What's better than a warm, gooey cookie straight out of the oven? I know — a warm, gooey cookie that can be made in under 30 minutes! And yet, many call for the dough to be chilled overnight, which can be a real buzzkill, especially when you want that cookie now. Despite this common annoyance, many chefs argue that chilling the dough isn't a step you can skip. Chilling the dough in the refrigerator for one hour (or up to overnight) ensures your cookies won't turn into a flat, spread-out mess on your baking sheet.
But I have good news: You can speed up this crucial chilling process and still enjoy all the benefits of cold cookie dough. That's right: With one simple technique, you can bake cookies that are chewy, thick, and perfectly round without waiting for hours. Enter the ice bath — a quick hack that gets your dough to the ideal baking consistency in no time using science.
Why the ice bath works For the ice bath method, place your prepared dough into a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag. Ensure the bag is airtight to prevent water from seeping in. Press the cookie dough in the bag into a thin, even layer, roughly half an inch thick.
Prepare an ice water bath in a container large enough to accommodate the flattened dough (a large roasting pan can work if you lack a suitably sized bowl). The increased surface area of the dough in this flattened state allows for quicker chilling when submerged in the ice bath. Leave the dough in the cold water for about 20 minutes until t.
