Mashed Exclusive Survey Uncovered The Best Cookie According To Fans

Crumbly, gooey, and made with love, freshly oven-baked cookies are in a dessert class all their own. Although they might not be the fanciest confections around, they hold a special place in the hearts and homes of people everywhere. Ask anyone and they'll likely have a wholesome memory associated with this treat, like making some at Christmas time with a grandparent or coming home from school to the comforting scent of mom's homemade cookies wafting through the air. It's even better when your family has a special recipe tradition, which can cement a certain type of cookie as our lifelong favorite. Out of all the best cookie flavors in existence, there are a few that outrank the rest.

Mashed conducted a survey to determine what type of cookie is the absolute best. After 31,000 votes, the winner of the poll was the buttery, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip cookie, beloved by a whopping 57% of people. Oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, snickerdoodles, and sugar cookies were the next most popular flavors among those surveyed. The classic recipe is believed to have first appeared in 1939, invented by Toll House owner Ruth Wakefield. Even over 80 years later, people still feel that the taste of chocolate chip cookies is unbeatable — and for good reason.

Those good memories we mentioned earlier are a big contributing factor to why chocolate chip cookies are reign supreme. One New York-based baker, Kathleen King, has been making them for 40 years at the shop she founded in Southampton, and says she'll never get tired of them. "I think a lot of it has to do with the connection to our past," King tells CNN Health, adding that chocolate chip is typically a child's first baking recipe, and that carries a "tremendous emotional attachment."

Even in adulthood, the irresistible urge to lick the spatula or beaters after you've followed the best chocolate chip cookie recipe remains. There's a reason why it's the main edible cookie dough flavor you'll find in the freezer section of most grocery stores, and it's because America can't get enough. Besides the fact that chocolate chip cookies are a craveable comfort food we can turn to for a stress-relieving snack, the sugar content in both the dough and chocolate chips certainly makes it hard to eat just one. And who can really say that they haven't stolen a handful of chocolate chips at least once while baking?

Especially when accompanied by a tall glass of milk, it's not hard at all to see why chocolate chip cookies have stood the test of time as our enduring favorite.