Cookies by Diane, named Philadelphia Magazine's Best of Philly® - Gift Baskets 2002

You may think you know great cookies, but until you've tasted the resplendent Cookies by Diane, honey, you don't know what a cookie is. We adore all 10 of Diane Marinelli's lavish creations. The peanut butter mousse are crisp peanut butter wafers enfolding rich mousse, robed in chocolate and sprinkled with peanuts. Then there's the Monaco (butter cookies stuffed with white butter cream and fresh raspberries), the Bianca (butter cookies, apricot filling, white chocolate and hazelnuts), and the chocolate caramel fudge (just what you're imagining, with walnuts on top).

Cookies by Diane began as a phone-order-only, delivering nationwide (except during the hot summer months). Six months ago, Marinelli, a former nurse at Temple University Hospital, moved her bakery to a storefront in Clifton Heights, and her cookies are now available at the store as well as by mail.

Marinelli still does all the baking by herself, and doesn't skimp on ingredients. "Our cookies are all fresh, all natural, with no preservatives, " she says proudly.