A question came in from a reader (Laura) or a reader (Alicat) about how to make perfectly round cookies.

Laura made Martha Stewart's Black & White Cookies and they spread out to double the size she expected them to be. "Does anyone make a cookie pan with indents sized to create a perfectly round cookie? I would buy it in a second."

We found one gadget that might help: the OXO Good Grips Cookie Scoop. (Martha suggests using a 2oz scoop in her recipe, this is basically it.) It's essentially a small ice-cream scoop, so if you have one of those, it will work just the same. Make sure the dough is cold when you scoop it, and that there are no holes or gaps between the dough and the scoop. Overfill the scoop, then slice off the extra dough, as you would level a spoon.

You can also try a plain old round cookie cutter. If using an all-metal cutter, try greasing the inside and baking the cookie right in the cutter itself, like a tart ring.

(photo of cookie: Grist.com)