Chocolate Chip Cookies

In the 1930s, Ruth Wakefield cut up a chocolate bar and added it to a basic butter cookie recipe at the Toll House restaurant in Whitman, Mass. The rest is history.

* The Coffee Roaster: This 6-inch wonder, loaded with butter, molasses, walnuts, brown sugar and Ghirardelli chocolate chips, is thin and crisp on the edges. Have a couple with a wonderfully fragrant cup of coffee (roasted on the premises, of course). (Chocolate chip cookie, $1.) The Coffee Roaster, 13567 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 905-9719.

* Old Town Bakery: These thick, chewy 8-inch cookies come in bittersweet chocolate or more exotic varieties, such as the one made from chocolate batter or the one with white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. (Chocolate chip cookie, chocolate chocolate chip cookie, white chocolate chip and cranberry cookie, 95 cents each.) Old Town Bakery, 166 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 793-2993.

* Doughboys: This thin, crunchy, chewy cookie uses large tart dried cherries, whole pecans, white chocolate chips and vanilla bean. (White chocolate dried cherry cookie, $1.50.) Doughboys, 8136 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles, (323) 651-4202.

* Patticakes: Whether large (4 inches) or small (2 inches), they’re full of walnuts and Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips. (Large chocolate chip cookie, $1, dozen, $9; small, 65 cents, dozen $7.) Patticakes, 1900 N. Allen Ave., Altadena, (626) 794-1128.

* Marmalade: This jumbo cookie, crisp on the outside and chewy in the center, is loaded with chocolate chips. There are also versions with dark chocolate chips and with white chocolate chunks and macadamia nuts. (Chocolate chip cookies, white chocolate chunk with macadamia nuts, chocolate chocolate chip, $1.) Marmalade, 710 Montana Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 395-9196.

* Porta Via: You’ll see the person to your left, the person to your right and maybe the person right in front of you munching on this insanely popular cookie, so leave room for this rich, dark cookie that is as chocolaty as a brownie. Made from a rich chocolate batter full of chocolate chips and chunks of walnuts, it’s both crisp on the edges and soft on the inside. (Double chocolate chip cookie, $1.) Porta Via, 424 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, (310) 274-6534.