Baked a batch of cookies today but they did not keep their shape. In fact, they spread quite a bit and I had to use cutter to cut the shape in the cooked cookie.
Does anyone know why or why this has happened?

I'm not a cookie expert, but when I made them they where fine, i got many tips here, I think one of the most important is to put your cut cookies back in the freezer before you bake them, that halps a lot!!

I agree with ShabbyChic. Have you seen the instructions Antonia has posted in the articles tab at the top of your screen. Scroll down to the topic she posted, "How to bake and decorate sugar cookies". I follow her instructions exactly and they come out perfectly every time. If after following her instructions you still find the cookies spreading you may need to add a tablespoon or two more of flour as your dough is too soft. Hope this helps

Thanks for the tips. How thinck should you roll out the cookie dough. I wonder if it was because I rolled it out too thick beacuse my cookies were quite thick.

I think Antonia roles her cookies out quite thick...so that shouldn't have hurt them...I would try re chilling them before you bake them.

I roll mine between 1/4" to 1/3" in thickness, depending on how large the cookie cutter is.

I find a lot of times that if the No Fail recipe isn't working, people are either substituting margarine/shortening for the butter....or not accurately measuring their ingredients out. To be really accurate, you should weigh your ingredients, for example....I weigh a cup of all purpose flour as 150g instead of scooping out a cup.

This happened to me with my pirate ship cookies. They spread very bad, and I had to recut them. I made hearts the week before, and they turned out great!

I've now made Antonia's cookies 5 times now. Never had a problem. I didn't put mine in the freezer either. Also note: I rarely ever use butter and mine still turn out fantastic! The last ones I took a photo of were the large wedding cake cutter and I cut the dough 1/4 - 1/3 thick. Can't figure why you had a problem. Love this recipe!

The first time I made NFSC mine FAILED, also. I figured out the problem. I didn't let them chill long enough adn I didn't re-chill after that. I will be making some tomorrow. I will let you know if they failed or not. ~Melissa~

vickymacd
- what did you use as a subsitute for butter and what quantity. Will have to give that a try.

most times if the cookies spread too much the butter was to soft - either when you made the recipe or when you cut the cookies (thus tne reason for chilling to dough)

If your cookies sheets are hot/warm they will also cause your cookies to spread

barbk: I used just plain old margarine!

Did you use the air bake pans? I learned that air bake pans and butter cookies don't play well together--the cookies will spread. Margarine is softer and could cause them to spread unless really cold before baking.

I refrig. my cookies when I'm done making the dough. I never freeze them as I've found these cookies to turn quite hard dough on their own. But as I'm rolling one batch, I keep the dough in the frig.
I used margarine and had no problem. I laughed when Helen (Antonia) jumped in to say to write to her! I had a question on a recipe of hers and she was the first one I wrote to, not the board. She is so wonderful and responded right away!
Try the cookie dough again. I live in Michigan where the weather is changing everytime you blink an eye and have never had a problem with the cookies.

margarine/shortening should actually make the cookies spread LESS than butter, because it has a higher melting point than butter. But, keeping the cookie dough cold is still the best way to go.

As far as how thick to roll them....I use bamboo skewers as guides for my rolling pin...I put a bamboo skewer on either side of my dough and then roll out....once the rolling pin sits on top of the bamboo skewers and I can't roll the dough anymore, i'm done. This allows for even cookies as well and no burning edges. I'm not sure how thick my cookies are, but they seem to turn out perfectly. I do freeze my dough a little before baking.

I have made the NFSC recipe several times and the only time I had a problem was when I accidentally used a sheet pan that had just come out of the oven. I ended up with little pancakes, but that was purely 'user error'! I think this is is simply the best SC recipe ever!!

I just made the nfsc for the first time this weekend and I had a few problems with mine at first too. I added the amount of flour the recipe called for but they were still way too sticky. I rolled portions out between sheets of wax paper to help them chill faster like the recipe said and waited almost 45 minutes but they were still a sticky mess and wouldn't' come off the paper.. Once I added more flour (a lot more, actually) they were fine, but I don't know why they didn't work to begin with..

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions/hints. Will have to give some a try when I make my next batch, hopefully this weekend.
Birdgirl - I do not know what air bake pans are. I just use the normal cookie sheets for baking.
By the way, I think I know why my cookies spread. DUMB OLD ME used self-raising instead of plain flour (alll purpose flour in America). I think that is why it spread so much. Stupid mistake that will not happen again.

I hope that was the problem (not really stupid....I put vinegar to thin buttercream instead of corn syrup one time - I had a cold and couldn't smell it until it was too late....had to throw the whole batch away!)

Air bake pans are a brand of cookie sheets we have here in the USA that have little holes in them (it is supposed to circulate the heat better I think). I use plain old baking sheets and they work fine.

Try again and show us some beautiful cookies!