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Does Chilling Your Cookie Dough Actually Do Anything?

As you know by now, making the perfect chocolate chip cookie is a science. So, you've measured out all the ingredients precisely, and that should be it, right? Well, turns out that the temperature and how long the dough has been resting could make a difference in the quality of your cookie. This is actually called "ripening," and it's the variable that gets overlooked the most.

A Note From Our Writer:

The internet told me I needed to chill my cookie dough. I've seen countless articles singing the praises of a quick chill prior to baking, but never tested if it actually did anything. So I finally did. I tested six common resting/chilling times to see if it was worth the extra effort and refrained from eating the dough before baking. Here's everything I learned.

— Jesse Szewczyk

What We Learned: Ripening cookie dough does not make as big as a difference as we initially thought. While there were some minor advantages to letting the dough rest, it was simply not worth the extra effort. (Although maybe we simply can't taste the minor differences other more experienced bakers can — who knows!)
The Biggest Takeaways: When it comes to picking out how long you should let your dough rest, keep these things in mind.
1. Colder dough = less spreading: Colder fat means slower melting, so the more you chill your dough, the less your cookies will spread.
2. Ripening the dough makes little difference in flavor: Despite what we've been told about ripening cookie dough, we found no significant improvements in taste or texture when ripened for a long period of time. The only change we noticed was the color and spread.
3. Letting dough rest is all about hydration: Beyond controlling the spread, ripening cookie dough also gives the flour extra time to absorb the liquid in the dough — so a quick resting time may actually prove beneficial.

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