This Is Why You Should Chill Your Cookie Dough Before Baking (2024)

Updated: Sep. 28, 2023

Still trying to make the perfect cookie? It's easier than you think! All you need to do is chill cookie dough before you bake it.

There are few things in the world more satisfying than cookies fresh out of the oven. If you’ve been baking long enough, you probably have all the cookie supplies you need, plus a few secrets for baking perfect cookies. But there’s one thing many folks forget. You need to chill cookie dough before baking it!

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Why You Need to Chill Your Cookie Dough

For starters, chilling prevents cookies from spreading out too quickly once they’re in the oven. If you use a higher fat butter (like Kerrygold), chilling your dough is absolutely essential. 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. This is thanks to a few different factors.

The dough becomes hydrated as the dry ingredients soak up moisture from the wet ingredients. This subtle hydration makes the dough less wet, concentrating the flavors. The result is cookies with a nice even bake and lovely golden brown color. And if you use brown butter in your cookie recipes, chilling the dough overnight allows the flavors to develop so you get a richer, more decadent cookie.

While this hydration is taking place, the flour also breaks down into sugar, making the dough taste sweeter. After as little as half an hour, your dough transforms into a bowl of goodness with an additional kiss of sweetness. Is it worth the wait? You bet.

How Long You Should Chill Cookie Dough For

This is really up to you. If you’re short on time, try and squeeze in at least half an hour if you can. 30 minutes will do the trick if you’re simply looking to avoid your cookies spreading all over the place. If you have the luxury of chilling the dough overnight to develop flavor, go for it.

@bromabakery cookie science 👩‍🔬🔬 #cookiedough #bakersoftiktok #chocolatechipcookies. (inspired by @Tastemade ♬ original sound – Sarah Crawford

According to this in-depth video by TikTok user @bromabakery, how long and whether you chill your cookie dough can have a significant effect on your final product.

As she says, not chilling the cookie and baking at 350 degrees can result in a more crackly cookie, since the dough hasn’t had enough time to absorb the flour. Chilling it for half an hour, however, gives you thicker, chewier dough. Chilling for 2 hours, however, resulted in the best cookie—giving it a deep flavor, crispy edge and the optimal amount of spread.

The Best Cookies for Chilling

People always recommend chilling chocolate chip cookies but shortbread, sugar cookies and even these terrific ginger cookies all benefit from a little time in the fridge. Feel free to test it out using your favorite recipes and compare the results.

Ready to become a cookie-baking master? Check out our complete guide to baking cookies and easy cookie recipes for essential tips and tricks to make can’t-resist cookies every time!

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Air-Fryer Chocolate Chip Oatmeal CookiesI am crazy about chocolate chips, and this chewy cookie has enough to satisfy me. My husband and kids love these cookies. This big batch is perfect for our family. —Diane Neth, Menno, South DakotaGo to RecipeCostco chocolate chips are a must-try for any chocolate chip cookie.You'll win hearts—and maybe a ring—with this recipe for Marry Me cookies. It's loaded with two kinds of chocolate!

Chocolate Pecan Skillet CookieBake up the ultimate shareable cookie. For variety, replace the chocolate chips with an equal quantity of M&M's or chocolate chunks. Or go super fancy by mixing the chocolate chips and pecans into the dough, then gently folding in 1-1/2 cups fresh raspberries. —James Schend, Taste of Home Deputy Culinary Editor

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Coconut Chocolate Chip CookiesHere's a new type of chocolate chip cookie. They're great for coconut lovers, textured by the coconut and flavored by the extract...a compatible combination that results in a crispy, chewy cookie. My whole family agrees this recipe is a winner. —Laura Bankard, Manchester, Maryland

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FAQs

This Is Why You Should Chill Your Cookie Dough Before Baking? ›

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.

Get More Info Here ›

Why does chilling your cookie dough create a better tasting cooking? ›

This chilling period does quite a few things: Most importantly, it allows the flavors to develop and intensify! You can think of it like marinating meats – everything intensifies and gets better with time.

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What is the reason for chilling the pastry before baking? ›

Cool and relaxed pastry is far more likely to hold its shape when cooking. Relaxed gluten won't shrink nearly as badly, so that's why you rest pastry cases before blind baking. If, when you get the pastry out of the fridge after resting and it seems too stiff to roll, don't let it warm up.

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Should you refrigerate peanut butter cookie dough before baking? ›

Refrigerating the dough will give it more structure so the cookies spread less and hold their fork marks through baking. Cooling the dough also ensures that all of the ingredients are the same temperature: they'll bake more evenly and the flavors will meld beautifully. Heat oven to 375°F.

How long should you refrigerate cookie dough before baking? ›

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).

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Can I put cookie dough in the freezer instead of the fridge? ›

That's right, you can freeze it for a bit to shave quite a bit of time off the chilling suggestion in the recipe. 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.

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Is it better to chill cookie dough or room temperature? ›

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.

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How long should you freeze cookie dough before baking? ›

Let the dough freeze until it is completely solid — at least 4 hours and up to overnight. It's crucial that the cookie dough freezes completely so the balls don't fuse together when you store them.

Why do you chill before baking? ›

Chilling firms up the fat (usually butter) in the dough, ensuring that the dough doesn't spread too quickly in the oven. For cookies that are high in butter content, this step is crucial and prevents them from melting into thin disks while baking.

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What happens if you don't chill pastry dough? ›

Non-chilled crust is fairly crumbly and less smooth, which makes it harder to roll out and means it may not look as polished.

What happens if you don't chill cookie dough? ›

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.

Learn More Now ›

What is the best peanut butter for baking cookies? ›

Peanut butter: Creamy peanut butter is ideal for this recipe because crunchy peanut butter creates an overly crumbly cookie. You can use processed peanut butter such as Jif or Skippy, or natural-style peanut butter.

Why do my cookies get hard after they cool? ›

Cookies become hard when the moisture in them evaporates. This can be caused by leaving them out in the air for too long, baking them for too long, or storing them improperly. The lack of moisture makes the cookies hard and dry, which makes them difficult to enjoy.

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Why does refrigerated cookie dough taste better? ›

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.

What is the reason for chilling cookie dough? ›

Why does freezing cookie dough make it taste better? ›

A cookie that has been frozen before baking often has a more complex flavor. It usually reaches a much more inviting color and texture too. Science says that this is mostly due to the temperature of the butter at the beginning of the baking process.

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Why did we put the cookie dough in the fridge? ›

"When your dough is refrigerated, the butter hardens. So when you bake them, they spread less and hold their shape better," adds Epperson. "Which means a better likelihood of a soft, chewy cookie in the center." Chilling the dough creates fluffier cookies with better consistency.

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