Consumer Reports Releases August Ratings of Store Bought Cookie Doughs

Nothing is quite as comforting as the smell of cookies baking in the oven. However, in today's busy world, many of us do not have the time to make homemade cookies. But there is a solution with store bought cookie doughs. Within just minutes you can have the aroma of childhood wavering through the house and munching on an old favorite snack. But which store bought cookie doughs are best?

Consumer Reports has issued a press release with the results of their evaluation of seven popular cookie doughs, both frozen and refrigerated. The very best performers received a rating of "very good" and the end result was a cookie that would rival grandma's. Four brands received the "very good" rating: Trader Joe's Chunky, Omaha Steaks Chunky, Fat Boy Cookie Company Outrageous Chunk, and Whole Foods Chip. The best, overall, was Trader Joe's Chunky. According to the press report, "Trader Joe's Chunky cookie dough made cookies with a buttery flavor, chocolaty chunks and a good chunk-to-cookie ratio."

The four cookie doughs that rated "very good" varied slightly in size and cost, depending on the brand. Each of the cookies had a caloric value of 100 to 150 and fat content of 5 to 8 grams. Here is the breakdown of the cost and sizes of the top raters per cookie:

Trader Joe's Chunky 22 cents per cookie Cookie Size 28 grams

Omaha Steaks Chunky 33 cents per cookie Cookie Size 26 grams

Fat Boy Cookies 59 cents per cookie Cookie Size 35 grams

Whole Foods Chip 33 cents per cookie Cookie Size 31 grams

There were three cookie doughs that rated a "good" rating by Consumer Reports panelists: David's, Pillsbury, and Nestle. According to the CR panelist notes, "the Nestle Toll House cookies bore little resemblance to those from the make-from-scratch Nestle Toll House recipe. They didn't taste fresh baked and had a bit of old-fat taste, and were smaller than most cookies."

Consumer Reports is sure to warn everyone to not eat raw cookie dough. "We hate to spoil the fun but eating raw cookie dough could be risky because the raw eggs may contain bacteria that causes salmonellosis, an intestinal infection," notes Ronni Sandroff, Health editor at Consumer Reports. "So, be a smart cookie and wait until the cookies are out of the oven."

For those interested in purchasing one of the cookie doughs that was evaluated by Consumer Reports, here is where you can find them:

Trader Joe's and Whole Foods cookie doughs are available in their stores. Omaha Steaks and Fat Boy are sold online or over the phone (www.omahasteaks.com or 800-960-8400; www.fatboycookiecompany.com or 888-328-2690). David's, rated "Good" can be purchased at www.davidscookies.com or 800-217-2938, and Pillsbury and Nestle, also rated "Good," can be purchased at most supermarkets.

SOURCE:

Consumer Reports August 2007 Cookie Dough Press Release. URL: (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cu-press-room/pressroom/archive/2007/08/0708_eng0708cok.htm)