Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies: The Original Explained

Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies: The Original Explained

By the published ingredient list, a quarter of the original Maryland cookie is chocolate chips. The rest is a plain golden dough baked thin and dry, and that dough is exactly what every other cookie in the range sets out to change.

Published 26 Sep 2026 Curator-written, not crowdsourced

Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies: The Original Explained, in summary: The original Maryland is a thin, crisp cookie in which chocolate chips make up a quarter of the recipe. It is the benchmark for the whole range: moderately sweet, a brief dunker and happy beside almost any decent black tea.

Last reviewed by the teas.co.uk team in September 2026.

By the published ingredient list, a quarter of the original Maryland cookie is chocolate chips. The rest is a plain golden dough baked thin and dry, and that dough is exactly what every other cookie in the range sets out to change.

Chips, dough and a dry snap

Maryland has made this cookie since 1956, when Symbol Biscuits, the Lyons business in Blackpool, introduced it. The idea was American, but the result behaves like a British biscuit: the brand's own word for its texture is crunchy and crumbly, so the bake is meant to break cleanly and dry instead of staying soft. That is what lets it sit beside a hot cup without turning limp in the hand.

The chips are spread through the dough rather than pressed on top, so each bite lands a little differently, plain biscuit one moment and a pocket of chocolate the next. Because the outside is all baked dough, the first thing you notice on opening a sleeve is a buttery, browned-sugar smell rather than cocoa. The brand states there are no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives in it.

How the rest of the range differs

Every other Maryland we stock is a variation on this cookie. The Double Chocolate works cocoa into the dough as well as carrying chips, which makes it the darker, slightly drier choice. The White Chocolate Chip and the Caramel and Chocolate Chip change what goes into the dough rather than the style of bake, and the S'wich turns two cookies into a sandwich around a filling.

The Minis are portioned into small sealed bags, which makes them the lunchbox and desk-drawer choice, and the twin pack is simply two of these sleeves. If you are buying one Maryland and have no idea whose hands it will end up in, we would pick this one: there is nothing in it to divide a room, and in our view it gets along with more drinks than any of its relatives.

In the mug, on the plate, in the tin

Dunk briefly. About two seconds is the working limit, and it is the chips rather than the dough that give way first. For tea, a black cup of medium strength, with or without milk, is the natural partner; a pot left to stew is the one real mistake, because it flattens the gentle buttery note. Cold milk is worth trying once, as it quietens the sweetness and brings the golden dough forward.

Away from the cup, a crisp cookie like this crushes well into a base for a cold dessert or scatters over ice cream. Once a sleeve is open, fold it shut or move the cookies to an airtight tin somewhere cool, because a crisp cookie starts losing its snap as soon as air reaches it. In most homes a 200g sleeve is finished well before that becomes a problem.

The packs we stock

Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies, 200g (barcode 072417162985)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies, 200g says it contains wheat (gluten), milk and soya, and it may contain nuts. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.

Ingredients, as published: Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin), Chocolate Chips (25%) (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Vegetable Fats (Sustainable Palm, Shea, Sal), Emulsifiers (Soya Lecithin, E442, E476), Cocoa Butter, Flavourings), Sugar, Sustainable Palm Oil, Whey or Whey Derivatives (Milk), Partially Inverted Sugar Syrup, Raising Agents (Sodium Bicarbonate, Ammonium Bicarbonate), Salt, Flavourings.

Typical values per 100g	Per 100g
Energy	483 kcal
Fat	22g
of which saturates	11g
Carbohydrate	65g
of which sugars	31g
Fibre	2.1g
Protein	5.5g
Salt	0.58g

Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.

What to drink with it

Teapigs Darjeeling, 15 Tea Bags 37.5g: A lighter, brisk black tea that leaves room for the browned-sugar dough to come through.
Lipton Black Earl Grey With Italian Bergamot, 20 Tea Bags 32g: An Earl Grey whose bergamot edge cuts neatly through the chocolate pockets at medium strength.
Twinings Lady Grey, 80 Tea Bags 200g: A softer take on the Earl Grey idea for an afternoon cup that will not overwhelm a mild cookie.
Kenco Smooth Instant Coffee Paper Refill, 150g: A smooth instant coffee for the mid-morning break when tea will not do.

Elsewhere in the Maryland range

The full range is on the Maryland brand page.

FAQ

How much of a Maryland cookie is chocolate? A quarter of it. The published ingredient list gives the chips as 25 percent of the original cookie.

Is the original Maryland a soft-baked cookie? No. It is baked thin and dry so that it snaps, which is why it copes with a brief dunk.

Can someone avoiding gluten or nuts eat it? No. The label lists wheat (gluten), milk and soya, and warns that it may contain nuts.

Where are Maryland cookies made? In Blackpool. The brand began there in 1956, and its owners still describe the Blackpool bakery as the home of Maryland cookies.

Who owns Maryland? Maryland belongs to Fox's Burton's Companies, formed when Fox's and Burton's merged in 2022, a year after Burton's was bought by a Ferrero affiliated company.

Curator's note: If you only keep one Maryland in the cupboard, keep this one. Medium tea, a splash of milk, two seconds in the cup and not a moment longer. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies: The Original Explained

Field	Detail
Brand	Maryland
Packs we stock	200g
Category	Cookies
Allergens (as published)	It contains wheat (gluten), milk and soya, and it may contain nuts.
Dunkable	Briefly, about two seconds
Best with	Medium black tea, milk optional
Suits	Shared kitchens and mixed tastes