Childhood was filled with the giddy expectation of cookies in any way, shape, or form. If you lived in the peak of sugar-in-everything eras of the 80s or 90s, then you may remember the logs of sugar cookie dough known as slice-and-bake cookies. And if you were a kid, about one-third of the cookie dough log went into your mouth. It had eggs in it, and the dough was raw, but there was something immensely satisfying about preparing this cookie dough — one cookie dough piece for the cookie sheet, one for your mouth— that made being in the kitchen more fun.

Since then, the makers of slice-and-bake cookies, Pillsbury, caught on to the youth’s devious ways and made the raw cookie dough safe to eat, and they pre-sliced all of the cookies for good measure — so no squeezing cookie dough out of the plastic wrapping like toothpaste for you! With the changes in ingredients (and its name now rebranded as ready-to-bake), came modifications to the cookie dough texture itself. Gone were the sturdy circles of cookies and the soft chew of the cookie crumb. But here’s a chance to have a bite of nostalgia again with Copycat Ready-To-Bake Sugar Cookies.

These Copycat Ready-To-Bake Sugar Cookies taste like the real versions — but better. A soft, tender, but chewy crumb with every bite is feasible with simple baking staples, with no curve balls in sight.

The ingredient list is simple, no eye-jarring surprises here. Yet these aren’t the average main cast of cookie characters. What’s with the oil, powdered sugar, and cake flour? These three ingredients are what give these cookies their melt-away tender characteristics.

After beating the butter and oil with the powdered sugar, add some vanilla alongside an egg and an egg yolk. On a low speed, you then gradually add in the cake flour and a touch of salt.

At this point, the cookie dough will look very soft, but there’s no need to worry.

Use an ice cream scoop to portion out the cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pop the tray into the freezer for a good thirty minutes. This rest will stiffen the dough to the exact texture you need.

After their rest, spread them out onto a large parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake them for a brief thirteen to fifteen minutes. These cookies won’t really brown, so don’t be waiting for tell-tale golden edges and tops. They’ll look pale, and this is exactly what you want.

Once baked leave them on the cookie sheet for an extra five to ten minutes, this will act as carry-over cooking for the cookies.

You can let them cool down, or you can go at the cookies (which is honestly better). Warm sugar cookies have a special quality about them that’s barely describable by any human language. The cookies are soft, but chewy, sweet but balanced with vanilla and salt.

If you lived through eating this ready-made cookie dough as a child, then you’ll know that these cookies are spot-on carbon copies in taste. However, the thicker shape of these copycats makes for a more satisfying bite.

Copycat Ready-To-Bake Sugar Cookies are the perfect cookie to have on standby in your freezer. The dough portions out and freezes beautifully. Whenever cookies are in demand, you can pop them out of the freezer and bake them as needed. Baking crises and cravings will be a thing of the past.