my chocolate chip cookies always come out flat, why and what can i do.?

Answer 1

Hi, hope the following helps. I can't take credit for it - this article is something I had previously looked up on-line. It makes sense to me, so I saved it to my "favorite places".

Here it is:

-make sure your cookie dough is cold when you put it on the cookie sheet. If you have to chill it in between batches, that's what you should do;

-make sure your cookie sheet is cooled to room temperature between batches. I usually rinse mine under the tap to clean off the crumbs and cool it down;

-mix the dough thoroughly but don't over-mix it;

-don't overbake.


Some people experiment with adding baking powder instead of, or in addition to, the baking soda which is part of the recipe. I haven't tried this yet. Other people swear that if you use butter flavored Crisco instead of real butter, this problem goes away. Again, I am a butter loyalist and so I haven't tried that (although in the interests of science, someday I should).

However, because of all those trans fats I mentioned above, you or I might not want to use Crisco or any other form of shortening in our cookies. How, then, to achieve the desired appearance, texture, and consistency? Here's one trick: instead of using all butter in your cookies, you can use half butter and half liquid vegetable oil (like corn, canola, or safflower oil, or even peanut oil!). This results in a nice chewy cookie with a pleasing appearance and flavor, and a longer shelf life than one baked with butter alone.



A correspondent in Canada urges that real maple syrup (emphasis on the real; no Mrs. Butterworth's, please!) also makes a fine substitute for the brown sugar. (I think I'd also advise against using Heath bars and maple syrup together; maple syrup and cinnamon might be OK.)

Another correspondent says that adding a "dollop" of sour cream improves the texture of the cookies, making them chewier and increasing their shelf life. She swears that the sour cream can't be tasted, and I'm sure that's true; sour cream assimilates well into other foods, and these cookies have enough other strong flavors in them that some sour cream shouldn't be noticeable. The $64K question, of course, is: how much is a dollop? I'd say, take a soupspoon and spoon out a heaping scoop of sour cream, maybe an inch or so above the top of the bowl of the spoon at its highest point: that's a dollop. YDMV (Your Dollop May Vary). Experiment and see what you like.

Whether or not you use Heath bars, cinnamon, maple syrup, or other non-standard ingredients, the nuts are optional. Many people prefer chocolate chip cookies without nuts. Alternatively, you can try adding oatmeal (even if you don't add butterscotch chips) in the same volume as the nuts called for by the recipe (but if you do this, be sure to add more liquid). My friend Susan says that she doesn't bother adding more liquid and her cookies turn out fine, but I prefer always to add that extra tablespoon or two of milk. Also, if you add the Reese's peanut butter morsels as discussed above, they melt and create some additional moistness in the cookies.

The morsels don't have to be Nestle. However, in my experience Nestle morsels do melt in a most satisfactory way during the baking process. Ghirardelli and Guittard morsels are very good. I also like the Hershey mini-morsels for this. The standard-size Hershey Morsels, however, do not melt properly -- at least not in the eight-to-ten-minute baking time of cookies -- and I do not recommend them for use in cookies (although they are terrific in brownies, which bake for a much longer period).

Answer 2

How long do you cream the butter and sugar for? It should be at least 5 minutes, until the butter/sugar gets light and fluffy. The purpose of doing that is for the sugar granules to cut into the butter and form countless tiny holes. Then, when this is mixed with the dry goods (flour and leavening agents), the gas from the leavening agents that comes out during baking fill those holes and you get cakier cookies. Also, put the eggs in one at a time and thoroughly blend them in before adding the next one. You want the egg to be completely blended and incorporated into the dough. It could also be that you're not using enough flour. When you measure flour by volume, you can get varying actual amounts by weight, depending on how tightly you pack the flour into the measuring cup. If you pack it in tight, you will get more flour. Also, try chilling the dough for 1 hour before spooning it out onto the pan, and between batches. The cookies might be going flat partly because the butter is melting before the cookies have time to set during the baking process. And finally, try making higher mounds of dough. The higher the mound, the thicker the cookie will come out. Unless it's something like a ginger snap, which flatten out to a disk even when the dough is placed in perfectly round balls.

Answer 3

Scoop dough with preferred size ice cram scoop with the spring loaded return. Cram the whole batch of cookies on a half size baking sheet and stick in the freezer. When frozen, place cookies on baking sheets and space to allow for some spreading. Cookies will bake nice and round with just enough plump.

Answer 4

The reason for this is in the ingredients. Instead of using butter, which I'm assuming the recipe calls for, use Crisco shortening. This will make the cookies fluffier instead of flat. You could try the butter-flavored Crisco for the buttery flavor.

Answer 5

Use only all-purpose flour and add 1/2 teaspoon more baking powder

Answer 6

Take the cookie do'h and roll it in a ball then bake. Then you will have round ones, aye? Think Im fooling? Try it. They are a hit.

Answer 7

don't add anymore flour it will only stiffen the cookies more.. I think you shoul add baking powder or yaest and leaven it for some time so that it will not come flat... g.l.

Answer 8

Use a little more flour and baking powder, a lttle less shortening.

Answer 9

add baking powder? I don't know, if they always come out that way...
try some different recipes, that might help.

Answer 10

I think U added too much butter, reduce butter!!