10 Secret Tricks to Make Store-Bought Sugar Cookie Mix Taste Homemade (2024)

Home Recipes Cooking Style Comfort Food

Updated: Feb. 15, 2024

    Your cookies will look (and taste!) like they're made from scratch with these sugar cookie mix hacks.

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    10 Secret Tricks to Make Store-Bought Sugar Cookie Mix Taste Homemade (2)

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    Use real butter in your dough

    Store-bought sugar cookie mixes will give the option of adding in butter or margarine, but always choose butter! It’ll give your cookies the best, closest-to-homemade flavor. Use unsalted butter to be sure your cookies don’t taste too salty. Here’s the difference between unsalted and salted butter.

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    Add extracts

    A teaspoon or two of extracts will noticeably boost flavor when blended into your sugar cookie mix. Vanilla is the obvious choice. For a more intriguing flavor, add both vanilla and almond extracts. Rum, maple and anise are other delicious varieties to consider.

    (Try these flavor hacks that work wonders with store-bought cookie dough.)

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    Stir in citrus zest

    Your sugar cookies will sing with fresh citrus zest added to the mix! Use a Microplane grater to remove one to two tablespoons of fine zest from lemons, limes or oranges, and mix the zest into your dough.

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    Add sour cream

    Stir 3/4 of a cup to one cup of full-fat sour cream in with your cookie mix, butter and egg. Sugar cookies will bake up with a wonderfully soft, cake-like texture. (Here’s why it works!)

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    Mix in tasty ingredients

    Take plain sugar cookies up a notch with exciting mix-ins like chocolate chips, rainbow sprinkles, toasted chopped nuts, chopped dried fruit or M&M’s. Add these after blending your butter and egg into the sugar cookie mix.

    This is our favorite hack for holiday Pillsbury cookie dough.

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    Give your cookie dough some color

    A few drops of food coloring make regular sugar cookie dough so much more fun, whether for drop or cutout cookies. Make your cookies all one color, or make batches of different colors to roll or stack together before slicing and baking.

    You can do more with premade cookie dough than you’d believe!

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    Chill the dough

    One of our favorite tips is to chill cookie dough before baking, and that goes for sugar cookie mix doughs, too. Chilling lets the dough fully hydrate for better-tasting cookies and also firms up butter in the dough so that the cookies won’t spread.

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    Roll cookies in toppings

    Form your sugar cookie dough into balls, then roll them in toppings like sprinkles or colorful sanding sugars. For snickerdoodle-like cookies, try rolling them in a cinnamon-sugar blend. After rolling, bake the cookies as directed.

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    Frost cookies with homemade icing

    You saved time with a store-bought sugar cookie mix, so make an easy, homemade buttercream, cream cheese frosting or decorating icing to top them. Add food coloring or flavored extracts to make them even snazzier. Here’s our recipe for easy royal icing.

    Our editors think THIS is the best store-bought cookie dough out there!

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    Dip your cookies in chocolate

    Gently melt chocolate or white chocolate chips in a microwave or a double boiler. Dip your baked, cooled sugar cookies in the melted chocolate, then let them cool. Once set you can even add a second dip or drizzles of a second kind of chocolate to your cookies.

    Originally Published: January 06, 2022

    Author

    Nancy Mock

    Nancy contributes writing, recipes and food photography to Taste of Home, where she covers regional eats, food history and trending dishes. Her work can also be seen on her website, Hungry Enough to Eat Six, as well as other food-focused publications. Nancy and her family live in New England and she’ll never say no to a plate of gravy-laden pouti...

    10 Secret Tricks to Make Store-Bought Sugar Cookie Mix Taste Homemade (12)

    10 Secret Tricks to Make Store-Bought Sugar Cookie Mix Taste Homemade (2024)

    FAQs

    10 Secret Tricks to Make Store-Bought Sugar Cookie Mix Taste Homemade? ›

    Use real butter in your dough

    Store-bought sugar cookie mixes will give the option of adding in butter or margarine, but always choose butter! It'll give your cookies the best, closest-to-homemade flavor. Use unsalted butter to be sure your cookies don't taste too salty.

    How to make packaged sugar cookie mix taste homemade? ›

    Use real butter in your dough

    Store-bought sugar cookie mixes will give the option of adding in butter or margarine, but always choose butter! It'll give your cookies the best, closest-to-homemade flavor. Use unsalted butter to be sure your cookies don't taste too salty.

    How can I improve my store-bought cookie mix? ›

    Add brown sugar

    Adding it to the pre-made dough will give it more sweetness, a chewier texture, moisture and that homemade flavor you're craving. You can also melt butter with brown sugar and incorporate it into the dough for extra tender, chewier cookies.

