Sunday, November 13, 2011

Dear Reader

I enjoy baking and can usually make food taste good, but I am hopeless at making cookies. My cookies are flat almost all the time. Please see image below:
Very flat. But they taste fine because these cookies have real butter and lots of sugar. What should I do to make fluffy cookies? Your help is appreciated.

8 comments:

Michael Family said...

Too much butter, your butter too soft, not enough flour, or substituting the wrong kind of sugar (or the wrong amount) or not enough leavening. Some recipes are just not that awesome. Find one that brings consistently puffy cookies and use it every time. I have good luck with the one on the back of the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip bag. Yum!

Lexi said...

Ok, I am no TRUE expert, but I am a cookie fanatic. So here are my tips: #1 cold/chilled butter--if it is melted or room temperature it makes for flatter cookies. Sometimes putting the dough in the fridge before baking helps. #2 Cream the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy--really fluffy. #3 if your putting in 2 eggs, try one (less wet ingredients). #4 cut the butter portion down a bit. #5 add oatmeal, it really helps keep things together. Hope you find your cookie fix!

Maggie said...

My favorite recipe of all time is on the back of great value (walmart) oatmeal. It is of course for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but i think it is one of the best. I also want to be a butter snob, but I actually have the same problem when I make cookies with butter (really flat)and I swear that shortening will make a prettier and better cookie.

Good luck.

amydear said...

Stop using that recipe immediately. Go to your search engine of choice and type in something like "best chocolate chip recipe". Or go to allrecipes.com and find one that has about 1,000 positive reviews. Try that recipe and see if you have more luck. You could also buy new baking powder and soda if they are old, or add and extra 1/4 c flour. Another baking site I like is joyofbaking.com. Then report back with your yummy success.

Unknown said...

Amy, I am cookie challenged. I don't think it's a bad recipe that I'm using because your breakfast cookies are always puffy and mine are flat and fall apart.

A, M and S said...

I have a great book for you to borrow called "Cookwise." It is a food-science book that explains the ingredients in recipes, what they do, why, etc. Different kinds of fat respond differently to being baked. Your problem is with the butter. I'll lend you the book, it has a great chart with butter vs. shortening vs. margarine and how each of these ingredients will effect the finished product in cookies.

RW

A, M and S said...

Do not melt the butter all the way. Just make it soft.

Joann said...

It's the reciepe from the back of the chocolate chip package isn't it? Mine always did that too. I google "Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Reciepe" on google and am very happy with their fluffyness. They use both butter and margrine and seperate liquid ingredients and dry which I think makes a huge difference AND you chill it for an hour or so. Weird how those little things make cookies turn out better.