See Which Cookie Reigned Supreme at Culinary School Cookie Games

— -- We’re heading into high cookie season –- once Thanksgiving passes, holiday cookie recipes will be all over the Internet.

To help you prepare and set you apart this year, the students of the International Culinary Center in New York City held the prestigious and competitive “Cookie Games.” Students were tasked with representing the country of their choice in cookie form, and the results were pretty creative.

First place went to Vianna Sinnan for her Malaysian cookie, a coconut daun pandan that was rendered bright green with pandan plant paste, a popular ingredient in the country. The cookie was crisp and flavored with coconut and dark chocolate to pack a serious punch.

The second place prize was won by the Great Britain cookie, a spicy and crunchy empire biscotti baked by Barbara Young and Tahiri Gonzalez. Judges called the flavors complex, picking up notes of Earl Grey tea, cardamom, clove and orange, and were especially impressed that this cookie is vegan.

Italy’s cookie by Ronald Green nabbed third place with classic Italian ingredients like goat cheese, balsamic vinegar and figs.

Judges included Kate Heddings, deputy food editor of Food & Wine, Jacques Torres of Jacques Torres Chocolates, Daniel Holzman, co-owner of The Meatball Shop and Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen, among others.

Other cookies included Mexico’s mole cookie, India’s cashew cookie tart, Thailand’s crunchy cashew cookie and the USA’s chocolate nut meringue cookies, among others.

You can recreate the winning cookies using the recipes below. May the odds be ever in your favor.

Vianna Sinnan’s Coconut Daun Pandan: Click here for the recipe.
Barbara Young & Tahiri Gonzalez’s Empire Earl Grey Biscotti: Click here for the recipe.
Ronald Green’s Italy in a Bite: Click here for the recipe.