Is it Cheaper to make or buy Cookies?
I am not always a big, sweet tooth but it is so hard to turn down a really good soft baked chocolate chip cookie! Plus, cookies are just a fun treat for kids and an easy addition to lunch boxes.
This made me wonder if making or buying cookies was the cheapest option. Oh and don’t forget premade doughs, are they any cheaper? Let’s break down the costs of homemade cookies, store bought & bakery cookies, and cookie dough to find out which option is the cheapest!
Are homemade cookies more expensive?
The most popular cookie in the US is the classic chocolate chip cookie. The most popular recipe for them is the Nestle’s Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe that was first made in 1939 by Ruth Wakefield.
It only seems fitting that we should use this treasured recipe to breakdown the cost of making cookies at home. For the full recipe click here.
| Ingredients | Cost |
| 2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour | $0.48 |
| 1 tsp baking soda | $0.01 |
| 1 tsp salt | $0.01 |
| 1 cup (2 sticks) butter | $1.99 |
| 3/4 cup white sugar | $0.26 |
| 3/4 cup brown sugar | $0.32 |
| 1 tsp vanilla extract | $0.06 |
| 2 large eggs | $0.49 |
| 2 cups Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate morsels | $2.58 |
| Total Cost $6.14 (60 total servings of 1 cookie each) | Cost per Serving: 10.2 cents per cookie |
I am pricing out this recipe using everyday prices at my local Walmart. They tend to be the cheapest option for pantry basics so we will use this as our starting point.
I chose all generic store brands except for the Toll House Chocolate Chips. You could make these cookies a little cheaper by using store brand chips, but I only noticed a price difference of about $0.26.
This recipe makes a total of 60 cookies (5 dozen) and the suggested serving size is one cookie per person. That makes each cookie cost about $0.10 each.
Now let’s look at some premade store-bought chocolate chip cookies and see how they compare price wise to the homemade ones.
| Cookie | Price & Number of Cookies | Price per Cookie |
| Keebler Soft Baked | $2.99 on sale at Kroger/ 26 cookies | 11.5 cents per cookie |
| Pillsbury Soft Baked | $3.18 at Walmart/ 18 cookies | 17.6 cents per cookie |
| Chips Ahoy | $4.50 at Family Dollar/45 cookies | 10 cents per cookie |
| Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse | $4.89 at Safeway/ 14 cookies | 34.9 cents per cookie |
| Bakery Cookies | $2.58 at Walmart/ 12 cookies | 21.5 cents per cookie |
| Bakery Cookies | $4.65 at Publix/ 24 cookies | 19.3 cents per cookie |
| Benton’s Cookies | $2.15 at Aldi/ 24 cookies | 8.9 cents per cookie |
| Lil Dutch Maid | $1.25 at Dollar Tree/ 24 cookies | 5.2 cents per cookie |
| Average Cost per Cookie: | 16.7 cents per cookie |
If we base the price per cookie on the average of major brands, store brands, and bakery cookies, the cookie price comes out to 16.7 cents per cookie. That is much higher than 10 cents per cookie for the homemade version.
Once again, the savings will be based on what type of cookies your family typically buys. If you buy name brand or bakery cookies, then making them yourself is definitely cheaper.
If you typically buy store brand or discount cookies, then it is actually cheaper to buy them instead of making them.
Is Cookie Dough cheaper than cookies?
Thank goodness companies keep making things more convenient. Most stores now sell premade cookie dough that you just have to bake yourself. That convenience can come at a hefty price tag though, so let’s see if cookie dough is cheaper than premade cookies and the homemade version!
| Cookie Dough | Price & Number of Cookies | Price per Cookie |
| Great Value 16.5oz roll | $2.94 at Walmart/ 16 cookies | 18.3 cents per cookie |
| Toll House 16.5 oz pack | $3.81 at Publix/ 24 cookies | 15.8 cents per cookie |
| Sweet Loren’s 12oz pack | $6.99 at The Fresh Market / 12 cookies | 58.2 cents per cookie |
| Immaculate 14oz pack | 7.29 at Earth Fare Market/ 12 cookies | 60.7 cents per cookie |
| Pillsbury 16oz pack | $5.79 at Safeway/ 24 cookies | 24.1 cents per cookie |
| Kroger Break N Bake 16oz | $3.29 at King Sooper’s / 24 cookies | 13.7 cents per cookie |
| Toll House 36oz tub | $6.99 at Target/ 36 cookies | 19.4 cents per cookie |
| PICS 16oz pack | $3.49 at Price Chopper/ 24 cookies | 14.5 cents per cookie |
| Average Cost per Cookie: | 28 cents per cookie |
One of the great parts of premade cookie dough is that you can bake just a couple cookies or you can bake the whole package. Unfortunately buying premade cookie dough is pretty expensive with an average cost of 28 cents per cookie.
Even if you look at the cheapest cookie dough per cookie which was 13.7 cents per cookie with the Kroger Brand. That is still higher than homemade cookies for 10 cents a cookie. It was only cheaper than the store brand and discount version of premade cookies.
If you like to be able to bake just a few cookies at a time, it is very easy to make one large batch of cookies, and then portion them out into balls. Take those balls and place a cookie sheet in the freezer for an hour so they start to harden.
Then take the balls off the sheet pan and place in a freezer safe plastic bag. Don’t forget to label the bag! Now you have the super easy convenience of baking just a few cookies whenever you want without the expensive cost!
Are homemade cookies better than store bought?
Warm and gooey soft chocolate chips out of the oven not only make your house smell wonderful but they are also the best tasting cookies ever!
Part of that yummy taste is that you use regular ingredients and not a lot of preservatives to make cookies at home. Preservatives are not bad in general, but they do cause foods to taste bland or just okay in order to lengthen shelf life.
Store bought cookies and premade cookie dough is going to contain these preservatives and other flavors and colorings to make them more appealing.
Cookies baked fresh in the bakery department and those made at home don’t need preservatives because they are meant to be consumed right away.
If you love having cookies on hand, but don’t want to bake them every time, you can go ahead and bake a large number of cookies at one time. Then once they are cooled, you can freeze these cookies to eat later.
Just like freezing dough, you will want to arrange the cookies on a cookie pan and place in the freezer for at least 1 hour. After they start to harden, you can place them inside an airtight container or in a freezer bag.
The next time you want a cookie, you can defrost it on the counter for 20-30 minutes or pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds for a warm cookie treat!
Is it cheaper to bake cookies?
Overall, we learned that baking cookies at home is the cheapest way to have cookies! The next cheapest option is to buy premade cookies or bakery made cookies.
The most expensive option was to buy cookie dough and bake them yourself at home. This was surprising since you still have to do some work for this type of cookie.
When you buy cookie dough, part of what you are paying for is the novelty of making cookies yourself without having to measure, mix, and make a mess.
If you have a sweet tooth or have kids with cookie cravings, definitely consider making cookies at home in order to save some money on your grocery budget!
Cookies are also a great item to make with your kids. You can teach them how to measure and basic counting. Then they love to roll them into balls or use a spoon to portion them out.
For more price comparisons on making it yourself versus buying it, check out “Is it Cheaper to buy Ice Cream or make it?” and “Is it Cheaper to make or buy Lasagna?“
