Baking Q: why do my cookies always flatten out?

[JMS]

Is there some basic tip that will prevent this? I'd love for my cookies to turn out nice and thick, but still moist and chewy, like from the bakery.
TIA!

[kayte]

What type of flour are you using? My sister bought some All Purpose, Self Rising Flour, thinking it said All Purpose but it is not intended to be used in cookies.

Also make sure your oven is the right temperature. Often cookie batter melts (spreading out) before the dough gets hot enough for the reaction of the leavening agent (baking soda/powder) to rise the cookie.

And my secret weapon to great cookies is my silpat mat. It makes the bottoms cook even and helps regulate the temperature.

HTH

[MeAndMyStar]

I think it's the type of flour used. I have an awesome recipe for chewy chocolate chip cookies from Alton Brown that come out perfect every time...he uses bread flour. Not sure about the rules of posting a link, but do a search on foodtv.com and you'll find it.

I use a round pizza stone with parchment paper, just slide the cookies off, paper and all onto a cooling rack and put the next batch on. HTH!

-Sarah

[stillplayswithbarbies]

If you are not using real butter, that could explain it. Margarine or other butter substitutes will cause the cookies to flatten out.

Also, make sure your butter is not too soft when you cream it with the sugar. It needs to be fairly firm. Not right out of the fridge, but not room temperature.

Don't put the dough on a warm cookie sheet for the second etc. batches, let it cool first.

[JMS]

Thanks everyone..
I really think I'll try the butter tip. I was nuking it first to make it easy to mix. It wasn't completely melted, but probably warmer than room temp.

J.

[dules]

The warm cookie sheet will definitely do it. Love our Silpat mats too. :)


Mary

[MommyAllison]

I bet that is the problem - it happens to me when I get the butter too warm too. I wonder though - who really has time to get the butter out and to the perfect temperature *every* time they make cookies? :) Mine are often spur of the moment cravings :P

Allison
Mama to DD 11/05

[writermama]

chilling the dough a little before you bake can help

[firstbaby]

I read this weekend that a combination of butter and Cisco can help the cookies keep a better shape than just butter. I always bring my butter to room temp. before baking and that doesn't make the cookies spread out too much, but the warm cookie sheet will definitely do it!

[writermama]

Alton Brown did a Good Eats episode about why cookies can be thin and crisp, soft and puffy, or chewy. The episode is called "Three Chips for Sister Marsha" -- you can find a schedule of upcoming episodes at foodtv.com and is also on Volume 1 (disk 2) on DVD that you can buy from foodtv or on ebay.

You can also read a complete transcript of the episode at http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com (search for the episode by title or topic).

And you can read much of the same information in an excellent cooking resource, _Cookwise_ by Shirley Corriher (who appears in the episode to explain cookie science) available on Amazon here: http://tinyurl.com/st75v

In a nutshell, your cookies could be flattening because of any of the following factors:
the type of flour (specifically, its protein content)
the type of fat (butter or shortening)
the temperature of the fat
the rising agent (if baking powder is the rising agent, it could have expired and lost its umph)
the amount of egg (an issue because of protein content and just overall liquid)
the amount and type of sugar
the ratio of all of the above ingredients

and, to a lesser extent, weather conditions.

There it is, nice, simple and clear as mud. :)