Chefs We Love
Three of the Most Loved Cookie Recipes From NYT Cooking
Published on April 17, 2026
Writer and video host Vaughn Vreeland has curated a new cookbook featuring 100 of The New York Times’ most-loved cookie recipes. In Cookies: The Best Recipes for the Perfect Anytime Treat, there’s a recipe for every moment, mood and craving — from bright, fruity and tart to chocolatey, spiced and nutty. After a demanding schedule filming the highly anticipated annual Cookie Week YouTube series, Vaughn chatted with me about all things cookies, including trending ingredients, gluten-free swaps and unbeatable flavour combinations.
Cookies: The Best Recipes for the Perfect Anytime Treat by Vaughn Vreeland and The New York Times Cooking. Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2025, $48.
House & Home: Congratulations on this collection of recipes. Can you tell me about the four cookies we’ve selected?
Vaughn Vreeland: The recipes show a wonderful range of tastes, textures and cultures. The Peanut Butter Blossoms are very iconic cookies, and the version we share is fantastic. The Chewy Brownie Cookies take you on a textural journey from chewy edges to a velvety soft interior, and the Homemade Pocky are great to do with children or break out at a party. I also love the Pistachio-almond Cookies, which are influenced by Middle Eastern and Indian flavours like peppery cardamom and warm nuttiness.
Susan Spungen’s Homemade Pocky.
H&H: What toppings do you like for the Homemade Pocky? Any suggestions?
VV: I like to dip the pocky in melted salted white chocolate and crush Oreos on top, or dip them in some melted butterscotch chips and finish with a drizzle of dark chocolate. You could also experiment with swapping some of the flour for cocoa powder to make a chocolate dough.
Vaughn Vreeland’s Chewy Brownie Cookies.
H&H: What are your go-to cookies to bake at home?
VV: I find myself gravitating toward the Chewy Brownie Cookies because they’re an instant gratification type of dessert that comes together in less than an hour. I also make Snickerdoodles a lot, and I sometimes add a bit of almond or rum extract to the dough. I love recipes that are open to interpretation!
David Tanis’ Pistachio-almond Cookies.
H&H: Do the gluten-free recipes in the book taste as good as recipes made with regular flour? Can any other recipes be adapted with gluten-free alternatives?
VV: I find myself gravitating toward the Chewy Brownie Cookies because they’re an instant gratification type of dessert that comes together in less than an hour. I also make Snickerdoodles a lot, and I sometimes add a bit of almond or rum extract to the dough. I love recipes that are open to interpretation!
Ron Lieber’s Peanut Butter Blossoms.
H&H: You’re known for your great recipes and fun personality as a host. What’s been your most memorable moment on set?
VV: When I started as a video producer with The New York Times, I had the idea to produce a croissants video with Claire Saffitz. We knew we had captured something amazing as soon as her pastries came out of the oven. It’s one of my favourite things I’ve eaten on set to this day.
Anna Williams (Susan’s portrait)/Alice Gao (David’s portrait)/Eva Sundbye (Ron’s portrait)/Con Poulos (Homemade Pocky)/Mark Weinberg (Chewy Brownie Cookies)/David Malosh (Pistachio-almond Cookies)/Craig Lee (Peanut Butter Blossoms)/courtesy of The New York Times (Vaughn’s portrait)
Reprinted with permission from Cookies: The Best Recipes for the Perfect Anytime Treat by Vaughn Vreeland and The New York Times Cooking. ©2025 by The New York Times Company. Photography ©2025 by The New York Times Company. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House