Why chill cookie dough?

[Shaheen]

I was reading a couple of posts on cookies. Why do some people chill the cookie dough before baking? How does it help? Is it very crucial?

 

[grumblebee]

As far as I know, when people freeze cookie dough it is for storage purposes.

Chilling it in the fridge is different though and many people do this when making rolled cookies to make the dough easier to work with. (room temperature dough falls apart and is often too sticky to roll out)

 

[Shaheen]

I meant chill

 

[texasgirl]

Like grumblebee stated, if you make cookie dough and try to roll it out without chilling in the refrigerator, it's too sticky and gooey to work with. As with drop cookies, it won't matter as you are scooping it up with a spoon and dropping it onto the pan.

 

[PA Baker]

Some drop cookie recipes advise you to chill the dough first, too, to prevent the cookies from spreading too much.