You’ve heard of dry-aged steaks, but what about cookies? The best bakers know there are dozens of ways to crumble the cookie, but could aging your cookie dough be the secret to the best-ever cookies? 

Why should you age your cookie dough?

There are a few factors at play when you’re letting your cookie dough age. The first is that it allows the moisture added to your dough to fully saturate the flour. This is important because cookies contain very little liquid, and the liquid that they do have usually comes from eggs, which are thick and absorb slowly. By fully saturating the flour, you’re less likely to get dry, crumbly cookies. 

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The next piece of alchemy in the aging process is all about fat.  By resting, ripening, or aging your cookie dough in the fridge, you’re allowing the butter to firm up. Cold fat will melt more slowly, leading to less spread and a delightful, compact cookie.

Tough cookies are great, just not in the kitchen. 

The third crucial factor in resting your dough is letting that gluten relax. When you knead dough containing wheat flour, it activates the gluten – the proteins in flour that give your baked goods structure. When flour is moistened and kneaded, it ‘activates’ the gluten. Those gluten proteins form chains that bond together and give the dough its “stretchy” quality. It can also be incredibly tough. By resting the dough, those protein chains relax, meaning you end up with a less tense biscuit.

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Does aging cookie dough change the flavour?

Something very interesting happens to sugar as it rests in cookie dough. The sugar, which is often creamed with butter, begins to crystallise again. While traditionally, sugar crystals have been “undesirable” in the final product, there are advantages. In particular, caramelisation. Rested cookie dough creates golden brown cookies. And those sugar crystals caramelise on the surface of the dough – creating a richer flavour and a toastier taste. Rules were made to be broken, even in baking. 

How long should you age cookie dough?

We know the importance of resting your cookie dough, but the dry aging of the dough is where things get wacky. When resting dough, it’s usually wrapped in cling film or covered by baking paper, to relax. Aging the dough uncovered, however, will begin to form a slight shell after a few hours and will continue to develop for up to three days in the fridge, as moisture evaporates. As the moisture evaporates, the sugars become more concentrated and will caramelize better.

How to make chewy cookies

When it comes to creating chewy cookies, moisture matters. Often this can come down to the type of sugar you are using, the shape of your cookies, and the size of the cookies before baking. Higher moisture content will create chewier cookies. Your choice of sugar should reflect the kind of cookie you desire – for instance, if you want something sweet that fights back when you bite it, something like brown sugar will be the best choice. If you want something drier or snappier, then something like caster sugar will set you right. The fat-to-flour ratio also makes a big difference. Chewy cookies come from cold, high moisture, and compact cookie dough balls.

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