12 Store-Bought Break-And-Bake Cookies, Ranked
It's hard to resist a plate of freshly baked cookies. The inviting, brown sugar smell and the feeling of the chocolate chips melting on your fingertips just seal the deal for us. But you don't have to pull out your Kitchen Aid stand mixer and set your ingredients out at room temperature to have a batch of freshly baked cookies ready in a jiffy — you can just pick up a package of break-and-bake, store-bought cookie dough from the refrigerator section instead. To bake these cookies, just break off a square, pop it on a baking sheet, and wait for a little over 10 minutes for the easiest batch of cookies you have ever made. You don't even have to wash a cookie scoop!
We're looking for the best of the best when it comes to break-and-bake cookie dough. Our ideal cookie has a homestyle flavor — meaning it could pass as a cookie your grandma could make — and spreads out perfectly on the baking sheet. Plus, we're also looking for a cost-effective option. After all, it's called "break-and-bake," not "break-and-break-the-bank."
Prices are as of the date of publication and may vary based on region.
12. Sweet Loren's Gluten-Free Fudgy Brownie Cookie Dough
Sweet Loren's fudgy brownie cookies win some points for product ingenuity. It's the only brand that uses a cocoa powder base for the cookie, which gives it the quality of a thin brownie. It was one of the two gluten-free flavors we reviewed on our list and also touts a slurry of "clean ingredients" (despite still being a cookie) as well as plant-based and non-GMO Project Verification certifications.
As we expected, this cookie from Sweet Loren's masquerades as a healthier option, but we think it's an all-around lousy cookie. You couldn't put all the health labels in the world on this to convince us otherwise. The texture is mealy, which is on par with gluten-free cookies that we've had in the past, and we noticed the cookie develops a very hard exterior after it's fully cooled. This makes breaking it into pieces more like shattering it. We were expecting a soft, plush brownie pillow, but we only got a cookie resembling animal dung. We also couldn't find any of the chocolate chunks that were advertised in the product image.
What really did Sweet Loren's in on our rankings was the price. A package of 12 cookies was $7.19, which averages to about $0.60 per cookie. That makes Sweet Loren's the most expensive option on our list, and it's reasonable to assume customers are paying for a flashy label rather than a quality cookie.
11. Stop & Shop Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
The first thing we noticed about the Stop & Shop brand cookie dough was that the cookies were all different sizes. The sides of the block were smaller than the two columns inside of the package, which means that we got cheated out of an equally sized cookie. As a result, this variety was much smaller in size than the others we reviewed.
After the bake, it was easy to recognize this cookie because it was the most golden-brown of the bunch. Once we took a bite of the cookie, we quickly realized why this was the case: It was made with way too much sugar. We could only get through a bite, which was tooth-shatteringly hard before we had to grab a sip of water and move on to the next. These cookies looked nothing like the soft, plush, large ones advertised on the package, making us feel that this whole package was a false advertisement. And at $3.69, it wasn't even a bargain compared to the name-brand Pillsbury cookies.
10. Sweet Loren's Less Sugar Cookie Dough
We were a bit scared to try Sweet Loren's Less Sugar cookie dough because of how our experience with its fudgy cookies went. Like the other flavors, this cookie is made with plant-based, gluten-free, and Non-GMO Project Verified ingredients. It also touts that it has 35% less sugar "than the leading brands of cookie dough." One cookie has 6 grams of sugar, compared to the 7.5 grams per cookie for Pillsbury regular sugar cookies. Although we won't know if this is the brand Sweet Loren's was referring to (and we're not math people by any stretch), we don't think that the 35% claim is necessarily accurate, at least not for all brands.
One bite into this cookie, and we knew it was gluten-free. It was mealy and disintegrated into our hands with a single bite. Although it didn't have the same hard exterior as the Fudgy Brownie flavor, it had the same off texture that made us check the ingredient label to see what was actually in it. The color on the cookie was average, and we didn't see a decent spread. Plus, the high price, at around $0.60 a cookie, really set its place on the low end of our ranking.
9. Great Value Ready to Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
The generic Great Value brand was very promising on the cost front. One package of 24 cookies cost us $2.97, which is about $0.13 per cookie. The packaging on this container wasn't anything special, and it expressed that the dough was only meant to be baked, not eaten raw, which was not the case for many of the other brands we reviewed.
The raw cookie dough was relatively even in size and shape, unlike other cheap generic brands. But, although we followed the same refrigeration and handling procedure as the other cookies we sampled, this dough was soft and squishy, which made it super difficult to separate from the rest of the block. These cookies were also on the smaller side, but overall had a good texture with a super-crisp bottom. The chocolate was soft, pulled apart easily, and was flavorful considering its low price.
