is it o.k. to chill cream of tartar?

Question

I made snickerdoodle cookies and chilled the dough so it is easier to work with and the cookies turned out flat and hard

Answer 1

Cream of tartar might be your problem but it might be another more common reason, some chefs firmly believe that it should be refrigerated to remain fresh (I personally don't agree with this b/c I feel that it will take on the odor of your fridge). One of two things most likely happened: After removing the dough from the fridge you let it sit out too long. (Refrigerated dough that is then left out to reach room temp results in flat cookies, a tell tale sign is that there will also be little pin prick holes on the top of the cookes). Another problem might be that you might have added too much fat (butter, crisco, etc....whatever you used). This causes cookies to deflate and turn out thin and extra crispy.

Did you possibly double or half a recipe to make this set of dough? Fat amounts usually do not fit exactly to expanded and halved recipes (often you need less fat than a doubled recipe would lead you to believe).

Addressing the Cream of Tartar: I don't recommend refrigerating dough if it doesn't call for it. Decreased temps in some doughs will not allow the active ingredient (baking powder, yeast, tartar, etc) to work as well...warmer temps usually result in more activity. However, when usuing BP or tartar, this is not often the case.

Hope that helps. :o)