I Tried 9 Store-Bought Cookie Doughs & One Baked Up Perfectly

If you're in the mood to bake cookies, there are many options for premade dough on grocery store shelves. Besides your standard chocolate chip, you can find flavors from big and small brands. And if you want to indulge your sweet tooth without eating gluten or dairy, there are doughs for that, too!

To find out which ready-to-bake cookie dough is the best, I purchased nine different varieties and baked all of them according to the package instructions. I judged the cookies not on how they tasted raw—though I may have taken a nibble, can you blame me?—but on how they fared once they were out of the oven.

Some cookies made me want to take second and third bites, while others confused me. While I do not seek out vegan products, one brand in particular may be added to my shopping list.

Read on to see the best cookie doughs, ranked from worst to best—remember to let them cool before you bite in!

Pillsbury Sugar Cookie

These sugar cookies came in a classic log-shaped format. Though the package depicts the cookies topped with frosting and sprinkles, all you get is the dough (the toppings are up to you). If you want to make them, the price is $4.99.

The look: These cookies looked like flat, round, white discs. Without any toppings, they looked pretty boring.

The taste: The sugar cookies were very brittle and crunchy. They had a buttery flavor and seemed to dissolve in your mouth when you bit in. Even with decorations, these would not be cookies I'd want to eat again.

Rating: 1/10

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Immaculate Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk

These non-dairy, gluten-free cookies are made with unbleached flour and come 12 to a package. This item was priced at $7.99.

The look: Once baked, these cookies had a thick, grainy appearance, so much so that a person in my house assumed they were oatmeal raisin. The chocolate chunks were different sizes—some looked like chips, while others looked like rectangles.

The taste: These cookies were not sweet and tasted like they'd been made out of an alternative substance and formed to appear like cookies. I guess that's good for someone who can't eat gluten, but these were a pass for me.

Rating: 2/10

Miss Jones Double Chocolate Chip Cookie

These "jumbo" bakery-style cookies are huge and come six to a package. They also had the biggest price tag at $8.99, which made my eyes get round.

The look: These ginormous cookies had a weird grayish color after being baked. When I broke one apart—one serving is half a cookie!—there was a nice ooey-gooey chocolate pull.

The taste: These cookies had a strange, synthetic taste to them. They were also unnecessarily big.  It was too much of a not-so-good thing.

Rating: 2/10

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Sweet Loren Fudgy Brownie

These gluten-free, dairy-free, plant-based cookies come 12 to a package.

The look: These cookies had a very cake-like appearance. They were round and dark in color—so much so that it was hard to see the chips!

The taste: These cookies were reminiscent of brownies but had a metallic aftertaste. They were also very expensive, regularly priced at $7.19 but I found them on sale for $5.75. If you can eat the usual cookie ingredients, there's no reason to buy this.

Rating: 3/10

Pillsbury Chocolate Chip

These cookies are classic chocolate chip and come in 24 to a package for $4.99.

The look: These cookies baked up golden brown. They were small, with few visible chocolate chips.

The taste: The dough on these cookies was decent, but there weren't enough chips to make it great. Also, they baked up too thin and crunchy (and small) for my liking.

Rating: 4/10

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Nestle Toll House M&M's Minis

These cookies are chocolate chip and dotted with mini M&M's. They come 20 to a package and cost me $4.49.

The look: The mini M&Ms made these cookies look fun, colorful, and exciting. They baked up thin and had a tan base color.

The taste: Thin and crispy, this dough was fine and not overly sweet. The M&M's were a plus, but the dough lacked sweetness and flavor.

Rating: 5/10

EatPastry Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

EatPastry's cookie dough comes in a container and is vegan. This one was priced at $5.49.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

The look: These cookies, which were spooned onto the cookie sheet from the container, baked to a beautiful brown, rough texture that made me excited to bite in. I did not see a lot of chips.

The taste: I was shocked by how delicious these cookies were, as I'd never buy vegan cookie dough. The peanut butter was delicious without being overwhelming—it tasted like a cookie, not a gob of peanut butter. My only criticism would be that they needed more chocolate chips!

Rating: 7/10

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Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip

These are the classic cookies you probably think of when thinking of chocolate chip cookies! For $4.49, they can be yours to bake.

The look: I liked the golden-brown look of these cookies, and they were dotted with lots of chips, which was promising.

The taste: These cookies were crunchy on the outside and chewy inside. They had just the right amount of chips (a lot of them!) and the dough was sweet but not overly so—really great.

Rating: 8/10

Trader Joe's Super Chocolatey Chocolate Chunk Dough

You can make 12 of these "super chocolatey" cookies using this package of dough from Trader Joe's, which costs $4.99.

The look: These cookies looked absolutely delicious out of the oven with a great golden-brown color and lots of visible chocolate chips.

The taste: Trader Joe's has done it again. I would pick up this cookie dough over any classic cookie brands. The dough was perfect, the chips were plentiful, and the whole thing melded into one sweet bite. Just add a glass of milk!

Rating: 9/10