IM about ready to stop the cookie thing all together when it comes to decorated cookies..i was enjoying it so much and having so much fun...that is until my cookies decided to go haywire on me. im hoping that someone can help me out here. heres the problem...all of the sudden my cookies have decided to spread..they have done this with the last 2 batches that i have made. its very fustrating and i have NO idea what the problem may be. I have done everything exactly the same as i have before...and the 2nd batch that i made i measured VERY carefully thinking that maybe i had used to much sugar the first time they did this. My other cookies that i make come out fine and dont spread like crazy so that rules out my oven. im out of ideas and very flustered at this point. and to top it all off i have an order of cookies due a week from today for a baby shower. so...if any of you have any ideas please toss them my way..imma be making more batches this week to try and figure out what the problem is , but i have no idea where to even start so ill be going off of any info that yall can give me. Thanks yall!
have you possibly left the cookies "waiting to be baked" out on the cookies sheet a long time and they began to melt in the warm kitchen? my cookies used to spread so i began to place my "waiting to be baked" cookies in the freezer (or fridge) until it was their turn to go into the oven. no more spreading.
did you use butter or margarine? I swear when I used margarine, they seemed to spread more-did not hold thier shape very well.
I do agree about with kalico--maybe the cookies to be are getting to warm. My kitchen can be a melting pot when I have the oven and all the lights on--I get very hot and sweaty!
Additional moisture will cause cookies to spread. That moisture could come from:
changing the brand of butter/ margarine/ shortening
allowing moisture to condense on cold ingredients before adding in
difference in the egg size
using a new bag of flour -- Flour can contain different amounts of moisture, and the amount in a measured cup can vary depending on the density - a cup of sifted flour will contain less than a non-sifted cup. That's why experts usually recommend adding flour by weight.
Candy makers are used to considering weather conditions when working with sugar, but we bakers often forget that part of the process. For the last three years I've enjoyed a volunteer vacation where I was able to trade my baking skills for room and board in the Virgin Islands. The first year was a real challenge due to the warm temps, high humidity, and an oven that was tempermental, at best. It was a good lesson in how extra moisture can change old tried and true recipes.
Are you using the NFSC recipe?
I love that recipe, and had used it successfully many times, and for some reason I started having "spreading cookie" problems also.
I almost gave up on it, but then read a post by Antonia74, where she said that she weighs her flour, and uses 150g for each cup in the recipe. The chart I have said that one cup was about 135 g, and adding the extra flour in REALLY made a difference. Not only are my cookies not spreading, but they're actually firm enough after rolling out that I haven't even had to put the last couple of batches in the fridge before baking. They still turn out better than they used to with all the chilling steps.
That little bit of extra flour seems to have made all the difference (thanks Helen if you're reading this! 
)
SO, that's my long-winded way of saying this: Try adding a bit more flour, and see if that helps!
Laura.
Have you checked your oven temperature with an oven thermometer to make sure that's not the problem?
Thanks so much to everyone who has reponded to my post. yes i do use the NFSC..and besides from starting a new bag of flour i have changed nothing...same brand of butter, and everything. It was hot in my house from the oven going but i always put my rolled and cut dough in the freezer while waiting to be baked..im wondering after reading what yall have said if maybe its my flour..although it is that same brand that i have used before it was new bag so i think imma try weighing my flour like Laura said to do. if its not that goodness knows i dont know what ill do.
I just wanted to let yall know im making a batch of nfsc now and i decided to weigh my flour this time instead of just measuring...and i ended up having to use 6 and 1/2 cups of tight flour to get the weight right so i am thinking that maybe in the last couple of batches that i made that i had not used enough flour...as to why all the ones before then had come out alright i have no idea , but i will post and let yall know if it works out for me this time.
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