Sneak Homemade Taste Into Store-Bought Cookies With One Quick Trick

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Nothing beats a homemade cookie fresh out of the oven. No matter what kind of cookie you're making, the warm, decadent dessert has been beloved for generations for a reason, and certainly won't fall out of popularity anytime soon. However, sometimes you crave a homemade cookie but simply don't have the time, energy, or resources to make them. If this is the case, there's a simple way to take a package of store-bought cookies and make them taste homemade.

All you need to do is arrange the cookies on a baking sheet, and cook them at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for one minute. This will make the cookies taste like you just baked them rather than picked them up premade from a grocery store. Whether you simply want warm cookies for yourself or are looking to save a bit of time when hosting guests, this makes serving up piping-hot cookies a breeze.

Of course, the trick works better if you start with high-quality store-bought cookies. When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, we ranked 15 different brands and found Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chip cookies to be the best, with Tate's Bake Shop at number 2. Either of these would be excellent choices for being warmed up in the oven.

If heating up your store-bought cookies still leaves a little something to be desired, there are lots of other ways you can crank the treat up a notch. For instance, you can try incorporating cookies into other foods in unconventional ways. We're talking crushing them into milk and eating them like cereal (what's not to love), or using them for a pie crust, among other delicious options. Not only will this help to mask the store-bought taste, but you might just discover a new beloved dessert to have after dinner.

Another easy option is to dip the cookies in melted chocolate. The chocolate coating will both enhance the taste of the cookie and disguise the appearance, making it easier to trick yourself (and maybe some guests, if you're feeling mischievous) into thinking you're eating a homemade treat. To further elevate a chocolate-dipped cookie, add toppings like nuts, seeds, or dry fruit for more taste or crunch, making the mouthfeel more interesting.

If you have plain, store-bought sugar cookies, adding frosting is an easy way to bring extra flair to them. If you have kids, you can even make it a fun activity by letting them choose their own frosting and sprinkles and decorating the cookies themselves. Put some decadent frosting on a store-bought sugar cookie warmed in the oven, and you may just forget you didn't bake them from scratch.