Does anyone know why my choc chip cookies are coming out flat? I always use the recipe on the Nestle choc chip bag and sometimes they come out nice and think and this time they are thin. And I just made 2 batches. It is very discouraging. I can't think of anything that I am doing wrong. The baking soda was new and all of the other ingredients are fresh.

I believe if you use softened butter you get flat, crisp cookies; if you use cold butter, you get thicker, chewy cookies. I hope I am right...given my screen name!

I have my own recipe that I use and it turns out perfect every time. One thing to be sure is not to use only butter, but half shortening half butter. Make sure your butter is not too warm. I also add just a bit more flour than the recipe calls for. Last thing, I always bake my cookies on a silpat sheet, they cook evenly. Good luck!

ill second that melted things dont hold together like they should, keep it at room temp - or just slightly chilled - also dont mix it for a long time - goodluck next time

I ALWAYS have this problem. Inconsistent chocloate chip cookies.

Friends also tell me to make sure the butter isn't too soft, and also to keep the dough in the fridge between batches, and to pinch up the top of each dough ball, sort of like a hershey's kiss to help cheat it a little bit.

I haven't made choc. chip cookies to try these out yet, hopefully they help you out!

You can also try replacing the white sugar with a box of vanilla pudding. The results are life altering! ( Or at least in my house they were the first time...resulted in the cookies never even making it to the cookie jar!)

Thank you to everyone who replied!! I bet it is my butter. I use Blue Bonnet and let it get to room temp, it was kinda soft. Does make sense that it is just going to get softer as I mix it together and bake it. I'll try it again,,,,tomorrow. Thanks again!!

One last word...

If you can get you hands on this back issue of Fine Cooking magazine, there is an excellent article on flat, crisp cc cookies vs. thick, chewy cc cookies. I highly recommend it.

http://www.taunton.com/store/pages/fc_toc_056.asp

If you can put your hands on it, Alton Brown did a Good Eats episode on this very subject....Three Chips for Sister Martha. He basically took the generic toll house cookie recipe and varied it to get a thin cookie, a chewy one, and a puffy one.

I'm a dork and I love cookies (and Alton Brown - yummy!), so I took notes. Alton said that a batter with extra baking soda means a thinner cookie. My notes are kind of sketchy here, but I think that baking soda is acidic, and the more acid in the cookie, the thinner it will be.

For a chewy cookie, use melted butter and bread flour to get a chewy cookie. The water and the wheat protein make gluten which is chewy. Also, the darker the sugar you use, the chewier the cookie will be.

If you prefer a puffy cookie instead, use butter flavored shortening instead of butter. It melts at a higher temperature, stays solid longer so batter can rise and set before it spreads. Use regular AP flour for this one, because the AP flour soaks up less moisture which means more steam. Steam lifts the batter which provides the "puff"

If you're not already doing it, make sure you use the two bowl method - cream your shortening (or butter) with your sugar, add your eggs and vanilla, and in a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet bowl and mix well.

Alton also says to chill your dough before making the cookies, but at my house once the mixer cranks up for cookies, the game is ON, so we never wait while the dough cools.

Anyway, all three recipes are on the Food Network website (www.foodtv.com). Good luck!

And take heart, a flat cookie is still yummy when you dunk it in milk!

Blue Bonnet is a margarine, which has a higher water content and will not give you the great results a butter will give you. I bake for competition and I ONLY use Land of Lakes unsalted butter for cookies, just room temperature, and depending on the cookie, I chill the dough for at least an hour before I bake. I shape the dough with a medium size ice cream scoop that has the mechanism that flips the dough cleanly out of the scoop. I realize butter is expensive but the results and the taste is well worth it!

I had a friend ask me this once and we went through her steps and found out her baking soda was SO old! Once you open that box, it's not good for baking forever. Something I've done to keep my cookies very consistent is I make my dough, put it in the fridge then pre-heat the oven, when it's ready, so is the dough. I'm sure I could time that, but it's always been perfect for me

Chocolate Chip cookies are my customers all time favorites so I have to bake quite a few dozen everyday. They turn out the same every time. I use less white sugar and more brown sugar. I use only butter and never margarine or crisco. Use a couple more tablespoons of flour and always refriderate the dough. I use the largest Ice Cream scoop there is and after they have been refriderated for a couple of hours I do smoosh them just a bit. Works everytime. Happy baking .

Forgot to add a couple of things. The butter temp doesn't make any difference the way I do them and also I use 1/2 baking soda and 1/2 baking powder for the total amount of baking soda called for. Helps them not get so dark since I have to cook them longer because of the big size.

I always use butter not margarine and refrigerating them works best for cookies not spreading. Good luck!
Jacqui

According to the Betty Crocker cookbook, a flat cookie is the result of one of the following:

1. butter/margarine was too soft or partially melted
2. under-measurement of flour
3. dough placed on a hot or warm baking sheet

most likely its 3 if your first batch looks better than the rest. or, youre melting your butter too much. it should be soft enough to push your finger into slightly, but not look warped or soft/liquidy.

Hope this helps

At our house, my DH and I are on completely different ends of the cookie spectrum...he likes them flat and I like 'em fat. Usually I just vary the amount of flour I use. So when I thick I just add a TBS or more flour than the recipe calls for. For him, I don't use all that the recipe calls for.

Not sure if that helps.

Karmicflower says the same thing Paula deen says. Paula says always use two cookie sheets so that one will always be cold. A hot cookie sheet will make your cookies flat.

Please post more info on the pudding. Where did this tip originate from? You can run your cookie sheet under cold water if they are still warm.

I found this one at allrecipes.com that includes pudding. Has anyone tried this one?
http://cookie.allrecipes.com/az/AwardWinningSoftChocolateC.asp

That is the recipe I use all the time. As a matter of fact, I just made a batch earlier for a friend of mine's sister. It is because of them (and my sugar and peanut butter cup cookies) that my friends refer to me as "The Kookie Wench.

I have found that if you are out of real butter, that as long as the margarine ahows 100 calories per serving it works better then the margarine that shows 80 calories per serving. The difference is in the actual fat content. The water content will also make a difference.

If you are using the Toll House recipe and NOT adding the nuts (they are not optional) you have to add more flour, 2 Tbsp.


I gotta try those pudding cookies!

I don't replace the pudding for sugar...I just add a box of dry pudding at the end of mixing. Instead of vanilla pudding, I used White Chocolate pudding and OMG were they decadent!!!