How can I best bake cookies from cold dough?

Question

I like to make chocolate chip cookies, and the first batch always turns out great. However I don't use all the dough at once, so I refrigerate the leftovers. When I use this cold dough to make another batch of cookies, they are usually a little overdone on the outside while still a bit underdone on the inside.

I've tried setting the dough out on the counter for a while to let it warm up to room temperature, but even sitting out for over an hour, it hasn't noticeably changed temperature. I've also tried rolling the balls of dough in my hands for a bit to warm them before placing them on the pan, but that seems to make the issue worse (probably because the outside melts before the inside thaws). This leads me to think any other solution (microwaving the dough, putting the pan in a slightly warm oven, etc) will make things worse rather than better.

Is there some easy solution I'm not thinking of besides making dough in smaller batches (which is tough because you can't go down to less than one egg)? Do I need to store the dough in a different way or prep it somehow before baking?

I generally use the recipe on the back of the bag of Tollhouse chocolate chips, which uses butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, flour, etc. I use real butter, not margarine or shortening.

Answer 1

Bake it all and freeze some cookies.

Cookies freeze great. And you can let them sit out overnight to thaw without worries.

Answer 2

I admit, this doesn't exactly answer your question, but you have a few things going on here, which complicates the problem.

The issue isn't just temperature, it's also time -- the flour will continue to absorb moisture while it's in the fridge, so even if you were to let the dough get back to room temperature, it's still not going to bake up exactly like when it's fresh. This is why even when a cookie recipe tells you to let the dough chill in the fridge for a couple of hours, you can't just make it up and let it sit in the fridge for 3 days before you bake it. (Well, you can, it just won't be the same).

The only possible solution that I can think of for this problem would be to mix a little extra liquid into the batter before you put it into the fridge. But I honestly have no idea how much, or what other sorts of problems this might cause. (or even what type of liquid ... egg might be better than milk or oil)

You also have the problem of the butterfat solidifying, which can be reversed by letting the dough come back up to temperature. To do that more quickly, you can beat and/or roll the batter into a sheet, and then place it between two sheet pans (which will help to conduct heat from a larger surface area).

But again, that's still not going to get the cookies to be exactly like what you had when you baked them fresh.

It might be possible to simply mitigate some of the problems that you're running into simply by adjusting how they're baked. Unfortunately, I haven't been doing much cookie baking in the last few years, so I'm kinda blanking on how I used to adjust recipes when I used to make the dough ahead of time to bake at a friend's house who had two ovens. I think I lowered the baking temperature slightly, and cooked them for longer. I might've even chilled the pans first. (but I was also dealing with shaped cookies, not drop cookies)

I'd recommend looking at other questions about cookie problems on here, depending on the exact symptoms of what's going wrong (not spreading enough / spreading too much / too chewy / too crisp / too puffy / too crumbly), and working from there.

And whatever you come up with, you then have to ask yourself which is worse -- cookies that have been stored for a few days (in an airtight container, either room temperature or in the fridge), or cookies that don't quite bake up quite right from refrigerated dough. If you're looking for that 'fresh baked' quality, you can try microwaving the cookies for a few seconds, or warming them in a low oven (or hot car).

And it's also worth mentioning ... if you really wanted to, you can halve an egg. (which you can then hold in the fridge for a day or two)

Answer 3

Just take them out of the refrigerator and take a bit of the chill off. Maybe while your oven is preheating. You might have to slightly adjust your baking time, but it should work just fine. Baking them from cold should result is a smoother top and a more perfect shape. In fact these folks suggest refrigerating for just that purpose. You could store your extra dough flat, in a zip lock type bag. That would allow them to warm more quickly.

Answer 4

Let the dough warm up a bit before baking. 30 minutes or so? Bake at the recommended time but you have to look at them and decide if you need an extra bake time. I usually need to add 2-3 more minutes when baking from very firm, chilled dough.