My stupid recipes for chocolate chip cookies are AWFUL (Tollhouse recipe, I think)! They come out like melted puddles. I want to make thick, tall chocolate chip cookies. Help! What am I doing wrong?

I use Tollhouse too but I use GIANT spoonfuls and don't squash them down

Strawberry,
If your chocolate chip cookies look like "melted puddles", maybe your cookie sheets are warm. That will cause the dough to melt and flatten out before it can bake. Don't leave the pans on top of the oven. Maybe you can try to chill the dough before baking, too.

I was just going to post a similar question!

I have a good recipe but I wish it baked up thicker it's too flat for me. I don't know if I should add some bread flour, change the oven temp...

Any ideas?

It's not the cookie sheet, I have 12-15 and rarely use the same one over.

Does it matter to use half butter, half shortening?

http://www.sunset.com/sunset/food/article/0,20633,1590752,00.html

I found you have to try many recipes b/c what works for one doesn't work for another. Some people say they have great success w/ one recipe & it doesn't work for me. I've had this happen tooo often. There's one on allrecipes that has great reviews, but it didn't bake up as much as I would like. Some times you can add a little more flour & it helps hold it's shape better. I'll read the article all4cake listed tomorrow. My pain pills are finally kicking in Hallelujah!

I had a choc. chip cookie recipe which I really liked the taste of but I also wanted a thicker cookie. I now add 1/4 cup more flour to my recipe and they are just the way I like them.

dandelion56602, I hope you feel better soon!

Additional flour ...like 1/4 cup per 12ounce bag sized batch(I never use as many chips as is called for...more like 1/2 - 3/4 of the called for amount) usually does the trick for me. But, as dandelion56602 stated, what works for one, may not work for another...and that's why I was seeking out sources for the dilemma. Here's another...


http://www.baking911.com/cookies/chocolate_chip.htm

Doesn't it state that on the bag? I know I read that somewhere...hmmmm...maybe in a BC cookbook?

I had to look. Actually, in the BC cookbook, it says for crispier cookies, reduce the flour to 2(from 2 1/4). Ooops...I thought I was going by the book. lol

I had the same issue with Nestle, but I remedied it by using 3/4 c self-rising flour and 1-1/2 c AP flour, leaving out the baking soda and salt.

You may want to experiment with your own ratio of self-rising flour to AP flour, but it solved my issue with flatness!

I was lucky enough to be in a discussion about the quest for CCC perfection a while back and I'm happy to pass this info on. Alton Brown did a show called "Three Chips for Sister Marsha" where he of course goes over all of the science behind, puffy, chewy and thin varieties. I swear by his 3 recipes now! Good luck and let me know if you try them. Andrea

A link to the 3 recipes:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/foo.....14,00.html

A link to the transcript of that episode:
http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/GEFP/index.htm

I hate the Nestle tolhouse recipe just for this reason! It is the specific reason I went on a quest to find a better chocolate chip cookie. I ended up pretty much developing my own recipe. We used to make the tollhouse cookies all the time as kids and I don't remember them spreading out as much as they do now.

Thanks all4cake (I had tonsillitis that went to my ear & neck, not completely well, but a lot better). I worked numerous times with one recipe. I think my best results came when I added a little flour & decreased the powder (or soda) or eliminated it completely. I hope you can get it right, I know how frustrating it is!