The Science of Chilling Cookie Dough: A Baker's Guide to Perfect Texture
As their name implies, the dough for Tamal Ray’s freezer cookies is just one that benefits from a decent spell in the cold. This practice raises a common question among home bakers: does chilling cookie dough really make for a better result? The answer, according to experts, depends heavily on the type of cookie and desired outcome.
Understanding the Role of Chilling in Cookie Baking
What you plan to bake plays a big part in whether or not to chill a dough, and in terms of hydration, flavor, and texture. Helen Goh, a Guardian baker, explains that for cookies requiring stamping out, the dough needs to be firm enough to roll but not too rigid. However, the debate over chilling is most prevalent in the chocolate chip cookie sphere.
"There’s a perceived wisdom that chilling helps the dough develop the flavor and caramelization," Goh says. "But, to be honest, it also makes the dough a little easier to roll and ensures it bakes evenly, which is worth far more than that slight improvement in flavor."
Recommended Chilling Times and Their Effects
Recommended chilling times vary from 30 minutes to overnight. Goh notes that overnight chilling can result in a "cakey" cookie, while she prefers a balance of crisp edges with a chewy center. On the flip side, insufficient chilling with too-soft butter leads to cookies that are "very thin and crisp. They might be greasy, too, because the dough melts before setting up its structure."
To achieve that ideal thicker texture with crisp edges and a soft, gooey center, Abigail Scheuer, pastry chef and owner of Le Choux in west London, freezes her balled-up cookie dough for at least 24 hours. "The middle of my cookies are more frozen, so the outsides bake first," she explains. "Whereas if you were to bake the cookies straight away, you’d get the same texture across the cookie. They’d also spread more, because the flour hasn’t had enough time to hydrate."
Additional Benefits of Freezing Cookie Dough
Chocolate is, of course, also key, and another benefit of Scheuer’s freezing strategy is that the frozen sweet stuff "stays a bit melted" once baked. Plus, this method offers convenience: "Make a big batch and they’ll keep in the freezer for two to three weeks for ultimate flavor and freshness, or even longer."
Special Considerations for Shortbread and Savory Biscuits
Making shortbread? As a general rule of thumb, Goh says it’s best to chill the dough in phases. "You can’t stamp out a very soft dough, because, by the time you lift the cookie cutter, the dough will be misshapen." Chill it just enough to allow rolling, then stamp out shapes and return to the fridge until firm. "Use your senses; it’s not simply a case of setting a timer."
If you chill a big block of dough instead, the edges firm up while the insides remain soft, leading to melting and loss of shape. The fridge is also crucial for savory options like Goh’s Lao Gan Ma biscuits, from her book Baking and the Meaning of Life. The dough, laced with chili crisp and salty parmesan, is soft and requires rolling into a log immediately. "It will be too soft to form a perfect cylinder," Goh says, so chilling until firm enough is essential—not too firm, not too soft, but just right.
In summary, chilling cookie dough is a nuanced technique that can enhance texture, flavor, and ease of baking, tailored to each cookie type for optimal results.
