How to Roll Cookie Dough Into Balls – Easy Step by Step

So, you want to know how to roll your cookie dough into balls, do you? Though seemingly easy (and it is) there is a method to it. On top of that, there is also a reason we do it other than to make each dough ball look pretty before baking. What is it exactly about perfectly round cookies that make them the perfect shape for oven baking?

Table of Contents

• How to Roll Cookie Dough Into Balls
• Should You Roll Cookie Dough in a Ball?
• Do You Put Cookie Dough in Balls Before Baking?
• How to Roll Cookie Dough Into Balls: It’s Easy!
• FAQs

How to Roll Cookie Dough Into Balls

Rolling cookie dough into balls is insanely simple. Follow the steps to get you started.

1. Start with chilled (but not rock solid) dough.
2. Either wet your hands (dropping any excess water in the sink) or put a bit of cooking oil on them the same way you would lotion. This prevents the dough from sticking to your hands without you having to deal with messy flour.
3. Measure the amount of dough needed to form each cookie. Recipes will sometimes tell you how much dough to include in each cookie ball in order for it to cook up properly. If your recipe does not, know that 1 1/2 tablespoons usually does the trick.
4. Roll the measured cookie dough between your two hands using a circular motion. Your fingers should extend outward, and your palms should remain stiff. Continue rolling the dough ball between your hands until it resembles a smooth sphere.
5. Repeat steps 3 + 4 until all of the cookie dough has been used. Bake or enjoy as is (if making edible dough). Remember, it is never okay to eat raw cookie dough that contains raw eggs and uncooked flour.

Notes

• If you are rolling edible dough into balls, know that you may complete this step prior to refrigeration if you choose.
• If your dough is too firm, sometimes it helps to let it sit for 10-15 minutes before handling it again. Sometimes even the heat of your hands can help the dough relax a bit.
• You can also use a cookie scoop and its alternatives to make things easier!

Should You Roll Cookie Dough in a Ball?

Yes. Most times, you’ll find that recipes for baking delicious edible cookie dough or bakeable cookie dough calls for rolling cookies into a ball shape.

The reason for this? It’s simple. Rolling the cookie dough into these shapes before placing them on parchment paper on a cookie sheet not only makes them look practically perfect but serves other purposes as well.

For edible cookie dough, rolling your freshly made recipe into balls helps the dough chill faster. It also makes the perfect size to pop in your mouth for fast and fun bite-sized flavor.

As for bakeable cookie dough, these sphere shaped dough balls bake up more evenly when they are placed on a baking sheet this way. This is often the reason people like to use a cookie scoop. They keep your hands from getting messy but also ensure equally sized cookie dough balls to ensure each portion cooks up the same via equal heat distribution.

Do You Put Cookie Dough in Balls Before Baking?

Yes, it is generally recommended that you form chocolate chip cookie dough, or any other dough flavor, into balls before baking.

Aside from the aforementioned perks of doing so, remember also that rolling cookie dough into balls helps you control how much cookie dough you use. If you want particularly large cookies, rolling each ball with at least two tablespoons of cookie dough would do the trick.

If you were to press down each cookie portion into a circle instead of a ball, it would be that much harder to determine how much cookie dough you were using and to ensure that it isn’t too much.

Remember also that some types of cookie dough, such as sugar cookie or peanut butter, may not require cookie dough balls to whip up a fresh batch. In this case, I actually STILL recommend you roll your cookie dough into balls.

Why? Because, as previously mentioned, if you start out by squishing your cookie dough into circular shapes, chances are that they’ll be varying thicknesses, oddly shaped, and cook unevenly.

Instead, I recommend that you roll the dough into balls anyway before gently pressing down on them with your fingers or a fork. This way, you still get a circular shape but also reap the benefits of equally sized cookies and cookies that are evenly baked.

How to Roll Cookie Dough Into Balls: It’s Easy!

Whether you want to make perfectly sized chocolate chip cookies or peanut butter rounds, know that carefully rolled cookie dough can get you that much closer to the most attractive and evenly baked cookies you’ve ever seen. Use the steps above to roll uneven chunks of dough into balls before you refrigerate or bake them.

Your cookies will likely turn out so perfect you might end up making a second batch! Cheers!

FAQs