Our biggest complaint with these cookies is that they were not, in fact, cookie-shaped. Rather, they resembled some weird amoeba. At least the taste was halfway decent, because these wouldn't be a cookie we'd proudly serve to other people. We would like to have the dough on the top of our ice cream — if only it was safe to eat raw.
8. Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
We had high hopes for the Toll House cookies, especially after knowing the legacy of the brand and its roots in American cookie history. After all, we expect a lot from a brand that originally brought the best cookie into home kitchens. But we were disappointed with the Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough, which was sold at $3.87 for a pack of 24.
Like the other cookies we sampled, this one was small and failed to reach its fullest size potential. We were also thrown off that the block shape stayed in the cookie even after it was baked. It messes with the visual appeal of the cookie and makes it one that would give itself away as pre-made cookie dough within seconds. The flavor of this cookie is also on the sweet end of things, which made it difficult to get through. However, the cookie did have some merits: It wasn't as hard as some of the other brands we reviewed and had a much better color than its competitors. But it still didn't have the plush, perfect cookie tear we were looking for.
7. Pillsbury Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
We were excited to see that Pillsbury offered a peanut butter cookie, which we consider to be one of our favorite types of cookie. This one was made with Reese's peanut butter and sold in a pack of 24 for $3.68, which comes down to about $0.15 per cookie.
These cookies are quite expensive when you consider their size relative to the other varieties we sampled. One of Reese's cookies barely fit in the palm of our hand, which means that you'd almost have to manipulate several cookie pieces together to make one that resembles a normal-sized cookie.
The flavor of this cookie was just disappointing. The peanut butter was there, although it wasn't particularly prominent, and the overall cookie was more fluffy and softer than we would have liked. It wouldn't pass for a homemade cookie, but it also wouldn't be one the bakery would carry either. This cookie's only saving grace was that it wasn't as awful as some of the lower-quality cookies on the list.
6. Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough
We aren't entirely surprised that the sugar cookie dough from Pillsbury was lackluster. Understandably, these cookies are likely made to be blank canvases for decorating with frosting and sprinkles. If so, they fulfill their mission perfectly. The cookies are flat, spread well, and have a neutral flavor that could be a perfect vector for sugary frosting. But eating these cookies solo was nothing short of underwhelming. There were no pronounced vanilla notes in the cookies, but they also weren't sickeningly sweet. Other sugar cookies we reviewed had a better color than this one, which only seemed to have a rather unappetizing and almost white color.
While we surely won't seek these cookies out in the future, eating them wasn't as bad as some of our other options. So, we had to place these cookies in the middle of the road — which also reflects the price of $3.68 for a pack of 24, which rounds to about $0.15 per cookie.
5. Pillsbury Limited Edition Lucky Charms Cookie Dough
We admit that we were the least excited to try the Limited Edition Lucky Charms sugar cookie, which includes colorful pastel marshmallow bits throughout the cookie. At first whiff, this cookie reminded us of a carnival — with the air filled with cotton candy. It was nauseating, and we trust that any person over the age of 10 would say the same.
Anyone who has ever cooked with marshmallows will tell you that it's not easy to put them into a baked good, like cookies, because the texture will always change at least a little bit. When it comes to these cookies, even with freeze-dried marshmallow bits, the case is the same. The marshmallows, which weren't really whole in the first place, disintegrate into little puddles of pastel mush. You probably even couldn't tell it was a marshmallow. The distribution of candies is much better than the Pillsbury Reese's Pieces cookie, though, so we give it some props. But the marshmallows didn't add much to the cookie besides making it sweeter. We would prefer these cookies to the plain sugar ones because they have slightly more vanilla flavor, but this isn't a variety we would buy again.
Besides the quality of these cookies, the price was also slightly higher than other brands at $5.39 for a pack of 12. We don't think the marshmallows (or what are supposed to be marshmallows) are worth the price tag.
4. Pillsbury Ready to Bake Refrigerated Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Like all of the Pillsbury products, these cookies were easy to separate from the block because they were already in small disc shapes. The treats that came out of the oven were well-sized, and like other Pillsbury products, we wouldn't classify the cookies as being as "big" as the packaging claims that they'd bake out to be. The color of the cookies was paler than we would have expected, which may have limited their flavor and made these cookies taste more like sugar cookies that were mixed with chocolate chips (which we thought would be just an afterthought for the brand). We thought the chocolate chips on these cookies were slightly too sweet, creating an overall sugary eating experience that left us gasping for a glass of water.
