Super hard cookie dough

[Junkbot]

I love Alton's Chewie recipe, but one thing I have trouble with is dishing the chilled cookie dough. It is ROCK HARD and nearly impossible to dish without a lot of muscle. I usually end up waiting around a bit for the dough to warm up so that it's a bit more malleable, but was curious if there were any tips/tricks for handling chilled dough?

[Kerry Beal]

I love Alton's Chewie recipe, but one thing I have trouble with is dishing the chilled cookie dough. It is ROCK HARD and nearly impossible to dish without a lot of muscle. I usually end up waiting around a bit for the dough to warm up so that it's a bit more malleable, but was curious if there were any tips/tricks for handling chilled dough?

Why not scoop before you chill?

[Junkbot]

Guess I could. What's the purpose of chilling the dough? Will the dough get too dry if portioned out?

[Lisa Shock]

Chilling allows time for the gluten to relax. It also affects baking in that the cookie will start to develop its final texture on the outside which then helps prevent spread, making a taller overall final product which steams itself a little bit as it cooks making it a little more cakelike. Sometimes little touches like this can really affect a final outcome.

[Lindacakes]

Depending on how huge the batch . . .

Immerse the cookie bowl in some warm water to bring the temperature up faster . . .

[ruthcooks]

As one with arthritis in fingers and hands, I always scoop and chill. There seems to be no deterioration in the quality of the cookie. I scoop all the dough at once, placing the balls closely on a piece of parchment for later storing frozen in a zip bag and baking at my convenience. Or, conversely, spacing them on a cookie sheet ready to bake and chilling only 8-10 minutes per sheet before baking.

[andiesenji]

I dump the dough out onto a sheet of aluminum foil and pat it into a rectangle (I wear gloves)

Then "cut" the dough into squares with a plastic ruler - wrap in the foil and chill.

When ready to bake it is easy to break off the squares and place on baking sheets.

P.S. It chills more rapidly when it is in a slab.

Edited February 21, 2012 by andiesenji (log)

[Fernwood]

I often make the dough into logs before chilling. I like being able to form and wrap closely right away, rather than putting sheets of portioned dough into the fridge and having to package it later (busy home baker). The logs can be cut or even just broken into pieces if you make them narrow. It's easier to smash the lumps down a bit to the desired silhouette than it is to scoop out refrigerated dough.