What's the cookie dough doing in there?
July 30, 2010 11:48 AM   Subscribe

I have a cookie recipe that calls for letting the dough settle for two days in the cool and dry. Long ago I heard a plausible explanation as to why this is a good thing. I've since forgotten it. Perhaps you know?

Not fermenting, pretty sure. Something about oils?
posted by IndigoJones to Food & Drink (15 answers total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
What kind of cookies are they? My wife makes a sugar cookie recipe that requires the dough to set in the fridge overnight. The extra time helps the flour fully absorb the liquid and fat, which gives the cookie dough a more even texture. This in turn makes the cookies hold together better when she rolls them out thinly.
posted by TungstenChef at 11:55 AM on July 30, 2010


From the New York Times:
“Oh, that Maury’s a sly one,” said Shirley O. Corriher, author of “CookWise” (William Morrow, 1997), a book about science in the kitchen. “What he’s doing is brilliant. He’s allowing the dough and other ingredients to fully soak up the liquid — in this case, the eggs — in order to get a drier and firmer dough, which bakes to a better consistency.”
posted by mmascolino at 11:56 AM on July 30, 2010 [2 favorites]


It's from the NYT- https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/09chip.html?ref=dining
posted by beepbeepboopboop at 11:56 AM on July 30, 2010


Ah, fudge.
posted by beepbeepboopboop at 11:56 AM on July 30, 2010


Response by poster: Seven minutes. Damn, ya'll are good.

A sort of sugar cookie, yes. Many thanks all around. (The times will reveal its secrets....)
posted by IndigoJones at 12:00 PM on July 30, 2010


Response by poster: And yep, that is exactly the article I read it in. Well done all.
posted by IndigoJones at 12:03 PM on July 30, 2010


Right now I am eating a cookie I baked from that very recipe. It's the only one I will ever use and it makes the absolute best chocolate chip cookies that anyone has ever tasted.
posted by elsietheeel at 12:14 PM on July 30, 2010


Sorry to piggyback, but I read the article and I can't find the recipe it mentions being included at the end? Anyone have a direct link?
posted by kylej at 1:04 PM on July 30, 2010


There is a link on the left side of the article:

Here it is.
posted by CathyG at 1:13 PM on July 30, 2010 [4 favorites]


There is a Cook's Illustrated recipe for chocolate chip cookies which calls for melting the butter, but doesn't require a long wait. I don't remember what the explanation was, but I think it does the same thing as the wait would.
posted by yarly at 2:18 PM on July 30, 2010


On "Good Eats" Alton Brown revealed these findings (specifically for chocolate chip cookies):
For crispier cookies, replace one egg with milk and use a higher ratio of white-to-brown sugar. For cake-like cookies, use cake flour, baking powder, and butter-flavored shortening. For chewy cookies, melt the butter first and use a higher brown-to-white sugar ratio.
Also he said refrigerating the dough overnight makes them better, but I don't know if these rules apply to all cookies.
posted by Rash at 2:31 PM on July 30, 2010 [3 favorites]


You can also freeze the dough. I made an amazing batch of sugar cookies a few years ago based on a Washington Post recipe that I can't find now. You first freeze or refrigerate the dough, then roll it out, then freeze the rolled out sheets for a few hours, then cut and bake. Each time you cut some pieces out and reform the ball of dough, you have to freeze, roll-out and freeze again. This method make the dough easier to work with, and less sticky, so that I wasn't tempted to add extra flour to help with the shaping. They came out so soft, they melted in my mouth. But it was also a two-day process to get a double batch made, so I haven't done it again.
posted by saffry at 2:55 PM on July 30, 2010


I'm butting in here to ask a question brought on by the answer to the question:

But doesn't the long sit cause all the chemical leavening to dissipate?
posted by Foam Pants at 4:22 PM on July 30, 2010


I think the chemical leavening is heat activated. I've never had a problem with my cookies not rising.
posted by elsietheeel at 6:17 PM on July 30, 2010


baking powder is baking soda + an acid + a buffer (so they don't react until you want them to). when they do react, gas is released and you get leavening. most baking powders today are double-acting, meaning that they have an acid that is activated once moistened, and another that needs moisture and heat (which is why you're supposed to keep baking powder cool and dry).

ultimately: you lose some leavening, but not all of it — some of it reacts when the eggs hit the flour, but enough baking powder remains unactivated in the dough to give the cookies a lift.
posted by heeeraldo at 3:59 PM on July 31, 2010


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