Bakery beauties

Nestle Toll House had it right from the get-go. Cookie batter plus chocolate chips equals surefire sweet-tooth quencher. Confectioners have evolved the idea over the years, but they still maintain this age-old, no-fail formula — whether the cookies are chewy or crumbly, double fudgy or traditional. When you’re not bringing home a bag of supermarket goodies or taking the half-hour to prepare them in the oven, pop by these locales for your fix:

The bigger the better

Gargantuan cookie cakes are the specialty at this mall spot, but if you’re not hosting a birthday party or seeking an evening of self-inflicted, masochistic bingeing, go for a tinier version. It won’t have the same clever chocolate lettering or a frosting soccer ball in the center, but a palm-sized circle of gooey goodness may be all you crave. Take it in a bag and nibble at it while you window-shop. And when you want to wash it down, Starbucks is right around the corner.

Great American Cookies, 8201 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; 921-3238, www.great americancookies.com.

Free sweets day

Sometimes, if you’re lucky, your server might come by your table, offering complimentary chocolate chip cookies. And if he or she does, take them! Why not? But if it isn’t free sweets day, you can buy them at the counter with a carton of milk, after you’ve compiled all your salad fixings on the tray (or after you’ve made a few rounds at the buffet). They’re small, baked in-house and a sweet addition to the tomatoes at this locale.

Sweet Tomatoes, Sarasota, 4994 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; 922-4908, www.souplantation.com.

Customized cookies

This isn’t like popping by a sandwich shop, ordering a cookie from a plastic display rack and noshing on it with your salad and drink. Here, cookie creating is an art form, and you can get yours customized to go, and even hand- delivered. Just like Great American Cookie Company, Cookies by Design has the humongous cake-style ones, but you can also have smaller ones wrapped in bouquets. So when you want a gourmet chocolate chip extravaganza, this is the place.

Cookies by Design, 4022 Cattlemen Road, Sarasota; 378-3665, www.cookiesby design.com.

Save room for a small bite

If you can make it past the all-you-can-eat, up-and-down, plate-after-plate routine for which the Golden Corral is famous, save some room for the mini cookies. You’ll find them stacked up at the dessert station, somewhere in between the cakes, cobblers, pies, brownies and ice cream. But, do you have space in your stomach for a chocolate chip cookie, and can you walk far enough to get there? Good luck.

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill, 5525 Cortez Road W., Bradenton; 761-0872, www .goldencorral.com.