I posted about this last weekend but I am still having problems. First I made NFSC recipe twice and they both spread out of this world. I then tried Pennys and it spread even more...all three times I did not put in baking powder and I put in the freezer between each step. Today I decided to try my hand at the cream cheese cookie recipe that was recently posted...They are spreading and the dough is so sticky...can I add flour? Will this help with the spreading as well?

Thanks

I have never used any of those recipes. I can't help you with them. I can give you the recipe I always uses and it doesn't spread for me at all. I love it. Are you chilling your dough really well before you use it?

Hmmmm.....I've been using the NFSC recipe for about 4 weeks and it doesn't spread, so I'm at a loss as to what's happening with your.

I mix the dough, chill it in the fridge for about 30 minutes, roll it out between parchment paper 1/4" thick, cut out shapes, chill the shapes in the freezer for about 10 minutes, then bake on a cool cookie sheet (lined with parchment paper).

Maybe someone with more info can help...?

I took this from joy of baking.com

3 1/2 cups (490 grams) all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking powder

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

I like to add in at least one tsp almond flavoring and 2 to 3 tsp of orange or lemon extracts. I like a reallyl well flavored cookie. Make sure you don't over mix it or it will be tough. Chill it in the fridge for at least an hour and then roll it out on a little bit of flour.....I find rolling it on wilton's parchment paper is best, as well as baking it on that. Then when it comes out of the oven lightly roll over the cookies with a clean rolling pin to make it perfectly flat. Good luck!

Thank you for the new recipe!
I am so frustrated all I want to do is decorate and I cant on big fat cookies..everyone says they taste great though

What kind of flour are you using?

what kind of pan are you baking them on?

Edited to ask: Why do you not put in the baking powder? I have never heard of this before.

another thought, are you using margarine or butter? Maybe if you are using margarine it might be too high in water content and causing it to spread? Too much sugar can cause spreading as well. I am sorry you are having such a hard time.

I use the land of lakes recipe for sugar cookies, i add a secret ingredient, lol, if you pm me, i will tell you it, lol, as long as you tell no one in my family, lol, but it is really really good,lol, my sister has been on me for the recipe for years, but since she can't cook i won't tell her, lol,

http://cooksrecipes.com/cookie/sugar_cookie_cut-outs_recipe.html

I'm not sure which cream cheese cookie recipe you are using, but this is the one that I use:

http://www.recipezaar.com/48000

I make sure that I chill it in the fridge for 2 hours after it is made, but I don't have to freeze the dough after cutting it out and they never spread. Just posting in case you were trying a different recipe. HTH!

I always use butter with the NFSC recipe. Never margarine. I make up the recipe and then I roll the dough out in between 2 pieces of parchment and then put it in the refrigerator for an hour. Then I take the dough out and cut with the cookie cutters and put them on my Pampered Chef baking stones. I have never had a problem with the NFSC recipe. They always come out great every time. Maybe it is the Texas humidity that is wrecking havoc on your cookies.

I've used the nfsc and Penny's as well and they always turned out as a matter of fact I find the nfsc to dry so I usually add more liquid I also only use margarine never butter as they are only for family and friends so it cuts down the cost since this is a hoby. Now the usual reason for cookies spreading is too much fat meaning either butter, shortning or margarine. I cant recall any one else ever having this problem with either of those recipes (not to say that they havnt I just havnt heard of it) so I think maybe if you double check the recipe you have on paper with the one in the recipe section to enusre you have it copied corectly (just a thought) HOpe it all works out for you.

Thanks for all your input..I feel like a dumby having all these problems like this...I have one of those stones..I am going to try to bake on it!

Also, try using an unbleached flour, instead of the regular all purpose.

the only time I have a problem with cookies spreading is when I make mistakes converting flour measurements and put in too little flour, My advice is get a scale. If you measuring cups are not accurate (and some are way off) or if you are not measuring flour like the person who created the recipe, your cookies won't be right. The larger the batch the greater the problems too.

hey, just thought of something else. Have you checked your oven temp?

If your temp is off it might not be baking your cookies quickly enough to get them to set so they are spreading more (ok, don't laugh at me, this does make sense in my head!)

It's the Texas heat dear. I live in central Texas and use the NFSC recipe all the time. The adaptations I've had to make are... 1. Use all the flour and then some, make a really stiff dough, but not crumbly. 2. Chill the dough until it's hard. 3. Pull all of it out and work with small batches at a time. (rolling only enough to get about 4 to 6 cookies) 4. Use powdered sugar instead of flour to dust your board and rolling pin. It will replace some of the sweetness that's lost due to the extra flour.

These always come out well for me if I do them this way and there is very minimal spreading, like maybe an eighth inch. I like my frosted cookies not sweet anyway. Sweet cookies, with sweet icing and sweet outlines just tastes bleh.... But a slightly sweet, well flavored cookie with sweet, contrasting icing, and a lovely chocolate outline.... YUM!

The only time I had cookies spread like crazy (had minor problems one other time), it was when I was at over 7500 feet in the mountains of Colorado! Are you at a high altitude?