The ingredient list for celebrity chef Sherry Yard’s “Quintessential Chocolate Chip Cookie.” The cookies proved to be my favorite after trying a series of New York Times recipes. (Graphic illustration by Maya Hernández.)

I consider myself a cookie connoisseur after growing up with a baker for a mom; she even had her own cookie subscription box for customers that I routinely sampled. However, we rarely baked the tried and true chocolate chip cookies, instead reaching for ginger and molasses, marshmallow with caramel and snickerdoodles. So, when inspiration struck during a slow summer day, I knew I had to do the research and come to my own conclusion.

This combination of summer boredom and an insatiable sweet tooth led me to testing over six New York Times chocolate chip recipes on a mission to find my favorite of one of the most famous sweets in the world.

The cooking section of the The New York Times cooking section features nearly 50 chocolate chip cookie recipes, many with twists like miso, pumpkin or oatmeal. For my test, however, I stuck to classic recipes that used only chocolate chips.

The first three recipes were all good contenders, but unremarkable, with a consistent pattern of too many chocolate chips that overpowered any other flavors. After every bite, I needed a sip of water — not my ideal way to enjoy a dessert — though it seemed that I was alone in my thinking, since almost all of my friends and family seemed to enjoy the chocolate overload.

When it was time for my fourth attempt and I discovered a recipe with almost 6,000 5-star reviews, my stomach was already growling. The “Quintessential Chocolate Chip Cookie” was first coined by celebrity chef Sherry Yard, and later adapted by food columnist Martha Rose Shulman. What immediately popped out to me was the use of bittersweet chocolate chips, over the semisweet that I had seen in almost every other recipe.

That small change turned out to be the key ingredient in these heavenly cookies. Even before the batter was placed in the oven, the raw dough (which we all taste-test!) was better than all of the dough I had tried previously. I was able to taste the creamed butter with sugar, warm vanilla and the refreshingly sharp bittersweet chocolate. With just a sprinkle of flaky salt on top, they were ready to go in the oven.

It is a miracle that I didn’t eat the whole dozen right then and there. They were so good I risked my mouth being burned from not being able to wait for them to cool down. Every bite had the perfect chocolate-to-dough ratio that satisfied my sweet tooth without needing a water break.

For the next few days, I woke up craving the soft, decadent dessert, and — admittedly — I ate one or two alongside my breakfast. I couldn’t help it, they were seriously that good! I was not readily giving away these cookies to be tested by my friends and family — I was hoarding them all to myself.

By the end of this not-so-scientific experiment, I can confidently say that I have become bittersweet chocolate chips’ biggest fan, and I have found the best chocolate chip cookie recipe on the internet. I’m already planning my next endeavor — maybe brownies could be good?