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In a taste test of store-bought doughs, three brands win by a landslide.

We have embarked on a taste test tour of supermarket foods. We nibble, we score, and we share the results to help you avoid the paralysis of Brand Choice Overload. Today’s topic: chocolate chip cookie dough.

After two grueling, back-to-back yogurt standoffs, cookies were a welcome relief to our taste testers. We tried five pre-made chocolate chip cookie doughs including Pillsbury, Nestle, and other supermarket staples. Some turned out crunchy and sweet, others chewy and chocolate-y, but our staff was largely in agreement and the top three won by a landslide.

A big factor was chocolate flavor–chip-to-cookie ratio, and how much they actually tasted like good chocolate. Aesthetics also popped up in a lot of our staff’s notes (apparently, when it comes to cookies, looks do matter). However, nutritionist Marissa Lippert pointed out the trans fat (ack!) and partially hydrogenated kernel oil in the prettiest-looking cookie–Pillsbury’s.

Read more: Supermarket Standoff: Chocolate Chip Cookies

New twists on an old favorite include treats made with potatoes — and even bacon.

This week is officially Chocolate Chip Cookie Week. Don’t ask why, it just is, okay? And we’re celebrating by eating lots of cookies as we comb the web for the wackiest, weirdest or most indulgent interpretations of sweets staple—starting with this cookie-cake-ice-cream threesome.

Read more: 10 extreme chocolate chip cookies

Some troops will be offering just six varieties of treats in order to boost profits.

The economic downturn has claimed another victim: Thank U Berry Munch Girl Scout cookies.

In an effort to cut costs, several Girl Scout councils are cutting the types of cookies they sell. Among the brands on the chopping block: Thank U Berry Munch, Dulce de Leche, and several more. The goal is for the Girl Scouts to simplify their sales process and, in the process, make more money (tutoring from sales professionals probably won’t hurt, either).

An article from The Wall Street Journal explains that it’s not just the roster of cookies that’s being trimmed; the Girl Scouts are also cutting back on the packaging. At least one variety will come in plastic packaging instead of the familiar cardboard box. The WSJ writes that this change will “save on the cost of 150 tons of paperboard.”

Read more: Girl scouts cut back on cookies

As the EatingWell Test Kitchen manager, I’ve looked forward to our annual cookie contest for the past six years. Even though I was on maternity leave during most of this year’s contest, overseeing the selection process was one part of my job that I just couldn’t give up.

Read more: The one cookie you should bake this holiday

Christmas Cookie Exchanges (CCE) offer a great way to experience a potential vast number of other people’s great (or terrible) cookie recipes.

Here are some of FoodBozo CCE ground-rules:

• Don’t make low-fat or healthy cookies. Everyone hates these.
• Go for the recipes that are heavy with butter and high in sugar.
• Always include an extra or a bonus cookie. Your friends will appreciate this and may reciprocate at next year’s CCE.
• Seal the cookies so they stay fresh as long as possible.
• Be festive: People love getting decorated cookies for a CCE.
• Do not eat the cookies all at once. Set a consumption schedule and stick to it.
• Don’t be Grinch; make the cookies nice and big so your friends can enjoy them.

Some of FoodBozo’s cookies from once of the 2009 CCE