On December 17, 2025, shortly after 2 p.m. UTC, a story appeared that drew in baking enthusiasts and fans of comfort cooking alike. Shared widely across platforms — from Facebook and LinkedIn to Reddit, Bluesky, WhatsApp, and beyond — the piece quickly captured attention with its subject: a home baker’s ambitious journey through several of Ina Garten’s most celebrated cookie recipes. The story, originally available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers, invited readers not merely to browse recipes, but to experience a meticulous, comparative exploration of technique, flavor, and texture from a fan deeply appreciative of Garten’s culinary legacy.
The author begins by expressing a genuine admiration for Ina Garten, a figure renowned for her approach to approachable sophistication — recipes that combine reliability with effortless elegance. Guided by that appreciation, the writer embarked on a personal challenge: to bake four distinct cookie recipes from Garten’s repertoire and to determine precisely how they compared when judged side by side. The chosen selection represented a well-rounded spectrum of flavors — classic, chocolate-intensive, and fruit-forward — specifically the giant crinkled chocolate chip cookies, raspberry jam thumbprints, chocolate white-chocolate chunk cookies, and the salty oatmeal chocolate-chunk cookies. What follows is a thoughtful chronicle of that process, detailed from preparation through tasting, culminating in a ranked evaluation of the results.
The first recipe explored — the Giant Crinkled Chocolate Chip Cookies — blended the familiar indulgence of bittersweet chocolate and vanilla with a sprinkle of sea salt. It called for simple pantry staples: two sticks of softened unsalted butter, white and brown sugars, an egg, vanilla extract, flour, baking soda, salt, and chopped bittersweet chocolate. The baker found the dough uncomplicated to prepare; combining the ingredients in an electric mixer and folding in the chocolate pieces required little effort. After resting the mixture briefly in the refrigerator, the dough was ready for baking. Yet, despite their straightforward assembly, these cookies presented practical challenges that tempered enthusiasm. Unexpectedly large portions — each cookie requiring a third of a cup of dough — meant that the baker needed to work in batches. A specific instruction to repeatedly bang the baking tray on the counter every few minutes to achieve Garten’s signature crinkle effect proved somewhat tedious over time. While the resulting cookies emerged visually striking and satisfyingly crisp, they leaned more toward brittleness than the chewy texture the author personally preferred. Their buttery flavor and delicate crunch were enjoyable, but they lacked the soft density that makes a chocolate chip cookie truly irresistible, leading to a respectable yet modest fourth-place ranking.
Next came Garten’s Raspberry Jam Thumbprints — a brighter, fruitier confection enhanced with coconut flakes and the baker’s choice of jam, such as raspberry or apricot. This recipe required three sticks of butter, sugar, vanilla, flour, salt, egg wash, and sweetened shredded coconut. Creating the dough, which resembled a classic shortbread in both consistency and richness, was pleasant but somewhat more involved than anticipated. Once chilled, the dough was portioned into small rounds, brushed with egg wash, rolled in coconut, and indented with a thumbprint before being filled with jewel-toned jam. Each cookie demanded careful shaping and handling, making the process slightly time-intensive but rewarding. The end result — buttery, crumbly, and aromatic — struck the baker as nostalgic in flavor and elegant in appearance, though it still didn’t ultimately surpass the more indulgent chocolate-based recipes that followed.
The Chocolate White-Chocolate Chunk Cookies, the third recipe, marked a turn toward deep, cocoa-rich decadence. With ingredients including butter, white and brown sugars, vanilla, eggs, cocoa, flour, leavening agents, salt, and a generous quantity of chopped white chocolate, the dough came together in under ten minutes. Ina Garten’s insistence on an exact fifteen-minute bake proved pivotal to achieving the desired chewy yet firm consistency. Initially appearing underdone, the cookies set perfectly as they cooled, developing a soft, brownie-like interior that balanced beautifully with the sweetness of the white chocolate chunks. The baker, who confessed not to be a habitual fan of chocolate-based cookies, admitted genuine surprise at how effortlessly addictive these were. Their fudgy richness, coupled with nuanced contrasts of flavor and texture, secured them a strong second place among the four.
Finally, the Salty Oatmeal Chocolate-Chunk Cookies — Garten’s twist on the traditional oatmeal cookie — demonstrated the brilliance of balancing savory and sweet elements. The recipe’s straightforward ingredient list included butter, two kinds of sugar, vanilla, eggs, flour, baking soda, salt, rolled oats, bittersweet chocolate chunks, and dried cranberries in place of the usual raisins, with a final flourish of sea salt sprinkled atop. The process was refreshingly simple: cream the butter and sugars, blend in the dry components, fold in the fruit and chocolate, and bake briefly. Unlike other recipes in the trial, this one required no refrigeration and no special handling, which the baker particularly appreciated. The results, however, were anything but plain. Each cookie emerged golden-edged, chewy-centered, and intensely flavorful. The marriage of hearty oats with rich chocolate and tart cranberries produced a balanced sweetness elevated by the deliberate touch of salt. The baker found these cookies nearly impossible to resist — the kind that could vanquish willpower entirely. They earned first place with ease, marking the culmination of the baking journey on a triumphant note.
Reflecting on the experience as a whole, the author reaffirmed their long-standing admiration for Ina Garten’s approach to home cooking. Every recipe demonstrated her hallmarks of dependability and crowd-pleasing appeal. Yet, through direct comparison, personal texture preferences and flavor subtleties emerged as differentiating factors. While the giant crinkled chocolate chip cookies dazzled visually, and the jam thumbprints charmed with their delicate presentation, it was the contrast of salty and sweet within the oatmeal chocolate-chunk cookies that offered genuine excellence. Even without the addition of cinnamon, which the baker noted might enhance them further, they exemplified how simplicity can lead to perfection when executed with balance and care.
This feature was initially published on November 25, 2025, and thoughtfully updated on December 17 of the same year — a reflection of ongoing enthusiasm for both the art of baking and the timeless reassurance of a well-tested Ina Garten recipe.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/trying-ina-garten-cookie-recipes-ranked-worst-to-best
