Book 9, Question 63
Why Rest Cookie Dough in the Fridge?
Cookie dough rests in the fridge because flour soaks up water, fats firm up, and flavors mellow! Chilled dough spreads less in the oven. It can also taste deeper.
More fun facts
- Chilling cookie dough makes the fat in it solid again.
- Cold fat takes longer to melt in the oven, and the longer it stays solid, the less the cookies spread.
- While the dough rests, the sugar slowly soaks up liquid. Extra free liquid in the dough helps cookies spread.
- As dough rests, part of the flour breaks down into a simple sugar, which can make cookies taste sweeter and more flavorful.
- Chilled dough slowly dries out a little, which concentrates the flavors of all the ingredients.
- In King Arthur Baking tests, cookies baked right away tasted flat and doughy, but chilling the dough for just 30 minutes made them chewy.
- The longer the dough chilled, the darker the cookies became and the stronger their flavor.
Sources: kingarthurbaking.com
Questions kids ask
Does chilling work for all cookies?
It helps many plain drop cookies, such as sugar cookies and snickerdoodles, hold their shape and taste richer.