Chocolate Peppermint Cookies Recipe - I Heart Naptime (2024)

FAQs

Why refrigerate 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.

“Chilling your dough creates a greater depth of flavor because the flour breaks down and releases its sugars, giving you a sweeter cookie,” explains Woods, who has won dozens of blue ribbons at the Iowa State Fair.

Chilling the dough is a key step in making sugar cookies, especially when you're making cut-outs. Even if you're tight on time, make sure to get the dough in the fridge, or even the freezer, even if it's only for a little while. Skip this step, and the dough will be sticky, and much harder to work with.

How Long Should I Chill Cookie Dough? Anywhere from 24 to 72 hours. The longer you chill the dough, the more flavor will develop. The flour will also absorb more of the moisture so the thicker and chewier the final texture will be.

It comes down to personal preference—if you prefer crispier edges and a soft interior, plus deep vanilla and caramel notes, we recommend using refrigerated cookie dough that's been chilled at least overnight. However, the first no-chill batch had a nice, soft texture and was rich with flavor.

The cookie baked from room temperature, being thinner, has a more uniform texture, while the one baked straight from the fridge. is thick enough to accommodate a softer interior. and crispier exterior. No contest. Generally speaking, you should chill your cookie dough before baking it.

Storing Tips to Keep Cookies Soft

Store cool cookies in an airtight container (not a cookie jar with a loose lid) at room temperature. Putting cookies, cakes or breads in the refrigerator will dry them out.

Based on what these results demonstrated for this chocolate chip cookie recipe, for crispier cookies, aim for a 16-hour rest period or longer, and a shorter rest period for chewier cookies. For a good balance of both textures, a rest period of more than 16 hours works well.

Firm dough prevents the cookies from spreading too much, which is why chilling the dough is a crucial step for cut-out and rolled cookies. "The colder and more solid the fat is, the less the cookie will spread," says food stylist and recipe developer Caitlin Haught Brown.

What happens if you don't chill sugar cookies? ›

Too cold, and you'll break your wrists trying to roll it. Too warm, and it'll stick to everything. I always chill my sugar cookies after rolling and cutting, as well. I find it helps the cookies from spreading in the oven.

Adjust Salt

Next, if you're swapping unsalted for salted butter, reduce the amount of salt listed in the recipe to adjust for the salt in the butter. Take ¼ teaspoon of salt away for every stick of butter used*. Do the opposite if you're swapping salted for unsalted butter.

350° is the standard temp for a cookie, and it's a great one. Your cookies will bake evenly and the outside will be done at the same time as the inside. Baking at 325° also results in an evenly baked cookie, but the slower cooking will help yield a chewier cookie. The outsides will be a little softer, too.

Preheat oven to 325 - 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperature may vary depending on the size and type of your oven. You may want to experiment with the temperature before just going with the stated temperature.

Overmixing the dough: Overmixing can lead to tough and dense cookies. It's essential to mix the ingredients just until they come together to avoid developing too much gluten.

Chill the dough: Refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes to an hour or until it becomes firmer and easier to handle. Freezing the dough briefly helps, but it might need thawing to roll or scoop. This is especially helpful for doughs made with vegan butter or margarine, which softens easier than dairy butter.

While the refrigerator is great for extending the life of so many different types of food products, it may not always be the best choice when it comes to cookie dough or cookies. The fridge constantly circulates cool air to keep things cold, but this will also result in drying out your dough.

Solidifies the fat in the dough, allowing the liquid to dissolve the sugar and flavorings and the flour to absorb them. This improves the flavor of the cookies. Makes the cookie dough less sticky and easier to handle.

As Martha Stewart explains, for cookies that are intended to be served thin, crispy, or crunchy, refrigerating raw cookie dough isn't required. Simply prepare the batch and skip the chilling step so that when the cookies bake, they spread out over the hot baking pan.