Tell us your wisdom oh Baker of the Mountain. Do you just use the same recipe or is it modified somehow to benefit from the dwell time? Best type of cookie for this treatment? Teach me something new that’s not another reason to be depressed please.
Yeah, it can be done with any recipe usually. It does benefit when you start with more complex flavors to begin with, but even the most basic tollhouse recipe gets changed over time just by chilling.
Basically, it lets the flour fully hydrate, and the enzymes present break down sugars. You end up with layers of flavor as you eat each cookie.
There is an upper limit to how long a given recipe can go, but the “48 hour” label kinda dials in the sweet spot for most.
The absolute best cookie recipe I’ve seen that makes the best use of the method is Any version of Levain style cookies. That particular recipe is real forgiving, and they actually give a little info on what’s going on. I’ve had them stay in the fridge for a week a couple of times, and be just as good as on day 2 or 3. IIRC, they specify overnight for the rest period, but unless you’re getting started at dawn of the first day, you’ll want to give them at least 36 hours in the fridge.
The exception is recipes meant to be thin and crispy. They don’t benefit at all, and you end up losing some crispness by trying.
I’ve done pretty much every standard cookie type with the long rest, and with the possible exception of snickerdoodles, you’ll see some difference in outcome that most people enjoy. Peanut butter cookies do great with it. So do the reddit-famous murder cookies. Chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, I find I really notice more enjoyable flavors. Sugar cookies, and butter cookies, I’m on the fence with because you get a bit more chew, so the shift in complexity is kind of a side grade.
As a side note, serious eats did a whole test run of options for cookies. Don’t have the link handy, but they went through various factors like type of sweetener, leavening, etc and showed what changes each makes. It’s possible to tweak any given recipe to adjust for desired results once you get that internalized.
I’d much rather have chewy sugar cookies than crumbly mess cookies. Though I’ve never been that big of a fan, so maybe it’s still a less “ideal” sugar cookie.
Tbh, if I can’t get them right, I’d rather have chewy than that half-ass crumbly texture too.
Sugar cookies need to be crisp, crystalline, not crumbly. The problem is that it’s all about getting that sugar/fat ratio perfect with the flour, and that’s hard to pull off since flour hydration varies based on environmental factors.
They’re one of those super basic kind of baked good that is so hard to really nail that it could be a test. It’s like omelettes; you have to really have your techniques and knowledge nailed down tight to make them great, and they’re easy to screw up.
But damn, when they do come out perfect, and they almost dissolve on the tongue leaving behind that buttery goodness, it’s a bit of magic. Not my favorite cookies by a mile, but still.
Reminds me of those cooking anime when they’re describing a perfectly cooked meal… ugh I’m too hungry. lol Pretty sure I saw poached eggs and omelettes as tests in real cooking shows, too. I want to taste a perfect sugar cookie. They might not remain at the bottom of my cookie list if it’s as good as you describe.
I wish I could pretend to get them perfect every time, but I kinda cap out at 7/10. I’ve gotten to the point where the edges are always great, but nailing the centers isn’t as reliable.
My omelette game is amazing though! Been working on that since I was a kid. Don’t ask about the poached eggs though lol.
One of the biggest factors in getting the centers crispy is the thickness factor though. After I’ve got them cut, I take a cocktail or highball glass, dip the bottom into sugar and gently flatten them a little more. Not enough the edges split, but just before they would.
If the flour is running a little more moist, I’ll decrease the amount of egg a touch by separating the yolk and decreasing it by half-ish. It’s one of those things that’s by feel though, I’ve yet to figure out a way to turn it into a precise measure because it’s all about his the flour feels before and during mixing. The difference is minor, but it seems to be the limiting factor in making sure the centers are crispy rather than crunchy or chewy.
Tell us your wisdom oh Baker of the Mountain. Do you just use the same recipe or is it modified somehow to benefit from the dwell time? Best type of cookie for this treatment? Teach me something new that’s not another reason to be depressed please.
Yeah, it can be done with any recipe usually. It does benefit when you start with more complex flavors to begin with, but even the most basic tollhouse recipe gets changed over time just by chilling.
Basically, it lets the flour fully hydrate, and the enzymes present break down sugars. You end up with layers of flavor as you eat each cookie.
There is an upper limit to how long a given recipe can go, but the “48 hour” label kinda dials in the sweet spot for most.
The absolute best cookie recipe I’ve seen that makes the best use of the method is Any version of Levain style cookies. That particular recipe is real forgiving, and they actually give a little info on what’s going on. I’ve had them stay in the fridge for a week a couple of times, and be just as good as on day 2 or 3. IIRC, they specify overnight for the rest period, but unless you’re getting started at dawn of the first day, you’ll want to give them at least 36 hours in the fridge.
The exception is recipes meant to be thin and crispy. They don’t benefit at all, and you end up losing some crispness by trying.
I’ve done pretty much every standard cookie type with the long rest, and with the possible exception of snickerdoodles, you’ll see some difference in outcome that most people enjoy. Peanut butter cookies do great with it. So do the reddit-famous murder cookies. Chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, I find I really notice more enjoyable flavors. Sugar cookies, and butter cookies, I’m on the fence with because you get a bit more chew, so the shift in complexity is kind of a side grade.
Just wanna say thanks for sharing this baking tip. It’s so interesting that chilling the dough can make such a difference. I gotta try it some day.
No worries :)
As a side note, serious eats did a whole test run of options for cookies. Don’t have the link handy, but they went through various factors like type of sweetener, leavening, etc and showed what changes each makes. It’s possible to tweak any given recipe to adjust for desired results once you get that internalized.
I’d much rather have chewy sugar cookies than crumbly mess cookies. Though I’ve never been that big of a fan, so maybe it’s still a less “ideal” sugar cookie.
Tbh, if I can’t get them right, I’d rather have chewy than that half-ass crumbly texture too.
Sugar cookies need to be crisp, crystalline, not crumbly. The problem is that it’s all about getting that sugar/fat ratio perfect with the flour, and that’s hard to pull off since flour hydration varies based on environmental factors.
They’re one of those super basic kind of baked good that is so hard to really nail that it could be a test. It’s like omelettes; you have to really have your techniques and knowledge nailed down tight to make them great, and they’re easy to screw up.
But damn, when they do come out perfect, and they almost dissolve on the tongue leaving behind that buttery goodness, it’s a bit of magic. Not my favorite cookies by a mile, but still.
Reminds me of those cooking anime when they’re describing a perfectly cooked meal… ugh I’m too hungry. lol Pretty sure I saw poached eggs and omelettes as tests in real cooking shows, too. I want to taste a perfect sugar cookie. They might not remain at the bottom of my cookie list if it’s as good as you describe.
I wish I could pretend to get them perfect every time, but I kinda cap out at 7/10. I’ve gotten to the point where the edges are always great, but nailing the centers isn’t as reliable.
My omelette game is amazing though! Been working on that since I was a kid. Don’t ask about the poached eggs though lol.
This recipe is pretty close to the one I use; I haven’t gotten around to digitizing some of my older recipes out of laziness.
One of the biggest factors in getting the centers crispy is the thickness factor though. After I’ve got them cut, I take a cocktail or highball glass, dip the bottom into sugar and gently flatten them a little more. Not enough the edges split, but just before they would.
If the flour is running a little more moist, I’ll decrease the amount of egg a touch by separating the yolk and decreasing it by half-ish. It’s one of those things that’s by feel though, I’ve yet to figure out a way to turn it into a precise measure because it’s all about his the flour feels before and during mixing. The difference is minor, but it seems to be the limiting factor in making sure the centers are crispy rather than crunchy or chewy.