cookies

• From Valerie Confections an artisinal confectioner in Los Angeles, come chocolates designated as Pour Elle and Pour Homme. Each box contains 3 large chocolate hearts and 8 small hearts with the "For Her" gift box having traces of edible rose petals and the "For Him" gift box is completed with caramel and toffee filled chocolates. Each set of 11 pieces retails for $30.00 a box.
• Chocolat Moderne in New York city is represented with a red box filled with 12 hand painted chocolate hearts. The $36.00 box contains two each of six different flavors.
• For those who like their sweets from France, the Pyramide des Tropiques from Francois Pralus, is a great choice for serious chocolate lovers who are more interested in the chocolate itself than cute Valentine wrapping. A stack of 10 individual bars each made with beans from a different part of the world and a 75% cocoa content for $12.00.
  
• Eleni's specializes in selling hand iced cookies. There is an adorable box of pink and purple XO shaped cookies 18 for $50.00 If you go to Eleni's web-site there are just under 20 different designs from which you can pick the perfect option for your sweetie.

Gallery: Sweet Treats For Valentine's Day

Is there a maker of fine chocolate candy that makes your mouth water just thinking about it? Who makes the most sumptuous chocolate truffle you've ever had? Which bakery makes the most magnificent cupcakes in the world? Can you recommend a bakery that makes cakes that are worth telling the world about? Which bakery makes the best cookies? If you know where to find the best chocolate, truffles, cupcakes, cakes and cookies, we want to hear from you!

The Luxist Readers' Choice Awards for Best in Sweets will be awarded based on your nominations and voting. We're currently seeking nominations for the best-of-breed in the following categories:

Best Chocolate Bar
Best Chocolate Candy
Best Cupcake
Best Cake
Best Cookie

One nomination per category, please. Submissions can be filed until February 15, 2010.

Yoku Moku Cigares are some of the finest butter cookies that you can find. The ultra-thin and crepe-like, the delicate cookies are rolled up into cigar shapes and individually wrapped, with the logo on their packaging centered like the ring on a real cigar. The purpose of the shape is to provide some support for a very delicate cookie and to make sure that you get some crunch when biting into it, before the cookie melts away in your mouth into a rush of butter and vanilla flavor. A box is only $22 and contains 20 cookies, but even though they can be stored for several months, it is a challenge to make them last a week.

High on the list of things missed most by New Yorkers when they take up residence in another state is the Black and White Cookie. The cake-like consistency of the cookie and the smooth, sweet chocolate and vanilla icing combine to make one of the ultimate treats. As a gift for your favorite ex-New Yorker, or perhaps for yourself, consider getting a box of Dean & DeLuca's Black and Whites.  Black and Whites tend to be huge, since New Yorker's like things big, but the Dean and Deluca cookies are normal sized and packed in a box that fits two dozen. The cookies are a perfect version of the New York classic - tasty as well as beautiful to look at. If you can't eat them all at once, they freeze beautifully, but if you invite a friend over to share them, you might not have any leftover. Price: $30.