My Nfscs Are Failing Me :(

Baking By kutabby Updated 21 Sep 2008 , 3:29pm by shanzah67

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kutabby Posted 15 Sep 2008 , 1:18am
post #1 of 8

I've had great success up until my last few batches. I've been trying to make a thicker cookie, about 1/2in. It seems like they thicker they are, the more they spread.
The only thing I can think of that is different is the flour. About a month ago I took a class and she talked about how you should fluff your flour w/ a whisk before you measure each cup. That way it's not at all compacted into the measuring cup. Do you think that's the difference? Am I low on flour?
I know it's not that they are not chilled, b/c I chill the dough in layers between waxed paper and then put them back into the fridge on the baking sheet after cutting them out.
I had some leftover dough tonight and tried to shape some witches' fingers and they just spread terribly!
Any help would be great!

7 replies
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Cyndi1207 Posted 15 Sep 2008 , 3:21am
post #2 of 8

Did you make sure that you sifted all the dry together completely? You really want to make sure that your baking powder is incorporated throughout the batter. Then just chill it for about an hour and bake. I'm not quite sure what temp it says to bake but I bake mine at 400 for about 10-12 mins. depending on the size. HTH.

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mommyle Posted 15 Sep 2008 , 3:39am
post #3 of 8

Are you putting too much butter???
Good luck!

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Honeydukes Posted 15 Sep 2008 , 4:32am
post #4 of 8

I use a spoon and gently "break-up" my flour before I measure. Using a whisk is pre-sifting which is giving you less flour when you measure. If you don't have enough flour, your cookies are gonna spread. Stop whisking and just shake or tap your canister and I think you'll be fine. IMO, she's wrong about the "fluffing."

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Cookies4kids Posted 15 Sep 2008 , 11:36am
post #5 of 8

You might try cutting the shapes and freezing them before baking. I put them into the oven frozen when I run into a problem like you are having and it works great. I would suspect you have too little flour because of the fluffing.

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TracyLH Posted 15 Sep 2008 , 1:39pm
post #6 of 8

I agree that your amount of flour sounds to be the issue. Fluffing will yeild less. One thing I have done that really helps me is that I always weigh my flour. Once I figured out the amount that was best for me, I always measure it out by weight and now have consistent cookies (and it is faster). I also have found that I can't let my butter get too soft and cream it too much or it affects the spreading. I am also playing around with different types of flour, but no real results yet. Chiling the dough before cutting and again after really helps me as well.

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kutabby Posted 15 Sep 2008 , 8:32pm
post #7 of 8

Thanks so much ladies!!! I'm definitely going to stop fluffing the flour! I'm going to try freezing before baking to.
Thanks again!

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shanzah67 Posted 21 Sep 2008 , 3:29pm
post #8 of 8

My problem in the beginning was with my oven temperature. I bought an oven thermometer and my oven is about 7 degrees hotter than it is set for. So I adjusted and my cookies turn out fine...thick or thin.

I usually do as Honeydukes posted, gently fluffy my flour.

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