The Muffin Tin Trick For Stunningly Round Cookies

While it's true that cookies don't have to look picture-perfect to taste delicious, we can't deny it's a nice added bonus. Fortunately, as any cookie aficionado knows, there are a number of ways to go about achieving the perfect cookie, and even salvaging less-than-perfect cookies.

One such perfect cookie hack went viral on TikTok in early 2021. According to this hack, while your cookies are fresh out of the oven and still a bit gooey, capture each one within a cookie cutter and give it a little jiggle. The dough will spread within the confines of the cookie cutter, and bam, perfect cookie.

That being said, you can also address the perfect-cookie problem before it even begins. For instance, if you already have a cookie cutter laying around, you might as well use it to cut out your cookies before you bake them. They'll all be a uniform size and shape. And to keep them uniform while they bake, you can use a second common kitchen item –- the muffin tin.

Yes, you read that right, all you really need to make perfect cookies are a cookie cutter and a muffin tin. In fact, you don't even really need the cookie cutter at all, but we'll get to that in a minute. If you have a cookie cutter at hand, simply go about rolling and cutting out cookies. Slap those cookies in the bottom of your muffin tin and bake as usual. Note that this method may not take as long to bake as the cookie sheet method.

As for using the muffin tin trick without a cookie cutter, no worries. Start with a ball of dough -– about two-tablespoons' worth –- and use a cup, jar, or small bowl to flatten the dough within the muffin pockets (via Epicurious). Again, bake as usual. You can also use mini or giant muffin tins to really jazz up your cookie game. Perhaps the most exciting part of this hack, however, is that you aren't limited to using cookie cutters just for sugar cookies. 

You can make chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, or even gingerbread cookies. Yum.