The Easiest Method For Cutting Open A Store-Bought Cookie Dough Roll

When you're craving freshly baked cookies, sometimes the best thing to do is to buy a roll of store-bought cookie dough. If you like to have control over the size and shape of your cookies, a store-bought roll is better than pre-cut, break-and-bake cookie squares. However, there is one annoying detail about the roll — how exactly are you supposed to cut it open?

As it turns out, the easiest method may have been in front of your face this whole time — if you look at a package of a Nestle Toll House cookie dough roll, you'll notice that there's a dotted line in the red rectangle where it says the type of cookie. For example, you may find the line right underneath the words "Chocolate Chip" and right above the words "cookie dough." This line is meant to act as a guide for how to cut open the package. Simply line up your knife along the line and cut — you'll be able to remove the entire cookie dough roll, still intact.

Other brands may not have the dotted line — Pillsbury cookie dough rolls, for example, do not have the line. However, the Pillsbury roll has a white strip that you can use as a guide for cutting. If there is no straight line of any sort on the package, you can simply do your best to cut evenly along the side — even if the cut is uneven, the cookie dough roll will still come out intact.

After you have successfully gotten the cookie dough roll out of the package, it's time to start baking — but, first, you need to prepare the dough. According to Nestle's instructions, the best way to prepare the dough is to use a spoon to scoop the dough. Once you have a ball of dough, you can either place it on the baking sheet as is (a little imperfect) or use your hands to roll it into a more evenly shaped ball. You can also slice the cookie dough roll section by section to make round dough portions, each about 1/2 inch thick. 

If you want each cookie to be the same size and shape, you can bake them in a muffin tin. This trick will not only make sure each cookie is nice and round, but it will also make sure the edges are perfectly browned.

If you don't want to shape the cookies at all, you could break out a cast iron pan (or any round bakeware) and spread the cookie dough into one layer to make a cookie "cake." To finish off the "cake," you can drizzle chocolate sauce over the top, or for more of a traditional cake vibe, you can spread frosting over the top. You could choose a classic frosting, such as chocolate or vanilla buttercream, or go for something a little more out of the box, such as a creamy peanut butter frosting.