One Dessert That You Can't Make In Your Instant Pot

With the touch of just a button or two, the Instant Pot has revolutionized home cooking, making it simple to sear, slow-cook, pressure-cook, or even can and sous vide, depending on the model. Rice, stews and soups, beans, and mashed potatoes might seem like the obvious recipe ideas for an Instant Pot, but this magical kitchen appliance is more than just a machine made for whipping up quick and easy weeknight dinners. You can satisfy your sweet tooth with a multitude of delectable desserts, as this multi-faceted appliance works great for crafting moist and fudgy treats, like cheesecakes, ​​crème brûlées, creamy puddings, and even decadent pies and layered cakes.

Sweet desserts that naturally have a dense, luscious, and creamy texture work best in an Instant Pot's steam room-like environment, according to The Washington Post. Recipe developer Miriam Hahn of YouCare-SelfCare told Mashed, "it is crazy to think what you can do in an Instant Pot!" The stress-free nature of the Instant Pot, "frees you up to leave the house while it is cooking." But while there are plenty of ways you can experiment with recipes using this piece of kitchen equipment, there is one particular dessert that should never be made in an Instant Pot: cookies.

When baking cookies, it might be time to put away the Instant Pot, pull out a baking tray, and turn on the old-fashioned oven. The Instant Pot may remove the pressure and steps of having to bake with an oven, but this is a necessary evil when preparing a batch of cookies. An Instant Pot consists of a sealed chamber that traps steam from a certain amount of liquid, whether it's water, broth, or milk if you're making a dessert, and as steam builds, the pressure increases and brings these liquids to a boil (via Corrie Cooks). This is why the Instant Pot works its greatest magic with creamy desserts (per The Washington Post).

An oven is the best way to achieve a perfectly textured cookie, with a soft, gooey center and a crisp exterior. Cookies need space to spread, and laying them out on a cookie sheet is the only way to bake them, AllRecipes reports. When cookies bake on a sheet, the air in the oven can circulate with greater ease around the cookies, which results in a more even and quicker bake (per Epicurious). Also, you just can't fit as many cookies on the bottom surface of an Instant Pot as you can in the oven, preventing them from attaining those pillowy insides and chewy edges. So next time, if you're thinking of trying Instant Pot cookies, save yourself some strife and stick to the old-fashioned way.