From chocolate chip to oatmeal raisin, no dessert satisfies quite the way that cookies do. They're easy to make, serve a crowd, and there are so many iterations to choose from. Using high-quality ingredients and a reliable recipe are two ways to ensure a delicious cookie—but there's something else you should do to take the dessert to the next level: refrigerate the dough.
Flour contains naturally-occurring enzymes, which break down as the dough chills, leading to increased browning. The sugar in the dough absorbs the moisture from the flour, causing the cookie to brown and caramelize. Refrigerating the dough allows the flour to fully hydrate and helps to make the cookie dough firmer.
Firm dough prevents the cookies from spreading too much, which is why chilling the dough is a crucial step for cut-out and rolled cookies. "The colder and more solid the fat is, the less the cookie will spread," says food stylist and recipe developer Caitlin Haught Brown.
More Flavor
Chilling the dough also improves the way your cookies taste. "In terms of flavor, you'll notice more depth of flavor from the vanilla and the sugar will taste sweeter," says Haught Brown. "In terms of texture, chilled cookie dough produces a more evenly golden-brown cookie with a crisper edge and chewier center."
How Long to Refrigerate Cookie Dough
As a general rule of thumb, you should refrigerate cookie dough for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours. More than that, and you won't see a noticeable difference in the final product. Once the dough has chilled, let it warm up at room temperature until it's just pliable (about 5 to 10 minutes). Don't let it get too warm or you'll defeat the purpose of chilling the dough all together.
How to Refrigerate Cookie Dough
To make forming the chilled cookie dough more manageable, pre-portion it by scooping balls of dough into individual cookies, placing them on a sheet pan or in a resealable bag, chilling, and then baking right away.
When Not to Refrigerate Cookie Dough
There are some cases where you should avoid chilling cookie dough. For example, the dough for Alexis's Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies shouldn't be refrigerated, since the goal of this recipe is to create super thin, crispy cookies that spread significantly when baking. Refrigerating the dough would prevent these cookies from spreading the way they're intended to.
"A tuile cookie, where the appeal is based in the thinness or lacy qualities, is another example when you should bake the cookie dough immediately," says baker and food stylist Jason Schreiber. Additionally, if you're making a super soft peanut butter cookie or a cakey snickerdoodle, you may not want to refrigerate the dough before baking.
Chilling cookie dough before baking solidifies the fat in the cookies. As the cookies bake, the fat in the chilled cookie dough takes longer to melt than room-temperature fat. And the longer the fat remains solid, the less cookies spread. In addition, the sugar in the dough gradually absorbs liquid.
Popping your dough in the fridge allows the fats to cool. As a result, the cookies will expand more slowly, holding onto their texture. If you skip the chilling step, you're more likely to wind up with flat, sad disks instead of lovely, chewy cookies. Cookies made from chilled dough are also much more flavorful.
Chilling your cookie dough in the refrigerator after mixing it allows the flour to hydrate and gives the other ingredients time to blend, resulting in a richer, more well-rounded flavor profile.
As you can imagine, utilizing the freezer is an alternative way to chill your cookie dough if you are in a hurry. As a rule of thumb, aim to chill the dough in the freezer for about a quarter of the time you would typically refrigerate it. So, if you can't do an hour in the refrigerator, do 15 minutes in the freezer.
As a general rule of thumb, you should refrigerate cookie dough for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours. More than that, and you won't see a noticeable difference in the final product. Once the dough has chilled, let it warm up at room temperature until it's just pliable (about 5 to 10 minutes).
Scooping then chilling your cookie dough for at least.2 hours before baking. As you can see, this primarily affects spread and height, both of which significantly contribute to texture.
Sure, you can skip the chilling step and bake the dough right away, but doing so runs the risk of flat disks with dry edges and a brittle texture; a far cry for the plush, chewy cookies with fudge-like centers we all crave.
How Long Should I Chill Cookie Dough? Anywhere from 24 to 72 hours. The longer you chill the dough, the more flavor will develop. The flour will also absorb more of the moisture so the thicker and chewier the final texture will be.
Here's what our Test Kitchen recommends when quickly chilling cookie dough in the freezer: Place the cookie dough in the freezer for one-quarter of the recommended refrigerator time. The dough can be wrapped in plastic, scooped into balls for baking on a cookie sheet, or left in the mixing bowl, covered.
That's right. The composition of your cookies will come out differently after refrigeration because of the butter in the dough. "When your cookie dough is not refrigerated, the butter is at room temperature. Therefore the heat from the oven reacts with the butter quickly, making it spread thinner," says Epperson.
Parchment paper: Scoop the cookie dough onto a sheet of parchment paper and use the paper to wrap the dough into a ball. Place your parchment papered dough into your labeled container. You can store it in the fridge for up to 4 days or the freezer for up to 3 months.
The fridge constantly circulates cool air to keep things cold, but this will also result in drying out your dough. (There are some recipes that call for chilled dough and typically the recipe will have been created to account for this.)
You may notice visible pockets of flour, streaks of butter, or uneven coloration. When overmixed, though, cookie dough will feel dense, greasy, heavy, and warm. It may be tough to roll out or work with, just like overmixed pie dough.
WHY ARE MY COOKIES FLAT AND GREASY? Using too much butter in your dough can lead to flat and greasy cookies. As previously noted, baking is a science, and it is essential to closely follow recipe measurements to ensure the best results.
For chewy cookies, allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 3 to 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. For crispier cookies, let cookies cool for one minute on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.
"When your cookie dough is not refrigerated, the butter is at room temperature. Therefore the heat from the oven reacts with the butter quickly, making it spread thinner," says Epperson. And while some people prefer a crunchy, thin cookie, there are arguably many more people who like soft, thick cookies.
Let it sit for long enough—the famous Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookie, published in the New York Times, mandates a rest of at least 24 hours and up to 72—and the starches and proteins in the flour begin to break down, leading to more browning and caramelization.
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