The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (2024)

Indulge in mouthwatering cookie recipes from Midwest bloggers and restaurants, Midwest Living readers, and our own test kitchen.

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Salty Caramel and Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (1)

These cookies come with a friendly warning: Chewy caramel, toasted pecans and a flurry of sea salt will make you popular. Very popular. A product called caramel bits gives these cookies great flavor and chewy texture. Some supermarkets carry them, and they're widely available online. (Search for Kraft Caramel Bits.) Take care to follow recipe directions when baking: caramel bits melt quickly.

Easy Drop Cookies

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Macarons

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (2)

You can make these beautiful cookies at home—but use a digital kitchen scale for best results, because a precise ratio of dry and liquid ingredients matters with macarons, says Nathan Sivitz of Macaron Bar in Cincinnati. Want more help? Check out Sivitz's step-by-step guide and problem-solving tips.

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Lemon Sugar Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (3)

The light lemon flavor gives these sparkling sugar cookies a little special twist. Judy Kiburz Harrison's recipe won best-in-class at the Iowa State Fair.

Behind the Scenes at the Iowa State Fair Cookie Competition

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Peanut Butter Temptations

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (4)

Calling all peanut butter fans! These cookies offer double-the-PB compared to the classic peanut blossom cookie with a chocolate kiss on top. And they couldn't be easier.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (5)

These easy, nostalgic-tasting cookies are a favorite of Stephanie Simmons, the Wisconsin blogger behind Blue Bowl Recipes and author of the cookbook, The One-Bowl Baker. Use your favorite preserves—Stephanie likes raspberry.

Peanut Butter Dessert Recipes

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Black-and-White Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (6)

These soft, vanilla-scented cookies—a Jewish deli and bakery staple—are delicious, and easier to frost than you might think. This recipe comes from Larder in Cleveland.

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Jumbo Chocolate-Cherry-Oat Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (7)

Sometimes it's fun to have cookies the size of your face—these are 5 inches in diameter! For smaller cookies that are still impressive, use a 1/3-cup measure to portion the dough for 15 or 16 cookies.

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CCCC Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (8)

In the Middle East, cardamom often flavors coffee. Here, that duo teams up with cloves and chocolate shards in a bakehouse-style cookie with cozy chai vibes. (Trust us: The extra step of melting chocolate, spreading it out and breaking it into shards, rather than use chips, is worth it for a totally elevated cookie.)

Try Chocolate Chai Tea

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Mindy Segal's Classic Shortbread

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (9)

In Mindy Segal's book, Cookie Love, the chef-owner of Mindy's Bakery in Chicago shows how mastering a classic like shortbread can unlock the baking genius in you. Make a basic four-ingredient shortbread—then try these variations.

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Caramel Apple Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (10)

Chopped apple, pecans, apple juice, apple pie spice and more combine for a hearty, delicious cookie. The frosting and nuts add just the right touch of sweetness and crunch on top.

Our Favorite Fall Cookie Recipes

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Peanut Better Blossoms

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (11)

In her book Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland, Shauna Sever ramped up the nuttiness and opted for a creamy ganache filling in her take on this Midwest favorite.

Try Shauna Sever's Cracker Toffee

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Mood-Booster Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (12)

Slip yourself one of these insanely rich morsels, which fall somewhere between a truffle and a cookie, on those gray afternoons when only chocolate will do.

The Chocolate Cookie You Need for the Dark Days of Winter

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Blue-Ribbon Ranger Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (13)

Ranger cookies are made with rolled oats and cereal. Judy Kiburz Harrison won best-in-class at the Iowa State Fair for her version, which adds Beer Nuts for a peanutty twist.

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Cocoa and Brown Butter Shortbread Bites

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (14)

Browned butter infuses irresistible nuttiness into these four-ingredient cookies without sullying their essential simplicity or sandy texture. Dip them in satiny chocolate for effortless glamor.

Decadent Chocolate Desserts

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Gramma's Sugar Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (15)

Shauna Sever grew up thinking this beloved recipe was special to her family with its unique additions of vegetable oil, confectioners' sugar and cream of tartar. So you can imagine her bewilderment when she found this exact recipe in a vintage Illinois state cookbook. This recipe is in her book Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland as well.

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Mindy Segal's Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (16)

These to-die-for cookies use special chocolate and two kinds of salt, and they call for an overnight chill—and you can absolutely taste the difference. Because of the expense and time involved, we don't recommend them for any old weekend, but they are incredible for a homemade food gift or other special occasion. The recipe comes from Chicago chef Mindy Segal's cookbook Cookie Love.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies I've Ever Eaten. Period.

