Store-Bought Cookie Dough, Ranked Worst To Best

There are a lot of ways to get your fix if you're craving a sweet treat. From thousands of chocolate chip cookie recipes online to a wide variety of store-bought cookie options, a good cookie is never hard to find. The easiest solution to a cookie crisis, though, usually comes straight from the freezer. From frozen hockey pucks to 12-inch logs, there are more than enough frozen chocolate chip cookie dough options at your local supermarket. So, the question becomes, which one should you buy?

In search of an answer, I picked up eight different varieties of frozen chocolate chip cookie dough. Several were gluten-free, and some were more expensive than others, but all delivered a final product worth tasting.

In the interest of consistency, I baked all the cookies on the same pans, using identical silicone baking mats, according to each cookie's package instructions. Baking is a science, but there's always some wiggle room, so I aimed for cookies with a nice color that retained a soft, chewy texture. Some doughs complied, others did not. Read on to find out which chocolate chip cookie dough deserves a spot in your freezer and which should be left out in the cold.

Chocolate chip cookies come in all shapes and sizes. Many grocery stores have tubs of mini cookies, which are great for a party or if you want to pour in a gallon of milk, grab a giant spoon, and dig in. When it comes to fresh-baked cookies, I prefer something a little larger, which is why Bakr Brown Butter Chocolate Chip cookies are my lowest-rated cookie. To put it simply, they're so very tiny. 

At $6.99 for a dozen, Bakr is one of the more expensive options I found. And yet, at only 8 total ounces of cookie dough in the package, they are easily the smallest volume. The cookies themselves are decent, with good chocolate chunks. But with a similar bake time to a number of others on the list, these cookies came out hard and crunchy. The brown butter gives them a deeper, richer flavor than some others, but it doesn't make up for the texture and size. Yes, there's always variability in cook time and even pan color, but with cookies this tiny, the margin of error is equally small. 

Interestingly, Bakr also sells bags of mini cookie dough pieces, doling out 24 cookies in the same 8-ounce bag. If you're looking for single-bite cookies, the minis might be a good call, but seeing as the regular size is only about two bites to begin with, going smaller seems unnecessary.

Anyone with dietary restrictions might look to Sweet Loren's for their cookie fix. The front of the packaging boasts that this dough is both gluten- and dairy-free, but the back notes that the product is also free of a whopping 14 allergens, including gluten, peanut, tree nut, soy, milk, egg, celery, mustard, sesame, sulfites, lupin, fish, mollusk, and crustacean. While I'm not sure we need to celebrate a chocolate chip cookie being mustard-free, it's an impressive lineup for a vegan cookie that begs the question: What is actually in these cookies? 

The main components are a flour blend comprised of oat, tapioca, and potato starch, plus sugar, palm oil, water, molasses, natural flavors, sea salt, baking soda, and, of course, chocolate chunks. The result is a pancake of a cookie that came out almost caramelized along the bottom.

If you like flat cookies with a crispy edge, this Sweet Loren's might be for you. However, the chocolate chunks were relatively scarce. For a nearly everything-free cookie, this one isn't too bad, but at $7.99 per dozen, I can't recommend them unless you're specifically looking for cookies without gluten, dairy, and shellfish.

Not all gluten-free, dairy-free cookies are created equal. At $5.99 for a 12-pack, Simple Truth is $2 cheaper than Sweet Loren's and offers a better-tasting, better-looking cookie — although not everyone agrees. I rarely look at online reviews for food, but according to many, Simple Truth recently changed the recipe for this cookie dough, and nearly every review I saw lamented the update.

Still, I found that in terms of texture, appearance, and chocolate quantity, Simple Truth outshone Sweet Loren's. Out of the package, these cookies are compact cylinders of dark dough. The color carries over during baking, and so does the shape, leaving you with symmetrical, round cookies. 

There's no denying this is a gluten-free cookie, thanks to a slightly oaty flavor, but a strong distribution of mini-chocolate chips helps mask any unusual tastes. Maybe they're not what they once were, but I found this Kroger brand to be the better of the two gluten-free cookies I sampled (though making your own almond flour chocolate chip cookies might still be the better option).

A good frozen cookie dough will have people asking, if even for just a moment, whether the cookies are homemade. Great Value's chocolate chip cookies will not leave anyone guessing, but not just because of their taste. While these aren't my favorite cookies on the list, they do offer — as their brand name suggests — great value. A 24-count ran me only $3, an absolute steal compared to the other entries.

Sadly, you do get what you pay for in many regards. Each cookie is small, though still slightly larger than Bakr cookies. Rather than individual balls or cylinders, the dough comes in a single block that you have to break apart by hand. Frozen, the small indents that act as guidelines don't do much, so I ended up with a few jagged rectangles, but they still baked up just fine. What was noticeable in the final product, though, was the rectangular shape. While the cookies do spread as they bake, mine still have the unmistakable outline of their original shape on the top.

