12 Things To Make With Store-Bought Cookie Dough That Aren't Cookies

Store-bought cookie dough is more versatile than you probably thought. In addition to the way it was meant to be used, the cookie code has been cracked to reveal a whole new world. There is no shortage of innovation around the sweet opportunities provided by an unassuming tube of cookie dough peering at you from the grocery store shelves.

Food bloggers, recipe websites, Pinterest boards, and other DIY resources are packed with inventive ways to take cookie dough and transform it into anything other than cookies. Whether you're providing goodies for a girls' night, dinner at a friend's home, goods for your kids' school bake sale, or a holiday dessert spread, this is your sign to up your cookie game.

With store-bought cookie dough as the foundation, you are already set up for success regardless of which flavor you choose and what path you go down. Sugar, chocolate chip, peanut butter or any other flavor you like can be surprisingly and easily turned into a number of different desserts.

It doesn't matter whether you buy your cookie dough by the tub or by the tube. The tried-and-true slice and bake method is classic and cool, but don't sleep on these tricks to level up your store-bought cookie dough. Be a smart cookie and try some of these creations for yourself.

Behold the brookie. It's half chewy cookie, half gooey brownie, and a whole bunch of deliciousness. Life is filled with enough tough decisions, so why should you have to choose just one treat when your sweet tooth is calling? With a brookie, you don't have to pick between cookies or brownies ever again. What a time to be alive.

When these two beloved confections come together, they make a magical hybrid treat you'll want to recreate again and again. The best part of making brookies is that it's much easier than you may think. Instead of spending time crafting the whole dessert from scratch, grab a box of your favorite brownie mix, and a package of your favorite store-bought cookie dough.

If you can follow the directions on the cookie and brownie packages, you can master the combo that will have you wondering how you ever lived without it. The clever culinary shortcut has different style options on how to construct them. You can layer the two on top of each other or swirl them together. Either one will be delectable — live your life and eat the brookie.

Why stop at a single cookie when you can make an entire cookie cake? If you haven't tried this simple cookie hack yet, you are not living a full life. It's foolproof and makes a grand display out of run of the mill, store-bought cookie dough. You don't even need an occasion to make one.

Next time you are on a grocery run, throw some cookie dough in your cart and get excited. Grease a pan and press the cookie dough into a flat, smooth, layer. You want to get really wild? Use a specialty pan, like one in the shape of a heart, or flower to match whatever aesthetic you are making them for.

After you bake according to the instructions on the package, you can stop right there and serve just as-is. However, if you are not a cookie purist and enjoy living on the edge a little, the possibilities are unlimited. The array of accouterments that can sit atop that gorgeous cake includes, frosting, sprinkles, chocolate chips, candy, crushed Oreos, and so much more.

The cookie cake is your own personal canvas to decorate exactly the way you want. You can even set up a little station of assorted toppings if you serve it for guests, and let them make their own delicious, customized slice.

Cookie pizza is like cookie cake's more colorful cousin. This cookie adjacent dessert is typically made with sugar cookie dough, but don't be bound by cookie constraints — you do you. Grab the store-bought sugar cookie dough, roll it out into a big round foundation, just like you would a pizza crust before you fill it with toppings.

After you bake it, let it cool while you prep the fruit. If you want to top it with your haul right then and there, go for it. However, feel free to add a layer of sugary icing, pudding, or custard in any flavor profiles you want. There's chocolate, vanilla, cream cheese icing, and many other flavors — there is no wrong choice.

After it's all iced up, you are ready to make it rain fruit. Slice up some strawberries and kiwi and grab fresh blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and mandarin oranges. Channel your inner pastry chef to create a vibrantly colorful and impressive presentation. There are no rules to the perfect cookie pizza because its beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It's truly a simple dessert anyone can make but looks like a masterpiece that took a ton of time and effort.

Do not grab that store-bought pie crust in the freezer section of your local grocer, but don't worry about creating one from scratch, either. There's a new crust option in town and it's sure to make whatever pie you are envisioning a standout winner.

