PrintFlat cookies?! Unacceptable.
Help! Every time I make chocolate chip cookies, they come out completely flat, translucent, and kind of greasy. My oven works fine, there seems to be nothing wrong with the ingredients. I use the Nestle Tollhouse or Martha Stewart recipes, which are both very credible sources. What's going on?
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13 Comments:
If your recipe is okay, then possibly your butter is too soft and warm. Also make sure the cookie sheet you use is cool, and not warm.
Mich23 at 10:42AM on 08/22/07
personally I kinda like thin, crunchy, buttery cookies. also, while I'm not an expert, I think there are different types of choc chip cookies, and the tollhouse ones are supposed to be thin and crunchy as opposed to plump and chewy... i think. (i'm probably wrong.) sorry i'm not being helpful though :(
seyo at 11:11AM on 08/22/07
a coupe of tricks I've learned
1- chill the dough, just like you would for pie dough
2- use half butter and half "butter flavored" crisco
the chilled cookie sheet works too!
ClutzyCook at 11:19AM on 08/22/07
I'm with clutzycook: half butter and half shortening instead of all butter. Makes a big difference.
AuntJone at 12:26PM on 08/22/07
I second the comment about the butter being too warm, which can make your cookies spread. The other possiblility--or additional issue-- is that maybe you're not consistently measuring the flour, so that's affecting whether or not the cookies hold together when they bake. Using a scale is really helpful. There was a post last week about making consistently good cookies, and the consensus there, too, was on keeping your ingredients at the right temperature, using real butter, and using things like Silpat or parchment. Maybe check that post out to see if any of those comments are helpful. Good luck!
PAWriter at 1:35PM on 08/22/07
Try substituting hi-gluten flour for just 1/8-1/4 of your all-purpose flour.
Bob's Red Mill products are available in small packages at many good grocers...all kinds of flours, grains, beans, and mixes.
Cary at 1:41PM on 08/22/07
my grandmother has always used all shortening instead of butter in her tollhouse cookies, which come from the recipe right off the package. they are quite different from those made with butter--almost crunchy.
carriebwc at 1:57PM on 08/22/07
I would also try using a Silpat baking mat, so the cookies don't flatten out.
Recipe4Living at 3:30PM on 08/22/07
You should also make sure your baking soda isn't ancient since it's your leavener (what makes your cookie rise/poof). And don't try substituting a stick of margarine for butter. But I agree with Mich23, I think your butter's too warm - it shouldn't be much softer than modeling clay when you begin creaming it with your sugar.
coquettecutie at 4:21PM on 08/22/07
I agree with almost everything that has been said so far...BUT -- Sometimes it's just the recipe. Every time I have made the recipe off the tollhouse bag they come out thin -- if you want a thicker cookie, you need a recipe that is aiming for that. Here's the one I use from the January 1996 issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine:
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 1 1/2 dozen 3-inch cookies
2 1/8 cups bleached all-purpose flour (about 10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark), 7 ounces
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 - 2 cups chocolate chips or chunks (semi or bittersweet)
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
2. Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chips.
3. Form scant 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves ninety degrees and, with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough’s uneven surface. Place formed dough onto one of two parchment paper-lined 20-by-14-inch lipless cookie sheets, about nine dough balls per sheet. Smaller cookie sheets can be used, but fewer cookies can be baked at one time and baking time may need to be adjusted. (Dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen up to 1 month—shaped or not.)
4. Bake, reversing cookie sheets’ positions halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes (start checking at 13 minutes). (Frozen dough requires an extra 1 to 2 minutes baking time.) Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Serve or store in airtight container.
Good luck with your cookie adventures!
Dominic
the zen kitchen
dvchurch at 4:47PM on 08/22/07
I use parchment on room temp baking sheets. Make sure you bring your butter to room temp and then this is key****do not over beat it**** cream the butter and sugar and when it is incorporated then move on through your recipe. Incorporate your ingredients adding each addtion a little at a time and when you get to the dry when you add that last bit of flour give it a few spins then stop mixing. In between batches put the dough in the refrigerator. You may also chill the dough in the refrigerator while you preheat.
As you make more and more cookies you will get better. Eating the rejects is fun for your friends and family.
JerzeeTomato at 1:35AM on 08/23/07
All the ingredients should be fresh. The suggestion that the dough should be cold is correct. I chill the dough for a couple of hours before making the cookies. I also keep the bowl of dough in the fridge in between cookie batches. The recipe on the Tollhouse cookie bag makes great cookies. However, I double the vanilla and add pecans. Yummy cookies!!!
Lavendergirl at 1:53PM on 08/23/07
Although I commented already, I would like to confirm the importance of cold for the dough. When I worked in a bakery ,they made the choc. chip cookies into individual balls, one for each cookie and froze them. When they needed them, we left them out for 15-30 minutes, smashed them down, and put them in the oven. They always came out delicious and perfect.
Mich23 at 6:01PM on 08/23/07