Scene by Laurie

I’m a cookie junkie! It’s a serious vice and I shutter to think about how many I consume each year, particularly around the holidays when the real special varieties and flavors come out. But not all cookies are created equal. Thankfully NYC offers lots of options from which to choose. I’ve eaten more than my fair share around the city and these are my personal favorites that win for gooeyness, freshness, and creativity.

Levain Bakery
If you haven’t tried one yet, then run to the Upper West Side immediately. These ladies win hands down for gooey and fresh. Weighing in at six ounces each, they’re a cookie fanatic’s dream. They’re hand made daily at the bakery and come in four flavors: Chocolate Chip Walnut, Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip. It seems like a batch is always fresh out of the oven so you get warm gooey goodness all the time. Hugely popular since their appearance on Bobby Flay’s Throwdown and for good reason. Location: 167 W. 74th. $4 per cookie

Ruby et Violette’s wins for creativity…they have 120 flavors of chocolate chip cookies sorted by category: chewy (caramel nougat), dessert (key lime), kids (creamsicle), seduction (first kiss) and of course my favorite category: intoxicating, which includes mojito, amaretto, White Russian and champagne strawberry. The three sisters do their test baking in Queens (the “Break Up” is making its debut soon) and have a cute Parisien style café in the city where you can also get cookie dough ice cream. Location: NYC 457 West 50th Street, $2.50 per cookie

Insomnia Bakery
These guys are smart and have carved out a niche of late night hours and delivery to college students. Born out of their own late night munchies and desire for delivery at UPenn they started making cookies and now are satisfying students’ late night cravings at 14 different schools. In NYC, you don’t have to be a NYU student to enjoy their late night menu made up of six classic cookies. Their store is open until 3AM and they have a non-dorm delivery zone that runs until 2:30AM. Location: 50 West 8th Street, $1 per cookie

Milk & Cookies
With a name like Milk & Cookies you know they’re going to be as good as your childhood memories. They bake all day and use the best ingredients. There are nine regulars with a daily special. And the really fun part is you can design your own. You choose your cookie dough flavor first and then select from a list of 25 ingredients to mix in. The Scene by Laurie is a chocolate cookie with cappuccino chips. Located in Greenwich Village at 19 Commerce Street, just south of Bleecker Street off 7th Avenue, $1.95 per cookie

Vesuvio Bakery
This icon of icons in Soho almost went extinct until the owner of City Bakery purchased it. He kept Vesuvio’s name and famous store front although for safety reasons replaced the famous bread making coal ovens and changed the bread to cookies including one of the best classic chocolate chip cookies in the city. Big, chewy and loaded with chocolate, the front window full of stacks of them beckons you from outside. The oatmeal raisin are also really good. Location: 160 Prince Street, $2.50 per cookie

Gotta Love Vesuvio's Window