This is another way to flex your baking skills and make your pie a conversation starter. It's similar in nature to the cookie pizza method above and equally a crowd-pleaser. Just take your greased baking or pie dish and press store-bought cookie dough of your choosing in there to serve as the beginning layer of a dreamy dessert.

Perhaps a sugar cookie base for your apple pie. Maybe a peanut butter layer to hold your go-to peanut butter pie. Take this tasty cookie dough trick beyond pies. Imagine a perfect chocolate chip cookie crust supporting your famous cheesecake. If you really want to go big, buy an extra package of cookie dough, roll it up into small pieces, and put it in the cheesecake batter.

This simple crust hack will leave them talking and asking for the recipe. Your genius swap will be the well-deserved talk of the town.

Do you love to top your freshly baked cookies with a scoop or two of ice cream? Then this take on reimagining store-bought cookie dough is right up your alley. It's like a cookie sundae, but better.

Bake the store-bought cookie dough and grab two cookies that have already cooled. They can be the same, or different flavors. You can even take two or three servings of the raw cookie dough and combine them to make a gigantic cookie. Next, pick your ice cream flavor and let it soften just enough to be a little bit moldable. Place the scoops on one cookie and gently top it with the other, pressing down gently to make it into a semi-homemade cookie ice cream sandwich. 

If you want to make it fancier, use a cookie cutter to make uniform shapes with the baked cookies. To really make a statement, take that cookie sandwich and roll the ice cream edges in any topping. Remember you have free will here to make something spectacular. Choose from chocolate sprinkles, rainbow sprinkles, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, pieces of candy. Anything that sticks will do.

This is the kind of playful dessert that will make your house legendary. Your kids will request it when they have friends over, and people will beg you to bring it to their potluck.

A cookie as a conduit to other confections is genius and should unequivocally be a standard rule in whatever baking bible exists. It seems like a reasonable industry standard. All you need is a muffin tin, store-bought cookie dough, and a dream. By pressing a serving of the raw cookie dough into each little muffin space, you're about to embark on the perfect single serve treat for any gathering.

Bake just as the package instructs you and then let your imagination run wild. When the cookie cups are cooled, it's time to fill them up with whatever speaks to you. You can keep it simple and gently press a peanut butter cup in the center of the cookie cup and call it a day. Or you can opt to be more adventurous.

Fill your sugar cookie cup with apple pie filling and a dollop of whipped cream. Load the edible cups with any cheesecake flavor you like, your own or one from the bakery. For a little more shock and awe, use a giant muffin pan and turn the cookie cups into edible bowls for serving ice cream.

There are no bad decisions here. Store-bought items would work for many of the fillings as well. Let your heart decide and have fun experimenting with different flavored cookie cups and fillings.

Sometimes, the most delicious surprises are unexpectedly subtle. They can be found buried in the seemingly insignificant details of your dessert. If that does not perfectly describe the whole idea behind cookie dust, nothing will.

Using store-bought cookie dough, bake your cookies letting them cool all the way. Crunchier cookies may be better for this sweet finishing touch, but feel free to rebel as you see fit. Take the cookies and smash them into smithereens — and that's it. That's the whole effort.

The finished product is what you call cookie dust, and it can be used to spruce up just about any dessert you can think of. Sprinkle it atop of bowl of your favorite ice cream. Toss it all over chocolate pudding. Crush it over frosted donuts. Dust the top of your cheesecake. Maybe even sprinkle a touch on fresh fruit for some balance.

It's an unassuming addition, but brings palpable flair to sweet treats. You can be as refined or as extra as you want.

Cookie bars open up an entire library of indulgent treats to satisfy a sweet tooth craving. There are so many iterations to try that you could easily switch up the recipe each time to create a different variety of the dessert. It's easy, no-frills baking, but anyone who eats one won't think that.

