The Unexpected Household Item You Can Use To Cool Cookies

Baking cookies is a year-round activity. So whether you stick with a batch of classic chocolate chip or opt for creative recipes the whole family can enjoy, there's no better time to bake than the present. Even outside of the festive months, whipping up a dozen — or two — of your favorite cookies is a no-brainer, certain to warm both the kitchen and your belly.

But baking requires some patience. Not only will you likely have to chill your dough, but you'll also have to cool your finished cookies or at least wait for them to cool. While you may be tempted to grab a cookie straight from the oven, Better Homes and Gardens warns cookie lovers to wait or risk getting burned. Cookies should cool for about five minutes, ideally on a cooling rack. Cooling racks allow for air to access cookies from all sides.

Yet while a cooling rack is certainly a plus, it's not necessary. In fact, there's another appliance you can use in a like manner that will cool your cookies from all sides. It's an apparatus you likely already have on hand but may not keep in the kitchen.

If you thought your ironing board was only good for clothes, think again. Ironing boards can endure all kinds of steam, so why not give them a role to play in the kitchen? Instagram user brunchwithbabs posts all kinds of cooking recipes and recommendations, marketing herself as "The internet mom/grandma you didn't know you needed." In a post from December 2022, Babs proves the iron's versatility, outlining its surprisingly useful role in cooling cookies ... don't use your counter space; use your ironing board instead?" Babs asks.

To successfully employ your ironing board in all of your baking adventures, start by removing the board's cover. Without a cover, your ironing board will reveal its grates, which aren't unlike those you'll find on a cooling rack. Before adding your from-the-oven cookies, Babs recommends wiping down the ironing board's surface.

The ironing board works perfectly well for any cookie-cooling occasion. Though, if you'd rather expedite the cookie-cooling process, try reducing the baking time. If you cook your cookies for a shorter period, you can leave them to cool right on the baking sheet. You won't even need a cooling rack — or ironing board.