The Best Store-Bought Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, According to a Food Editor
The winner is also the cheapest.
Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm
I keep a package of ready-to-bake store-bought chocolate chip cookie dough in the fridge to pop into the oven at a moment's notice—it has the power to turn a lowly day into a great day! My favorite kind of cookie is chewy, not too sweet, has a generous amount of chips, and melts in your mouth.
When I gathered my family for a blind taste test of popular store-bought chocolate chip cookie doughs, I was convinced I could pick out my go-to brand and it would win the testers' hearts. It's the only brand of ready-to-bake cookies I've been buying for my family for many years, so clearly it would win the day. I was so very wrong.
Though my longtime favorite brand did get accolades for being extra chocolatey, it didn't win the taste test. The overall winner surprised us all. Pour yourself a glass of milk and start preheating your oven—here are our favorite store-bought chocolate chip cookie doughs.
Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm
The 6 Brands of Store-Bought Chocolate Chip Cookie Doughs We Blind Tasted
There are many ready-to-bake cookie dough flavors at the grocery store—sugar cookies, double chocolate, confetti, peanut butter chips, etc. For this taste test, I narrowed it down to the classic chocolate chip (or chunk) cookie dough found in the refrigerated section.
Here are the 6 brands of chocolate chip cookie dough my family and I blindly tasted and compared to find our favorites.
Trader Joe's Super Chocolatey Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough ($4.99 for 12 cookies)
Kroger Break'n Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ($3.29 for 24 cookies)
Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ($4.69 for 24 cookies)
Immaculate Organic Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ($8.29 for 12 cookies)
Nestlé Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ($3.99 for 24 cookies)
Sweet Loren's Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough ($6.49 for 12 cookies)
I baked the cookies following the instructions on the packaging. Since a warm cookie always wins no matter what, I let all of the cookies come to room temperature before tasting them side by side. The testers included five adults and three children.
The prices are based on retail prices around Central Virginia in December 2023.
Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm
A Classic for Good Reason: Nestlé Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
This cookie got top marks for having the best dough-to-chocolate chip ratio. Though the cookie didn't get much color in the oven, the edges were chewy, and the center was soft. The longer the cookie sat out, the crumblier the edges got, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your preference. I wouldn't recommend baking these cookies for longer than recommended on the packaging.
The testers agreed that the dough had a distinct fruity, almost artificial flavor, which docked points. However, if you grew up eating Toll House cookies, this flavor will feel nostalgic to you. At less than $4 for a pack of 24 cookies that taste and look like a classic chocolate chip cookie, no wonder Toll House has been a household name for nearly 100 years.
Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm
For Chocolate Lovers: Super Chocolatey Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough
This cookie was liked by the testers for being nice and big, and the most chocolatey. "These look like your homemade cookies!" my husband said, which I took as a compliment because they did look gorgeous. According to Trader Joe's, 25% of the cookie is chocolate, and it lives up to this claim. If you want to swim in warm pools of chocolate, enjoy them right out of the oven—they're magical.
Other than the chocolate chunks, the flavor was one thing the testers noted—there's a strong smell of vanilla though the testers could not agree on whether it was natural or artificial. "I don't think I could get over how fake the vanilla smells," one tester said. While another disagreed, "This is exactly what I imagine vanilla and a chocolate chip cookie should smell like." I agree with the latter and would never turn away this cookie.
Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm
The Surprising Clear Winner: Kroger Break'n Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
"Wowowowow!" All of the testers reacted in unison after trying Kroger's private-label cookies. This one really surprised us all. It's not a looker—it's the thinnest and smallest of the cookies we tasted. However, it delivered on flavor and texture.
This cookie tastes as if the butter in it was browned, but the ingredient list doesn't even include butter. (The fat is margarine, which was a concern for many of the testers who try to avoid it in their diets.) You can smell and taste a pleasant nuttiness.
The edges were chewy, while the center was gooey thanks to the generous amount of chocolate chips. And at $3.29 for 24 cookies, these were the most affordable ones we tried.
Read the original article on Simply Recipes.
