How to Bake Perfectly Round Cookies

A perfectly round cookie is visually arresting. Yet, at home, they were once the bane of my existence. I fussed over shaping cookie dough for years. I stared intensely at my hands as I worked the dough into a tight ball before nestling it on a baking sheet. I purchased multiple cookie scoops and even tried a melon baller, desperately hoping my homemade cookies would resemble those in movies or on Instagram. All efforts proved futile as my once-rounded dough balls spread into wonky-shaped cookies as they baked. It wasn’t until I watched my private chef friend whip out a deli container to reshape her cookies that I entered my “I was today years old when I learned (blank)” era. Since then, I’ve enjoyed a life of baking and sharing perfectly round cookies every time.

The truth is that no matter how much you shape cookie dough before it goes into the oven, it spreads while baking. One reason for this is the leavening agents in the dough, such as baking soda or baking powder. There are ways to minimize spread, like chilling your cookie dough in the fridge before baking it, which helps set up the fat (most likely butter) so it doesn’t melt before the cookie sets up. But neither of these guarantees a round cookie after baking.

Enter my coffee mug — the ultimate cookie-reshaping tool. The trick is simple: Pull out your baking sheet two to three minutes before the cookies finish baking. Tip a mug upside down. It should be approximately the same size as the cookie and have a large enough lip to cover it completely. Place the lip over a cookie. Holding the bottom of the mug, quickly work it in swirling, circular motions. Once you lift the mug, you’ll find the cookie reshaped into a perfect circle. Repeat with the rest of the cookies, then pop the pan back in the oven to finish baking. At this point in the baking process, the cookies will retain their shape, leaving you with delicious and aesthetically pleasing cookies. So, next time you bake cookies, take a minute to shape them with a mug. I promise they’ll look as good as they taste.