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Coconut Macaroons

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (17)

In all our years of testing, we've rarely found a cookie recipe as crazy-simple as this reliable crowd-pleaser. These cookies taste great au naturel—but dipping the bottoms in chocolate adds easy decadence (and looks eye-catching on a cookie tray).

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Pie Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (18)

At Sister Pie in Detroit, they make these buttery, buttercream- or ganache-filled sandwich cookies from scraps of dough leftover from making pies. You can do the same, storing them in the freezer until you have enough. Or just make a fresh batch of pastry—it's worth it! The recipe comes from cafe owner Lisa Ludwinski's debut cookbook, Sister Pie.

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Lindsay's Chocolate Cafe Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (19)

This cookie, from the former Lindsay's Chocolate Cafe and Coffee House in O'Fallon, Missouri, wowed us with its flavor-packed lineup of ingredients. "These are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had! " says one of our website reviewers. "These are wonderful with a glass of cold milk while the cookie is still warm!"

6 Best-Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Miss Rosa Lee's Oatmeal Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (20)

Nothing fancy here; this is the perfectly chewy lunchbox classic, pebbled with walnuts and plump raisins. A combination of vegetable oil and butter ensures a chewy texture and rich flavor. This recipe comes from Patty Pinner's cookbook Sweets.

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Sandbakkels

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (21)

Sandbakkels means "sand tarts" because the cookies (which, flipped over, can double as tiny shells to hold cream and fruit) have such a fine, crisp texture. Find them in Shauna Sever's book Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland.

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Lebkuchen

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (22)

The secret to perfect lebkuchen is in the resting phase after glazing. An apple wedge in the storage container provides moisture that softens the cookies. This German classic is from Shauna Sever's book Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland.

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Double Chocolate-Cherry Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (23)

Carol Schneider of Wausau, Wisconsin, brought home a blue ribbon when she entered these cookies at the Wisconsin State Fair. The recipe combines white and semisweet chocolate with dried cherries and walnuts.

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Apricot and Orange Blossom Kolacky

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (24)

This tender pastry cookie, a cousin to Jewish rugelach, has Polish origins. In her book Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland, Shauna Sever's apricot filling nods to Hungary.

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Hazelnut-Chocolate Chunk Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (25)

We loaded these crisp and chewy chocolate chip cookies with white and chocolate chips along with toasted hazelnuts.

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Triple-Flavored Big-Batch Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (26)

Chocolate chips, peanut butter and oatmeal pack these easy drop cookies from a Door County, Wisconsin, bed-and-breakfast. Because this recipe makes so many cookies, you might want to freeze some dough for future use.

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Lemon Hazelnut Sea Salt Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (27)

Many cookies call for just citrus zest, but these soft gems use a lot of juice, too, so they've got the same tart kick as lemon bars. They're a perfect match for hot tea. The recipe comes from The Birchwood Cafe Cookbook (University of Minnesota Press, $29.95).

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Molasses Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (28)

Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside: This spice cookie has it all. It's a state fair prizewinning recipe from Catherine Blackwood of Columbus, Ohio.

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Polvorones

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (29)

Polvorones are Mexico's crispy, airy answer to shortbread (you may know them as Mexican wedding cookies). Midwest food writer Shauna Sever coats them in cinnamon sugar for a churro-like effect.

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Fantasy Chocolate-Caramel Delights

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (30)

"I love caramel, nuts and chocolate," says the Mandan, North Dakota, reader who sent this recipe to a Midwest Living cookie contest. Fantasy Chocolate-Caramel Delights were one of the highest-rated cookies in the contest.

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Honey-Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (31)

Chicago chef Myk Banas created these utterly delicious and subtly sophisticated cookies.

Delicious Recipes With Honey

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Valencia Delights

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (32)

Orange and chocolate: a cookie match that tempts everyone to take seconds. This recipe comes from Jill Drury in Milwaukee, who loved to bake cookies with her grandmother. "For the longest time I couldn't decide which cookie I liked best, until one day Grandma had me mix my favorite flavors: chocolate and orange," she says.

Favorite Family Holiday Recipes

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Opal's Walnut Shortbread Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (33)

Patrick Groth, owner-chef of Incredibly Delicious bakery in Springfield, Illinois, uses his grandmother's recipe for these cookies. "Use the best walnuts you have and fresh butter," he advises.

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Awesome Chocolate-Peanut Blowout Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (34)

What makes these cookies so awesome? "Special ingredients," says the Marion, Ohio, reader who contributed the recipe, which includes chocolate and peanut butter. "I like them because they're decadent yet so easy to make."

