Chocolate chip cookies are one of the first things many kids learn to bake, including myself. Many of us never stray farther than the classic Toll House Cookie recipe developed by Ruth Wakefield that’s been printed on the Nestle bag for decades. As grown-ups, we might become fans of alternative recipes, such as the famous Neiman-Marcus cookie or the plump ones sold at Levain Bakery, but generally, that’s where chocolate chip cookie exploration often stops.
With her latest cookbook, author Katie Jacobs has gone far beyond the basics. In The Chocolate Chip Cookie Book: Classic, Creative and Must-Try Recipes for Every Kitchen, published this week by Harper Celebrate, she offers up 100 different variations on the American dessert staple.
When the book arrived, I was a little skeptical. How could there be so many different versions of this simple, no-frills cookie? But Jacobs fills the pages with unique ideas, and even includes ways to transform them into gluten-free and vegan desserts.
“I feel really at home being creative within the confines of a specific subject,” Jacobs, a graphic designer by training, told The Takeout via email. “I used chocolate chip cookies being ubiquitous to my advantage.” Indeed, she actually came up with 130 recipes at first and then had to pare things down to adhere to her publisher’s word count.
“I began creating different recipes for the book by asking, ‘How can I incorporate chocolate chip cookies into the things I already love to bake?’” Jacobs says. “Like cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning, banana pudding for Fourth of July, or that cookie cake my husband loves for his birthday. Then my brain couldn’t stop!”
Since finishing the book, Jacobs has come across even more ideas to add to her innovative collection, but here are four variations in the book you might find intriguing.
Chocolate chip cereal
Americans often think of chocolate flavored cereal, such as Cocoa Puffs and Cocoa Krispies, as children’s food. But Europeans regularly incorporate chocolate into muesli and other breakfast cereals. In Japan, Calbee makes a breakfast cereal, Fugra, that’s flavored with chocolate and banana.
“I was aiming for a really fun, totally delicious cereal that’s not too sweet and has some substance to it (with the oats),” Jacobs writes. “I find that the cereal trend of late is less for breakfast and more for a snack or a sweet treat (I am a late-night cereal eater!).”
Chocolate chip cookie dough baklava
Traditional Middle Eastern baklava usually comes in one of two varieties, pistachio or walnut, and is soaked with plenty of honey. In fact, I’ve only seen chocolate baklava on one restaurant menu over the years. But Jacobs thought it was a natural pastry to feature her star ingredient.
It is sweet, she admits, “but not too much so!” She reduces the sugar in the cookie dough recipe and adds more eggs, making the dough into a filling that is alternated with layers of phyllo dough. It isn’t the only use of honey throughout this book; there’s a hot honey recipe that Jacobs says pairs well with cookies.
Chocolate chip cinnamon rolls
Chocolate can be skillfully deployed in pastry—think pain au chocolat, or the chocolate snails topped with crunchy sugar crystals served in Denmark. Jacobs, meanwhile, puts chocolate chips into another classic: cinnamon rolls. The chocolate chips hold their shape while baking and offer little bursts of additional flavor throughout the final product. She also recommends swapping in chocolate chips in pecan rolls, since “You still get that little crunch from the chocolate chip in the delicate puffy pastry.”
Chocolate chip cookie graham crackers
Jacobs says this might be her favorite recipe in the entire book—but they were among the more difficult to develop. “I wanted a crisp, but soft-to-bite-through cookie that had the flavor profile of a graham cracker AND a chocolate chip cookie,” she told us via email. “It is the most brilliant addition to a s’more of all time.” It’s a soft graham cracker, as opposed to a crispy one, but in Jacobs’ opinion they’re superior to the store-bought kind.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Graham Crackers recipe
From The Chocolate Chip Cookie Book by Katie Jacobs, published by Harper Celebrate, 2023.
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 7 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter
- 3 Tbsp. whole milk
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Place the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade. Mix until combined. Add the butter to the dry ingredients and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, honey, and vanilla. Add the milk mixture to the food processor and pulse about 30 seconds until a dough forms and begins to full away from the sides of the bowl. The dough will be sticky and soft. Remove the blade, and using a rubber spatula, fold in the mini chocolate chips.
Form the dough into a flat disc. Wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour or overnight.
When ready to bake, line baking sheets with parchment paper. Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit. On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough to a little more than 1/4 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into two by five inch rectangles. Score the cookies lengthwise with a knife, then half across, so they resemble conventional graham crackers.
Gently transfer the cookies to the baking sheet. Bake for 1o to 12 minutes so that they remain soft. Let cool. Store in an airtight container for up to five days.
From The Chocolate Chip Cookie Book: Classic, Creative and Must-Try Recipes For Every Kitchen by Katie Jacobs. Copyright 2023 by Katie Jacobs. Used by permission of Harper Celebrate.