Master Your Cookie Game with this Handy Size Chart

A cookie size chart is a necessity in every baker's kitchen. Cookie sizes vary wildly depending on both the recipe and type of cookie you're making. You don't want to use a ginormous #10 cookie scoop when the recipe writer intended a petite #100 scoop.

a range of cookies in different sizes on a white background. — A cookie size chart is a necessity in every baker's kitchen. Cookie sizes vary wildly depending on both the recipe and what type of cookie you're making.

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Why Do Cookie Scoop Sizes Matter in Baking?
Cookie Baking Advice
What Do Cookie Scoop Numbers Mean?
What Size Cookie Scoop Makes One Inch Balls?
How Do I Determine Size of Cookie From the Scoop I'm Using?
Does Cookie Type Matter For Scoops?
Cookie Size Chart
What Other Ways Can I Use Scoops?
What Size Should A Cookie Scoop Be?
What Does the Number on a Cookie Scoop Mean?
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Wondering which scoop to use for perfectly sized cookies? I’ve got you covered with this cookie scoop size chart.

Does it matter which scoop you use for Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies or Sprinkle cookies? What about Toffee Cookies or Christina Tosi's Cornflake Cookies?

Sometimes.

And do you even need a scoop for shortbread cookies? No because you're going to slice them.

What about sugar cookies cookies you cut into shapes? Again, no, because you're going to roll out the dough and cut it.

Cookie scoops are key to making sure your cookies have a consistent appearance and bake evenly.

You don't want 8 giant scoops of cookie dough with four baby scoops of dough on the same cookie sheet. You could end up with 8 partially raw cookies and four over-baked or burnt tiny cookies.

Sometimes you'll see cookie scoops referred to as dishers.

a purple #40 scoop with cookie dough inside it. — My favorite cookie scoop is this Winco #40, which is comfortable and produces a cookie just under three inches wide.

Most good recipes will tell you what size cookie scoop to use or how much dough to portion out per cookie.

A #50 cookie scoop, for example, will hold approximately 1-¼ tablespoons of cookie dough giving you a baked cookie 3-½ inch in size.

What many home bakers find confusing is that the higher the number of the scoop, the smaller the amount of dough it holds.

You may find these baking posts helpful, from How to Freeze Cookie Dough, Room Temperature Butter for Baking to Salted or Unsalted Butter for Cookies? to Do I Need A Cookie Scoop?, Cookie Size Chart to What Should a Beginner Bake? to Where Can I Buy Sprinkles?, Why is my sugar cookie dough too sticky? and Cookie Holidays. What is Sanding Sugar and Where Can I Buy Sprinkles might also be helpful.

Manufacturers label cookie scoops based on the number of scoops needed to fill a quart-sized volume.

The specific volume associated with each number may vary slightly among manufacturers, but usually, the numbering system used follows a similar pattern.

Smaller numbers correspond to larger scoop sizes, resulting in bigger cookies.

Larger numbers represent smaller scoop sizes, and thus smaller cookies.

So a #100 scoop will result in tiny cookies because the #100 only holds a teaspoon of cookie dough.

You'll want a #40 cookie scoop to make one-inch balls, which will give you approximately 2-¾ inch cookies.

However, if you're looking for a scoop to make tiny one-inch cookies once baked, try a #100 or a #110, if you can find one.

How Do I Know Which Size Cookie Scoop to Buy?

Ice cream dishers or cookie scoops will have different colors and sizes depending on where you’re shopping–Amazon or a kitchen supply store, especially a commercial kitchen supply, will offer scoops in a rainbow of colors.

For the most part, no matter the brand, a purple scoop is a #40.

Each scoop will have a different number, which is how you can figure out how much batter or dough it holds.

A number 8 scoop for example will hold four ounces of dough or batter.

Divide 32 by any scoop number.

For example, a #8 scoop would hold four ounces of dough.

Divide 32 by 8 = 4 ounces.

If you’re really not sure how much dough a scoop will hold, fill the scoop with tablespoons of water until full--a tip from Chef Mindy Segal, author of one of my favorite ever cookbooks, Cookie Love.

a homemade cookie with a ruler across it. — Using a cookie scoop will help you achieve uniformity in your homemade cookies. This is important if you're counting on a certain yield of cookies from your recipe.

If you're making a drop cookie dough like Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies or Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies, you definitely want to use a scoop. It will help with uniformity and even baking and a yield you can rely on.

If you're making a shortbread cookie like Double Chocolate Chunk Shortbread, no scoop is necessary. You'll be rolling the dough into a long cylinder and slicing the dough.