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Oatmeal-Cherry Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (35)

Dried cherries make oatmeal cookies even more memorable in this recipe from American Spoon Foods, which has locations throughout Michigan. We like the cookies' crisp edges and chewy centers.

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Strawberry-Coconut Thumbprints

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (36)

Linda Roberts of Rapid City, South Dakota, tops her buttery cream cheese, coconut-coated cookie with fruit jam.

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Marjorie's Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (37)

Marjorie Johnson of Robbinsdale, Minnesota, won one of her 2,500 state fair ribbons with this recipe. It's also part of her cookbook, The Road to Blue Ribbon Baking.

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Peanut Butter Munchies

The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (38)

A Hanover, Kansas, reader sent the recipe for these chocolate cookies with peanut butter centers to a Midwest Living cookie contest. A judge described them as "regally rich chocolate with a peanut butter kick."

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The Midwest's Best Cookie Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to chewy cookies? ›

Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

What is the most successful cookie? ›

Oreo is the best-selling cookie in the world. It is now sold in over 100 countries. Oreo was first produced in 1912 by the National Biscuit Company, now known as Na-Bis-Co.

What is America's first favorite cookie? ›

America's favorite cookie and the one dubbed “the American cookie” is the Chocolate chip cookie. Chocolate chip cookie is simply tantalizing both in flavor and in texture.

What is the secret ingredient to keep cookies soft? ›

If you enjoy your cookies soft and chewy, chances are likely the recipe contains a common ingredient that serves a very specific purpose. No, it's not granulated sugar, nor the butter. It's not the egg, all-purpose flour, or even the vanilla extract. The simple, yet oh-so-necessary component is cornstarch.

What is the #1 cookie in the United States? ›

The chocolate chip cookie is far and away America's favorite cookie This should come as no surprise to anyone who enjoys the tasty treat. More than 53% of American adults prefer the cookies over the next most popular kind, peanut butter.

What is the #1 cookie in the US? ›

Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! A new survey by Crumbl cookies finds chocolate chip cookies are America's favorite. Here are the cookie facts: 62% of Americans say there's nothing better than that classic chocolate chip.

What is the #1 cookie in the world? ›

OREO, the world's bestselling cookie with $4 billion in annual revenue, is actually a knockoff. It's 1897 and brothers Jacob and Joseph are at odds: After 7 years of building a multi-million-dollar bakery in the Midwest, the brothers disagreed about where to take the company next.

What is the best flour for chewy cookies? ›

You don't absolutely HAVE to use bread flour, but it adds a ton of chewy texture to these cookies that's worth the extra trip to the store. If you can't get bread flour, then use all AP flour in its place.

Do you flatten cookie dough before baking? ›

Flattening the cookie dough provides more surface area that comes into contact with the ice bath, shortening the time it takes to chill. Then submerge the dough in the ice water and let it chill. After 20 minutes the dough will be completely chilled and ready for baking.

What is the oldest cookie? ›

Pizzelles are the oldest known cookie and originated in the mid-section of Italy. They were made many years ago for the “Festival of the Snakes” also known as the “Feast Day of San Domenico”.

What is the most eaten cookie? ›

Chocolate chip cookies

What is the most popular type of cookie? It might just be this one. Ever the crowd-pleaser, the chocolate chip cookie is renowned for its balance of richness and sweetness.

What are 3 factors that contribute to a chewy cookie? ›

The ingredients you use and how you shape your cookies both play an important role in whether your cookies turn out crispy or chewy. The type of flour and sugar you use, if your cookie dough contains eggs, and whether you use melted or softened butter all factor into the crispy-chewy equation, too.

Why do my cookies never turn out chewy? ›

Egg yolks add moisture to the dough, while egg whites can make cookies drier and crunchier. Add a bit of cornstarch to the dough. Cornstarch helps to absorb moisture and keep cookies soft and tender. Make sure you're using the right type of flour.

Why are my cookies hard instead of chewy? ›

According to The Kitchn, this occurs when you over-mix the dough. Mixing the dough naturally causes gluten to develop in the flour, and while you do need a good amount of gluten to give your cookies structure, too much of it will result in hard cookies.

How do you keep cookies crisp and chewy? ›

How do you store cookies to stay crisp? To keep crispy cookies crisp, you need to keep them away from moisture. Always store different types of cookies separately—soft cookies can cause crispy cookies to soften due to their extra moisture. Place crispy cookies in an airtight container, but don't completely seal it.

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