Using half butter and half shortening will help them keep a nice shape also. Using all butter will make them spread out a bit more.
Be sure to CHILL YOUR DOUGH before you bake. That will help keep your cookies from spreading out and you'll have a nice thick cookie with great shape. I chill no less than an hour and I have compliments on my chocolate chip cookies every single time.
I have chilled my doughs and i've tried all shortening as well as half shortening but i still don't seem to get the 'meatiness' i'm looking for. The puffy cookie recipes just puff up great in the oven until those last few minutes and then flatten. If i try and take them out while they're puffed, they just end up flattening from not being baked enough.
I'm going to try tiffany's recipe soon. I don't have shortening in the house....don't really like to use shortening much. I normally use margaring in my cookies because one of my children has problems when eating dairy.
I use the Ghiradelli bag recipe for all my cookies with additions. I add 1/4 cup of flour and always make it the day before and chill it overnight. I exchange the additions (nuts, fruits, different chips) and extracts for what I need. I searched high and low for that cookie recipe that doesn't spread out and leaves a nice chunky cookie and this is what I came to.
Luv, the Ghiradelli recipe is similar to the Toll house one. I have used it before but I add extra chips so the result, for me, wasn't much difference than Nestlé's. If they are too expensive for you, wait until they go on sale and purchase them--to me, they are worth it. I may use another recipe in the long run but their chips are much better and you can taste the difference.
http://www.ghirardelli.com/bake/recipe.aspx?id=1045
I have chilled my doughs and i've tried all shortening as well as half shortening but i still don't seem to get the 'meatiness' i'm looking for. The puffy cookie recipes just puff up great in the oven until those last few minutes and then flatten. If i try and take them out while they're puffed, they just end up flattening from not being baked enough.
I'm going to try tiffany's recipe soon. I don't have shortening in the house....don't really like to use shortening much. I normally use margaring in my cookies because one of my children has problems when eating dairy.
You might try adding one additional egg YOLK for every whole egg in your recipe. Also, bake at 325 instead of 350 and add just a little longer baking time. And make sure you're using enough chocolate chips. I use no less than three cups for one batch of cookies.
Luv2bake6- You're welcome! I store in an air tight container and they stay chewy. You can also freeze them if you want to save some. Just wrap in saran wrap and put in a freezer bag. They keep well and taste just as good as when they were first baked. I have used this recipe for 9 yrs without any problems.
I do bake at 325 because I have a small wall unit oven and 325 for me is like 350. Good luck, I hope you like them. Let me know how it goes!
new, i thought baking at a lower temp gives the cookies more time to spread as opposed to a higher temp to set the cookie faster hence less spreading. Is that true?
tiffany, thanks again. I've just got to get my butt over to the grocery store and get some shortening. I'm feeling slightly under the weather so it'll be a bit of time before i can try out the recipe but it's already printed out and sitting by my KA waiting.
new, i thought baking at a lower temp gives the cookies more time to spread as opposed to a higher temp to set the cookie faster hence less spreading. Is that true?
The issue of a spreading cookie has more to do with the ingredients than the baking time. White sugar and butter will give you more of a crisp, spread out, flat cookies vs. using brown sugar and shortening. You have to make sure you have enough binding to keep the dough together as well so adding a little more egg will help. Now, with that said, you can use a combination of white AND brown sugar, and butter AND shortening in a cc cookie recipe and you get a wonderful cookie.
When I make cc cookies, I make BIG ones - thick, chewy - and baking them for a longer time at a lower temp gives me the texture I want - a slightly crisp outside with a chewy inside.
new, i thought baking at a lower temp gives the cookies more time to spread as opposed to a higher temp to set the cookie faster hence less spreading. Is that true?
The issue of a spreading cookie has more to do with the ingredients than the baking time. White sugar and butter will give you more of a crisp, spread out, flat cookies vs. using brown sugar and shortening. You have to make sure you have enough binding to keep the dough together as well so adding a little more egg will help. Now, with that said, you can use a combination of white AND brown sugar, and butter AND shortening in a cc cookie recipe and you get a wonderful cookie.
When I make cc cookies, I make BIG ones - thick, chewy - and baking them for a longer time at a lower temp gives me the texture I want - a slightly crisp outside with a chewy inside.
Newmansmom, can you share which cookie recipe you specifically use?
