautiful cookie tastes like an elegant graham cracker mixed with a holiday spice cookie. Buttery with a gentle crisp, Biscoff is also the perfect cookie to pair with a black cup of coffee. They’re vegan and have no artificial junk to boot. Pinkies up when you Biscoff, lads. Trivia: Why do Biscoff cookies say Lotus on them? Well, in Europe, the cookie is known as Lotus Speculoos. The name Biscoff is a mishmash of the words biscuit and coffee.
Best Variety Pack: Pepperidge Farm
The ultimate cookie variety pack with a unique and scrumptious cookie for all tastes has got to be Pepperidge Farm’s Classic Collection. Stacked with individual sleeves of nine varieties, the assortment holds 42 cookies and includes golden Milanos, chocolate-dipped Genevas, velvety Chessmen, crispy curled Pirouettes, and more. Plus, for store-brand cookies, Pepperidge Farm has an elegant edge over Keebler and Chips Ahoy. Great for parties or a night alone on the couch when one cookie won’t satisfy the itch.
Best International: Tim Tam
Tim Tam hails from the land down under but is sold in local and specialty stores all over the U.S. The cookie consists of two malted biscuits held together with a layer of chocolate cream and kept snug and cozy with a thin layer of chocolate on the outside. Eat Tim Tams like the Aussies by biting one corner off, then the opposite corner of the other side. Make a cup of hot chocolate or coffee and stick one end of the Tim Tam in the drink, slurping up from the other corner. Warm liquid fills the cookie like a straw, softening the chocolate. Then munch it down and say, “Crikey, that’s delish.”
Best Luxury: Milk Bar
Want to dazzle a cookie-lover? Look to the NYC staple, Milk Bar, for a tin of assorted cookies. The six-pack includes a Compost Cookie, Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookie, Corn Cookie, Blueberry & Cream Cookie, Chocolate Confetti Cookie, and Confetti Cookie. All individually wrapped (so it’s safer to share with loved ones).
Best Wildcard: Oreo
It’s no surprise “Milk’s Favorite Cookie” has mastered the art of unique-flavored cookies. Oreo, the surprisingly vegan American sandwich cookie, is perfect in its classic rendition of two chocolate wafers stuck together with sweet crème filling … but its exploration into fun flavors has turned Oreo into a horse of a different color. Some of the best Oreo flavors include Caramel Coconut, Mint, Birthday Cake, and Holiday. No cookie does crazy flavors or the sandwich form with quite as much consistency.
Best Throwback: Dunkaroos
The best cookies growing up, hand-down, were Dunkaroos. The 90s snack brand recently made a comeback and now you can buy the throwback packs of vanilla cookies and dunkable vanilla sprinkle frosting at local grocery stores and online. It may be the passing of time or a new recipe, but the remade Dunkaroos don’t have the same oomph of the OGs. BUT, they’re worth a dunk if you’re having a nostalgic night of N64 and Funyuns.
Best Protein Cookie: Koia Keto
You’re craving cookies but trying to be healthier; the story of our life. Luckily, Koia makes a keto protein shake that tastes even better than the real cookies ‘n cream. Ready to drink and designed to keep your body in ketosis, this uber-satisfying shake doesn’t have that weird fake cookie flavor you’ll find in many protein bars and other shakes. It’s made from coconut milk and a special blend of brown rice, pea, and chickpea protein, making it great for people who don’t eat dairy, gluten, soy, or animal products. Dare we say: better than an actual cookie.
Best for Holidays: Pillsbury
Every major holiday, Pillsbury puts out its kitschy, pre-cut sheet cookies with either hearts, ghosts, reindeer, bunnies, or something else along those lines. Each holiday it’s the same quintessential sugar cookie, designed to make baking cookies super simple. The bake is also perfect and easy to master. You’ll house five without blinking and feel that warm, happy cookie Zen settle over you. Classic and simple. We’ve been known to eat the dough raw also…
