Many cookie recipes instruct bakers to chill dough before placing raw cookies into a heated oven to bake. Exposing cookie dough to cooler temperatures helps solidify fats in cookie recipes, explains King Arthur Baking, which pays off when the cookies are finally baking. Since cold fats take longer to melt than those at room temperature, chilled cookie dough will maintain a denser consistency when placed in a warm oven, spreading less over baking sheets or pans than dough simply shoved inside. Handle the Heat likens the chilling process to something similar to a cookie marinade, a key step that can amplify the cookies' flavor and lend serious texture to the final fresh-out-of-the-oven treats.
For hungry bakers who can't wait to sink their teeth into a batch of warm cookies (we hear you), we have good news: Not all cookie recipes require this chilling step. In fact, some cookies simply taste better when moved straight from mixer into the oven.
Recipes with no chill
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Can't be bothered to wait for cookie dough to chill? We got you. Several recipes encourage bakers to bypass the fridge and place raw cookie dough straight into the oven, cutting down on overall cookie prep time.One example is the recipe for tuile cookies, the brittle, wafer-like treats that are snappy to eat. Sugar cookies are also a common no-chill recipe, notes I Heart Eating, and Sally's Baking Recipes provides a variety of chilling-is-not-required cookie options — pumpkin cookies, whoopie pies, lace cookies, and shortbread cookies — for hungry bakers who cannot wait another moment to start chowing down on sweets.
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. If you're short on time or want cookies ASAP, your cravings can easily be satisfied with a no-chill recipe.
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