Because they are served in square or rectangle form, they can look similar to brookies. However, these are all cookie for the main ingredient and don't share the spotlight with others. Instead, they have sweet little supporting costars that make them even better. There's no right or wrong way to make craveable cookie bars. It's a totally personal choice and if you can dream it, you can bake it.

What makes them shine, is what you pick to fold into the store-bought cookie dough. You can dabble in inclusions like Nutella, peanut butter or caramel, swirled throughout the cookie bars. There's also the option to use more robust add-ins like cheesecake, marshmallows, graham crackers, and much more. Grab your favorite fixings and get ready to impress.

People love a good dessert mashup, especially when it involves a croissant. We've seen the cronut, made from mixing a croissant and a donut. There are cruffins, which combine croissants and muffins. It only takes one social media post of one of these dessert collabs, and before you can say crookie, it's gone viral.

One of the latest dessert trends involving croissants is the crookie and it's as rich and delicious as it sounds. It also requires minimal effort since they only call for two items and both can be bought during your regular grocery runs. Take a buttery, flaky croissant of any size, and then slice it open. Take a scoop of store-bought cookie dough and stick it right in the middle.

Be as heavy handed with that scoop as you want and pick whatever flavor of store-bought cookie dough that speaks to you. Put another small scoop right on top of the croissant and bake for about 10-12 minutes. You'll know it's done when it looks perfectly golden and melty. Sprinkle a dash of sea salt, drizzle some chocolate syrup or Nutella, and end with a few chocolate chips on top.

Croissant forward desserts are still having a moment. It's only a matter of time until another fabulous combination hits the scene and makes its mark.

A cookie dough milkshake is even better than it sounds. It's super easy and quick to whip up whenever the craving hits. If you can blend milk and ice cream, you can tackle this drinkable dessert. The hardest decision you'll have to make is what flavor ice cream you want to use.

Once you commit to that part, throw your scoops in a blender and fill it with the amount of milk based on how thick you want the shake to turn out. This is where it gets really good. Take your store-bought cookie dough, bake up a fresh batch, and then toss a few right into the blender. Blend the ice cream, milk, and cookies into a dreamy milkshake that will effortlessly raise the dessert bar.

If you still need more cookie in your shake, engage in some bake and break action to finish it off. Top your already heavenly cookie dough filled milkshake with shards of the baked cookies and add a generous amount of whipped cream. You can top it off with chocolate syrup, caramel, sprinkles or anything you love. Bottoms up!

You can smell them from a mile away. The unmistakable sweet and crispy notes wafting through the air of anything resembling a fair or festival. If you are surrounded by an array of little food kiosks all serving their respective fairground treats, there is a good chance your nose will be hit with the smell of deep-fried everything, even cookies.

Similar in fashion to the highly revered deep-fried Oreos you often find in similar settings, these hot little cookie dough bites will fulfill cravings of cookie connoisseurs everywhere. Thankfully, they are also easy to replicate at home. This is another two-ingredient tidbit that makes it hard to just eat one. One package of store-bought cookie dough and one can of biscuits is everything you need to pull it off.

Wrap a scoop of cookie dough in the biscuit dough and fry them up until they are a golden hue. Sprinkle on some powdered sugar before serving. When you bite into the buttery biscuit and get to the warm and melty cookie dough, you'll never be the same. Lean into your own county fair energy to create a sweet delicacy that always hits the spot.

This concoction will blow you away and nobody will believe how little you need to make them. Four ingredients get you an unforgettable cookie biscotti blend you never saw coming. Mixing the flavors and textures of a chocolate chip cookie and biscotti is a power move and will make guests think you attended pastry school in your spare time.

Gather your store-bought cookie dough and let it sit until it's room temperature. Then, you'll need some flour, either hazelnuts or macadamia nuts, and some white chocolate chips. This recipe takes a little longer as it requires two different baking sessions, but it's worth it.

When you are done, you will have the most delicious hybrid of a cookie and a biscotti. The melding of the two flavors and textures is an experience that will prove just how much you can do with store-bought cookie dough. If you are looking for a signature dessert to attach yourself to, this may just be it.