Cooling Cakes and Cookies Is About More Than Not Burning Your Tongue

But if you’ve ever taken a bite of blueberry cobbler straight out of the oven and burned your mouth from the lava-like filling, you know it’s worth it to wait.

Temperature isn't the only reason you should let baked goods cool, though. There's a lot more happening to that fresh-from-the-oven pie or loaf of bread as it sits on the counter.

We know, what’s better than a still-warm cookie? But letting it cool will ultimately yield a superior cookie. After a short rest on the baking sheet, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely, at least 5 minutes. Cool your cookies for several reasons:

• Reveals the true shape. Some cookies flatten as they cool, revealing a different shape than their domed appearance. A slight puff in the oven followed by a collapse during cooling results in the chewy center of an oatmeal cookie or the soft bite of a peanut butter cookie.
• Helps them set up. Just-baked cookies will fall apart. Especially if you slightly underbake a cookie to achieve a gooey center, wait at least 5 minutes before handling.
• Keeps fillings and toppings intact. Whether you’re filling Thumbprint Cookies or adding the signature coating to Black and White Cookies, cool them completely or risk jam and icing sinking into the cookies or melting and sliding right off. 

Just because yeasted bread is ready to come out of the oven doesn’t mean it’s ready to eat. A loaf of bread should cool on a wire rack for about 3 hours before slicing. In fact, most bread needs to cool once baked, including quick breads such as cornbread, Cheese Biscuits and Mixed Berry Scones—they need a 5-10 minute rest (don’t worry, they will still be warm by the time you tear into them).

• Improved texture. What happens when you cut a hot loaf of bread? According to Deputy Food Editor Stephanie Pixley, who worked on Everyday Bread, “If you cut into a hot loaf you end up with a more dense texture (depending on the style of bread it can veer towards gummy).” 

• Allows it to finish cooking. Resident food science expert Paul Adams agrees. “Before it's cooled properly, bread is effectively undercooked,” he says. “The internal texture is sticky, the crust is soft, and the flavor is lacking because it's diluted by the excess free moisture inside the loaf.” Allowing the bread to cool before slicing ensures it finishes cooking and sets up. Yeasted pan breads (think Cinnamon Swirl Bread and Fluffy Dinner Rolls) should cool in the pan for 15 minutes to set so that the loaf retains the proper shape and then can be removed and transferred to a wire rack to let the crumb solidify.

• It's easier to slice. Before it is properly cooled, the bread hasn't set and is still pretty soft. “It may be challenging to slice enriched breads like babka and brioche when they’re still warm,” Pixley notes. Once the bread has cooled, you'll get much cleaner slices and will avoid squishing or tearing the loaf. 

Naturally, cakes follow the same guidelines. Once out of the oven, they still need time to set up. Where and how long a cake cools depends on the type. The cooling process for cakes can take as little as 10 minutes or up to two hours, depending on your kitchen conditions, so be patient. 

• Avoid sticking to the pan. There’s nothing worse than a stuck cake. When a cake is still hot it’s softer and harder to handle. Letting it cool in the pan ensures that it firms up and releases from the pan easier. For example, a cheesecake contracts as it cools, allowing for easier release from a springform pan. And the delicate sponge of an Angel Food Cake needs to cool completely in the pan before being turned out or it will collapse.
• Achieve superior frosting. Similar to cookies, you should always cool cakes and cupcakes completely before frosting. That buttercream you worked so hard to whip up and stabilize will slide right off the side of a layer cake or worse, melt right into that Yellow Sheet Cake, revealing patches of pale cake underneath the layer of frosting. 
• Structurally sound layering. A cake layer that is even slightly warm is too delicate to handle or manipulate without the risk of cracks or breaks, making stacking those colorful layers of an Italian Flag Cake a precarious endeavor. 

Most pies, especially fruit pies, require around 4 hours of cooling time. It may seem excessive, but we sacrificed an apple pie to prove it. Setting the pie on a wire rack allows air to circulate around the entire pie.

Why wait? Commonly used thickeners such as pectin and cornstarch activate in the oven, but the pie filling gels further as it cools. You won’t get a clean slice if you cut into that Rhubarb Custard Pie while it’s warm. You deserve to see those layers!