    How to doctor up sugar cookie mix? ›

    There are a few things you can add to your ready - to - bake sugar cookies to give them more flavor . One option is to mix in some vanilla extract or almond extract to enhance the overall taste . You can also add in some cinnamon , nutmeg , or other spices to give the cookies a warm and cozy flavor .

    What to add to store-bought sugar cookies? ›

    Some popular options include adding vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon zest, or even spices like cinnamon or nutmeg. How can I make my store-bought sugar cookies more festive? To make your store-bought sugar cookies more festive, you can try adding colored sprinkles or sanding sugar on top before baking.

    How to elevate Betty Crocker cookie mix? ›

    Easy Add-In: After creating the dough according to the sugar cookie mix instructions, Add 2 tablespoons of sour cream to create a tangier, cakier and all-around more flavorful cookie. Flavor Twist: For a punchier twist, swap the water in the sugar cookie mix instructions for rum, bourbon or coffee liqueur.

    How do you make store bought cookies taste fresh? ›

    All you have to do is pop it in the oven for one minute at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, and your cookie should already taste better than when you bought it. Not only will it be warm and smell delicious, but any chocolate chips should be slightly melted, making for a gooier cookie.

    What do you add to ready made cookie mix? ›

    1. Use browned butter (add about 10% more than what's suggested on the box).
    2. chill the dough for at least two hours if you want less spread.
    3. add cocoa powder or espresso powder into the dry ingredients, maybe vanilla extract too.
    4. yes adding marshmallow should be good. Or choco chips.
    Nov 2, 2022

    Can I add peanut butter to store-bought sugar cookie mix? ›

    Sugar cookie dough mix provides many dessert options. You can enjoy your sugar cookies plain, frost them or mix in an ingredient such as peanut butter, nuts or chocolate chips to change the flavor and texture.

    What to add to cookie mix to make them soft? ›

    Brown Sugar

    Adding moisture to your cookie dough can help make it softer and chewier, and stay soft for longer. That's why I use much more brown sugar than granulated sugar in this recipe. Learn how to DIY your own brown sugar and how to keep it soft in your pantry here.

    How to dress up store bought cookies? ›

    Insert food-safe wooden crafts sticks into sandwich creme cookies. Dip cookies into melted bittersweet chocolate chips. Add chocolate-covered pretzels for ears, candy eyeballs and a cinnamon imperial for the nose.

    How to keep store-bought sugar cookie dough from spreading? ›

    8 Tips to Stop Your Sugar Cookies Spreading
    1. Change Up Your Cookie Dough Recipe. ...
    2. Don't Overwhip Butter and Sugar. ...
    3. Knead Your Cookie Dough by Hand. ...
    4. Chill the Cookie Dough. ...
    5. Freeze Your Cut Sugar Cookies Before Baking. ...
    6. Using Warm Cookie Baking Trays. ...
    7. Don't Grease the Cookie Sheets. ...
    8. Incorrect Baking Temperature.
    Feb 9, 2023

    Can you over mix sugar cookie dough? ›

    Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.

    How to make store-bought cookie mix better? ›

    How To Make Boxed Cookies Better
    1. Use butter instead of margarine or oil.
    2. Add powdered milk. Sprinkling about 2 to 3 tablespoons of powdered milk per cup of cookie mix may seem kind of unconventional, but it is the best hack! ...
    3. Add brown sugar. ...
    4. Add vanilla extract. ...
    5. Brown the butter. ...
    6. Include an extra egg yolk.
    Jan 3, 2024

    Should you refrigerate sugar cookies before baking? ›

    Refrigerating the dough allows the flour to fully hydrate and helps to make the cookie dough firmer. Firm dough prevents the cookies from spreading too much, which is why chilling the dough is a crucial step for cut-out and rolled cookies.

    What to add to dry cookie mix? ›

    Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.

    Can you add flavoring to sugar cookie dough? ›

    Flavors: I love flavoring this cookie dough with 1/2 teaspoon almond extract as listed in the ingredients above. For lighter flavor, use 1/4 teaspoon. Instead of the almond extract, try using 1 teaspoon of maple extract, coconut extract, lemon extract, or peppermint extract.

    How do you make box cookie mix less sweet? ›

    How do you make chocolate chip cookies less sweet? Add a bit of salt. As my mother used to tell me, you need some salt to “cut the sweet.” As an example, if you're using 2 cups of sugar in your recipe, add enough salt to equal a total of 1 teaspoon.

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