I use "Mary's #1 So Admit It Chocolate Chip Cookies" from this site. They are awesome. They remind me of my local Subway's chocolate chip cookies. Here is the recipe that is posted.
Marys #1 So Admit it Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
2 cups Butter Flavored Crisco
1 cup grandulate sugar
2 cups packed brown sugar
4 Eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
2 12-oz bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Cream Crisco with sugars. Add eggs on at a time, then vanilla. Mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, mix flour, soda and salt. . Add flour mixture gradually to the wet ingredients. Stir in chips by hand.
Measure dough using standard ice cream scoop, place on ungreased cookie sheet leaving several inches in between. Can usually fit six per large sheet. Flatten each ball of dough slightly. Bake 12 minutes at 375. Let stand on sheet for several minutes before removing to cooling rack. Makes 2.5 dozen cookies that are 4.5 – 5 inches in diameter.
new, i thought baking at a lower temp gives the cookies more time to spread as opposed to a higher temp to set the cookie faster hence less spreading. Is that true?
The issue of a spreading cookie has more to do with the ingredients than the baking time. White sugar and butter will give you more of a crisp, spread out, flat cookies vs. using brown sugar and shortening. You have to make sure you have enough binding to keep the dough together as well so adding a little more egg will help. Now, with that said, you can use a combination of white AND brown sugar, and butter AND shortening in a cc cookie recipe and you get a wonderful cookie.
When I make cc cookies, I make BIG ones - thick, chewy - and baking them for a longer time at a lower temp gives me the texture I want - a slightly crisp outside with a chewy inside.
Newmansmom, can you share which cookie recipe you specifically use?
I'd be happy to but it's now proprietary as I've contracted with a local company to sell them only for their customers so I can't share it anymore. It's a recipe I found online a couple years ago and tweaked it until it was exactly how I wanted it so the recipe isn't even the one you'd find online anymore. 
would you mind sharing that recipe, cakemaker? I don't normally buy ghiradelli as it is too expensive.
Funny, I don't know if I've ever bought the chips either. I found the recipe online. I don't know how it compares to the Nestle recipe, but it works for me, so its all I make. 
My ccc always flatten until I used the recipe from the butter-crisco can. They came out really good, and
the recipe is similar to Mary's#1. Try that recipe I think you will like it. I was so excited about the way they looked and tasted. I was waiting for them to flatten, but they never did. This is a keeper for me.
Most of all, they didn't spread at all, have the same sweetness of the Toll House, were thicker and loaded with chips, no shortening! The best cc cookies I have ever had were in New York at Levain Bakery. This is a re-creation I found online. Big chewy and definitely not flat!
Copycat Levain Bakery Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 1/4 cups flour (use a tad more if dough seems too sticky)
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups good quality semisweet chocolate chips (I used half semisweet and half milk chocolate) (can use up to 2 cups, you be the judge)
1 cup walnut
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix flour, salt, and baking powder and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
Beat the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in eggs, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. The dough will be stiff and thick. Finish mixing by hand if needed until just combined. Gently fold in chips and nuts if using.
Use a 1/4 measuring cup to scoop out dough balls. Place dough onto one of two parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. You can make smaller dough balls but be sure to adjust baking times as needed to prevent browning.
Bake 15-25 minutes (depending on the size of your cookies and your oven) or until cookies are pale brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy. I baked my cookies for 17 minutes exactly.
Cool cookies on cookie sheets for 10 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack until cooled completly. Serve or store in airtight container.
Mary's ccc recipe has butter flavored crisco that i cannot use, but as soon as i get shortening, i'll try tiffany's recipe and mary's to see how they do.
newmansmom, thank you so much for your advice.
tiffany, thank you, i hate being sick too especially when i don't have time to rest!
I had a thick chocolate chip cookie with macadamia nuts and coconut. this cookie was soooo good. Question-If nuts and sweetened coconut is added to a chocolate chip recipe will I need to make adjustments to the recipe?
Oh yum - that sounds wonderful. I wouldn't be too concerned with adjusting the recipe. I think adding in chunky nuts and coconut will contribute to a nice thick cookie.
newmansmom, thank you so much for your advice.
You're welcome - good luck and let us know how your next batch turns out!
Yes, the nuts are optional in the Levain Bakery knock offs. These were a huge hit with all of my friends - could also have been the fact that they were giant size!
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