Chilling cookie dough Flourish. Why refrigerate chocolate chip cookie dough or for that matter, any basic drop cookie dough before baking Does chilling cookie dough really make any difference The short answer yes, chilling cookie dough prior to baking does make a difference. But the story behind that yes might surprise you. I recently tested this question with a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough. Bone Marrow Soup Recipe. Understand, though, that these results can be applied to other kinds of plain drop cookie dough sugar cookies, snickerdoodlesFirst I baked some of the cookie dough immediately, without any chilling. Then, I put the dough in the fridge and continued to bake cookies over the next 1. My very favorite sweet dip and the first one I ever posted on my blog. Loaded with peanut butter, oatmeal, MMs and chocolate chips. This dip is a cinch to make and. The original healthy cookie dough dip recipe that has taken the blog world by storm. It looks and tastes like cookie dough, yet its secretly GOOD for you Sugar cookie recipe, cutout cookies, decorated cookies, cookie recipes. These dough recipes make a crunchy cookie, more hard than tender, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Beware the proportion of sugar is so high that the cookies. We all know Cookie Monster loves to eat cookies, but it turns out hes quite the baker, too. Chilling cookie dough before baking does it really make a difference Yes and the suggested amount of fridge time will surprise you. The result Chilling cookie dough for just 3. The cookies pictured above are the same size, weight wise. But look at the difference in spread the cookie dough that was refrigerated spread less. CbmPQYqqvxu3hA2eMhFHW7sMQ/fit-in/500x500/filters:format_auto-!!-:strip_icc-!!-/2015/03/05/788/n/1922195/f2a8c893_edit_img_image_1090627_1425327251_Edible_Choco_Chip_Cookie_Dough_SQUARE/i/Edible-Chocolate-Chip-Cookie-Dough.jpg' alt='Cookie Dough Recipe' title='Cookie Dough Recipe' />The cookie dough without refrigeration also browned less. So, the longer the dough is chilled, the more the cookies change The longer you chill cookie dough, the smaller the changes become. Call it the law of diminishing returns. KREhN-V7' alt='Cookie Dough Recipe' title='Cookie Dough Recipe' />The major difference is between no chilling at all vs. After that, the baked cookie continues to evolve though very gradually. Over time, chilling cookie dough produces cookies with darker color and more pronounced flavor. Here you see the beginning and end of the test clearly the cookie baked from dough chilled for 1. Its flavor is also more pronounced our taste testers couldnt identify any particular flavor note that stood our above the rest, but simply noted that the 1. My personal evaluation is that the cookies baked immediately tasted rather flat and their texture was soft and rather doughy, without being chewy. Cookies baked after chilling the dough for as little as 3. So, what does chilling cookie dough do, exactlyChilling cookie dough controls spread. 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. If you bake the dough immediately, before sugar has a chance to absorb much liquid, that liquid remains free in the dough, and promotes spread. Think of this in terms of thin vs. Same with cookies. Thats fresh dough, at left three day old dough, at right. The longer the dough chills, the drier it becomes. Chilling cookie dough concentrates flavor. As the dough chills, it gradually dries out, concentrating the flavors of all the ingredients. Think of watered down lemonade, vs. Same with cookies. Something else happens as the dough rests part of the flour breaks down into its component parts, including a simple carbohydrate, sugar. Thus, since sugar is a flavor enhancer like salt, the cookies may taste more flavorful, as well as sweeter. Chilling cookie dough changes texture. Again, its not really the chilling, but the dough gradually drying out, thats responsible for texture change. The drier the dough, the more concentrated the sugar. And a higher percentage of sugar creates cookies with chewycrisp rather than softdoughy texture. So, enough with the science lets enjoy one of these fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, shall weAt the end of the day or even after just 3. Do you have any chocolate chip cookie tips to pass along Please share in comments, below.