As the holiday baking season approaches, I’m always on the outlook for tips that will make it easier. So I was pleased to find advice for how to more easily make drop cookies.
To Drop the Cookies Easily
When making cookies or drop cakes, try using a teaspoon. Dip it in hot or cold water each time before putting in the mixture, and the dough will slides from the spoon without the aid of a knife or other spoon to push it.
W.M., Me.
Source: Good Housekeeping (November, 1919)
To be totally frank, I wonder whether this tip actually solves a major problem. Many cooks use cookie scoops to quickly drop nearly uniform balls of dough on a baking sheet when a lever is pressed. I still use a spoon, and I often push the dough from a spoon using another spoon. But, it goes very quickly, and I never really considered pushing the dough off the spoon to be a problem. It almost seems more time consuming to dip the spoon in water between the dropping of each cookie – but maybe others will find this tip very helpful.
A Hundred Years Ago 
I’ve never used a cookie scoop or a spoon when making drop cookies. Can you guess which implement I use? It’s old-fashioned — my mother and grandmother used one, too.
Your finger? It works for me. 🙂
That’s it!
To me there is even a rhythm to scooping a bit of dough with one spoon and pushing it off with another. I could practically sing to the beat 🙂 The water trick — even if it worked — would not be as much fun!
I like how you describe it. There is a nice rhythm to pushing cookie dough off one spoon with another.
Forget the water.. that’s too much like hard work! 😁 I use a spoon and a finger to push it off.
Works for me.
Ice cream scoop with spring handle works the best for me.. 🙂
I still use spoons to make drop cookies, but I really should try using a scoop.
I use both a cookie scoop and a teaspoon depending on the type of dough. It if is really sticky, the ice cream scoop doesn’t work so well! I doubt I would ever use the water dip method since the finger works fine!
Good point – the consistency of the dough affects which process works the best. . . And, I agree, a finger works just fine. 🙂
I’ve always used either a finger …. or the water trick. I’ve never seen a cookie scoop.
Around here, stores with cooking supplies and equipment sell cookie scoops. It’s good to hear that the water trick works well for you.
If and when I make drop cookies, I plan to try dipping the spoon in water. Sounds like a good idea to me.
It’s wonderful to hear that you found this tip useful.
Nice tip – especially for the times. I have three cookies scoop that have a “hole” in the middle to push out the dough. I first spray with non-stick spray. For some recipes it is great. For others it is more of a pain. 🙂
Spraying the cookie scoop with non-stick spray sounds like a really good idea – even if it doesn’t always work.
All depends upon the cookie. 😀
I have used the spoon and water trick. Also the spoon and finger. Recently I bought a little scoop and now my cookies are the same size. I am not sure if that is an improvement. I used to convince myself that the little ones were free of calories and left the big ones for my husband!
I like your reasoning!
As long as we have cookies, any method is ok really.
Your logic about cookie size works for me. I like the way you think.
Any excuse to eat cookies.
A spoon (or two) will still work well for me.
It also works well for me.
When I used to bake cookies, I used my finger. The only problem with that was a cultivated taste for raw cookie dough!
I love cookie dough (though I know that we’re not supposed to eat it).
[giggle] I won’t tell if you don’t. 😉
I just tried my new cookie scoop – it worked great! The spoon method was always easy especially when using 2 spoons… All the cookie recipes I’ve used have enough butter/margarine/oil in them that sticking to the spoon hasn’t been a big issue.
I agree, most of the time it isn’t an issue.
Someone taught me this when serving ice cream–to almost 20 people who were eagerly waiting (!)–it worked! 🙂 I probably won’t bother for cookie dough though–two spoons will do for me 🙂
It’s good to know that this trick works well with ice cream.
🍨👍😊
Like you, I usually just use two spoons, and it works really well. I think it’s easier than getting the spoon wet each time.
It seems like dipping the spoon in water between each cookie would really slow the process down.
I think my finger would work well too.xxx
Works for me.