Besides looking hilariously not-homemade, these are the ultimate mid-level cookie. They have a nice buttery flavor, the chocolate chips are evenly distributed, and the size is at least large enough to chew on. Think of the Great Value frozen chocolate chip cookie as one you'd find on a potluck table and snag because they're safe, if uninspiring.

This entry comes with an asterisk. Unlike all the other doughs on this list, these cookies from Aldi's store brand contain an inclusion beyond chocolate chips: almond brittle. While it's hardly fair to compare a regular M&M cookie to a monster cookie or a peanut butter sandwich to a PB&J, there is a reason I included this option on this list, and it's the fact that Aldi's own website lists them as chocolate chip cookies, with no mention of the almond brittle. While the extra ingredient is mentioned on the packaging, it's hardly called out, instead blending in with the dark colors, so anyone who doesn't take a moment to study the label might be forgiven for not noticing the added nuts. 

A price tag of $3.99 for 12 cookies makes these the best bargain outside Great Value, and they taste much better. Not only are the cookies larger, but they also contain a fun caramel note thanks to the almond brittle. While they turned out fairly thin, I found them wonderfully chewy, with a great mix of chocolate and almonds in each bite. No, these aren't standard chocolate chip cookies, but Aldi doesn't have a frozen option that fits that bill, so these are easily the next best thing.

When it comes to frozen cookie dough, there's the Big Two and everyone else. Nestle Toll House is one of those two brands that instantly comes to mind. A giant tube of Toll House cookie dough will run you somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 and promises to make 30 cookies, assuming you follow the one tablespoon-per-cookie baking instructions, which I did not. Personally, I prefer to treat my cookie dough log like a summer sausage and slice off whole, round pieces for a larger cookie. 

If you've used frozen dough cookie before, you've had a Toll House. These cookies bake up evenly, and the chips are scattered about randomly. One bite might be all chocolate, the next might be all cookie. They do retain a nice chewy texture, though, which is a positive. I find Toll House a little oily compared to many others on the list, but the ability to choose your own size when baking, and the overall value is hard to beat. Of course, the next entry offers all of those perks and more...

While I appreciate the convenience of pre-portioned cookie dough balls, the concept eliminates one of the best parts of baking cookies: eating the dough. Everyone knows it's potentially dangerous to consume raw cookie dough, but like jaywalking and doomscrolling, we all do it anyway. Thankfully, Pillsbury has made giving in to your lesser angels easier by creating cookie dough that can be baked or safely consumed raw. 

After enjoying a spoonful of that gooey, sugary goodness, I did bake a few Pillsbury cookies, and the results were as expected: quite tasty. Pretty much every bite was filled with chocolate and unlike Toll House, this cookie tastes more buttery than oily. In the days that followed my taste test, I munched on some leftovers and kept coming back for the Pillsbury until they were gone.

This is a comfort cookie. It undeniably tastes like it's baked from a frozen dough, but still bears the tender, chewy texture you'd expect from a homemade cookie. For $6.50, you can get 30 of these cookies or approximately two guilt-filled, euphoric servings of raw cookie dough bliss.

What's the most you'd pay for a frozen-dough cookie? Now ask yourself the same question, but make it a homemade cookie. Personally, I wouldn't sneeze at $1 for a cookie, which is the price Magnolia Table charges for a 12-pack at $11.99. Is that a bit steep for a frozen cookie dough? Yes, but these cookies could pass for homemade in more ways than one. 

Visually, Magnolia Table cookies are almost impossibly perfect. They're round, with chocolate chips poking out from all angles. The first bite has a little crunch around the edges, but the center is chewy and tender. I found these cookies to have a slightly more eggy, less buttery flavor than many of the others. I like butter, but the flavor is more balanced, letting the chocolate chips shine.

This is truly a cookie that could pass for homemade. It may not be the frozen dough you reach for every time, but if you want to impress or are just craving a really good cookie without a lot of hassle, Magnolia Table is what you need to toss in the oven.

I visited five grocery stores in my quest for a wide range of cookie doughs and came away with eight options. Toll House and Pillsbury have a firm grip on the market, appearing at nearly every store I visited, and for good reason. The tube of cookie dough is a classic, but these brands also offer dough in balls and cubes, so it's often the easiest option available. Still, there are other brands that are nearly as tasty, or even more so, if you're willing to spend up for them.

After completing my shopping spree, I started by baking two of each cookie according to the package instructions. For consistency, I used the same pans for each and aimed to achieve the same relative level of doneness across the brands. After taking pictures of each, I taste-tested the cookies in random order. My evaluation was based on taste, texture, appearance, and value. All prices are accurate as of writing, but may vary depending on the store and location. None of the brands were aware of this review as it was being written.