The pro of this cookie is surely its size and shape. It's perfectly round, with edges that give it a bowl-like effect. It's an Instagram-worthy cookie, albeit one that, if you brought it to an event, people would think was from the cheap cookie bin at the grocery store. Overall, we didn't think that these cookies were much to write home about, but they would scratch the cookie itch in a pinch.
3. Pillsbury Peanut Butter with Reese's Pieces Cookie Dough
Not only did Pillsbury have a peanut butter cookie, but they also sold a peanut butter cookie studded with mini Reese's pieces. If we were only comparing the Reese's Pieces cookie to the plain Pillsbury peanut butter, we would have a clear winner on size alone. These mini-piece cookies are massive compared to the peanut butter ones and also have the ideal cookie spread we crave. The dough wasn't as soft and pillowy as the other peanut butter cookie, which gave it a better resemblance to the cookies we'd find in the grocery store. Moreover, the peanut undertones of both cookies were similar.
However, this cookie did not meet our firm Instagram-level standards because the candy was only located on one side of the cookie rather than being spread throughout. For this reason, it was hard to get an accurate read on whether the candy actually did anything for the cookie as a whole. From the bites we did get, we noticed that the candy melted down into the cookie, so there was very little satisfying crunch from biting into the candy coating. The bottom line with this cookie is that we wouldn't say no to another but we also wouldn't actively seek it out in the grocery store.
2. Pillsbury Cookie Dough with Oreo Cookie Pieces
Of all of the cookies, we were most impressed with the bake on the Pillsbury Cookie Dough made with Oreo Cookie pieces. The rounds were perfectly shaped in the container and easily translated to the cookie sheet, where they were baked into the perfectly thin cookie. But don't get the thinness confused with the crispness of the cookie here: When we broke it in half, the soft tear sounded delectably crackly and soft. One bite into these cookies delivered on its Oreo promise. These cookies looked like they were straight out of a bakery and ones we would consider giving to our family or baking for a special occasion.
However, we did feel somewhat shortchanged on these cookies because the design on the package implied that there would be some physical pieces of Oreo cookies in the package. Instead, these cookies were made of the fine powdery dust left over in the cookie sleeve — which we found utterly disappointing. These were also some of the most expensive cookies we sampled at $5.79 for a pack of 12, and based on the quality of these cookies, we doubt it was worth paying $2 more than Pillsbury's other break-and-bake varieties.
1. Toll House Chocolate Chip Lovers Cookie Dough
The Toll House Chocolate Chip Lovers cookie is what we expect when we think of a solid, store-bought chocolate chip cookie. This loaded cookie cost $3.87 for a pack of 12 ($0.32 per cookie) and was leaps and bounds above the plain version. It spread entirely on the sheet and developed a perfect golden brown color that really wowed us. The texture of these cookies was definitely more crisp than the other brands we reviewed. It didn't fall apart in our hands and had a satisfying bite with the perfect number of chocolate chips in it — although we wouldn't say that the brand put too much work into adding extra chocolatey pieces into the dough, as the label implies.
We ranked this cookie as our top one because it has the best structure and flavor out of the chocolate chip cookies we sampled and also has the perfect balance of soft center to crisp rim. The vanilla and brown sugar contrasted with the vanilla notes well, and we would say that it is overall one of the best value cookies you could purchase.
Our methodology
It shouldn't be a surprise that we take cookies very, very seriously. And as people who talk about cookies constantly, we are no strangers to the pitfalls of baking these wonderful treats. We know that you shouldn't keep cookie dough out between batches since the butter will melt and cause the cookie to spread more. So we were careful to keep these cookies as cold as possible from store to oven. To make things easier, we also baked the cookies at the same temperature, 350 F, which was the recommended direction on every single package. The cookies had a small range in bake time between 10 and 15 minutes, so we checked at 10 minutes and noticed that all of the cookies were finished baking at closer to 12 minutes. We also carefully and quickly pulled the cookies off the sheet to prevent overcooking the bottoms, which could otherwise sway our rankings.
To give ourselves the most objective approach for this taste test, we ate each cookie after it had been baked and had an adequate amount of time to cool and firm up. The review factors were specific to the kind of cookie, but all were judged on overall quality, taste, and value. Chocolate chip cookies, or ones with extra add-ins, were also judged on the distribution, while the sugar cookies received scrutiny for color and vanilla flavor.