Why do my choc. chip cookies always spread? - Page 2

[Smokering]

Yep, chill the dough.

That said, my best chocolate chip cookie recipe is for a refrigerator cookie-type dough. I've always found the Tollhouse ones a bit meh by comparison.

[lizziebits]

I'm not sure if this would work for WW flour, but my key to awesome chocolate chip cookies is to up the flour content a little (I think the recipe calls for 2 1/4 cups, I use 2 1/2 cups) and chill the dough. This comes from my great grandmother who was possibly the world's best baker.

My chocolate chip cookies always always get rave reviews. Not to brag or anything .

[lucifugous]

Alton Brown's Good Eats did an episode about cookies recently. He explained every nuance of making thin crispy v. cakey fluffy v. chewy cookies- from butter v shortening, to controlling the temperature of the ingredients at crucial times, etc. Awesome show and that particular episode was entitled Three Chips for Sister something.... If I see it again I will take note for you!!

[lunabelly]

I had the flat cookie problem for a while because I was adding the eggs in too soon with the butter and sugar, and I wasn't adding them one at a time. Now I make sure the butter and suger are thoroughly creamed and add the eggs one at a time.

I have also added a bit more flour at times. If you add more baking soda they could come out tasting bitter.

[sunnysandiegan]

My chocolate chip cookies always come out chewy, which is how we like them, but I am not sure what I do differently. I *loosely* follow the Tollhouse recipe.

I don't chill the dough and we live in a warm climate with no A/C.

I use real butter and sometimes wait for it to thaw (from freezer) or otherwise get to room temp (from fridge), but I use my KitchenAid standmixer and it can cream the sugar and butter regardless of temp. When I used to do them by hand, I always let the butter get to room temp. Haven't seen a difference.

I've never greased the pan nor cooled it between batches. Now that we have a silicone mat, I use that. Previously, though, I just plopped the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet. I have one jelly roll pan I use and then two airbake-type sheets.

The only thing I can think of is perhaps it is because I tend to use less sugar than the recipe calls for...??? IIRC, it calls for 3/4 cup white sugar and 3/4 cup packed brown sugar. I use raw cane sugar in place of the white sugar and underestimate it. I use brown sugar and pack it loosely versus firmly. When all is said and done, instead of the 1.5 cups of sugar, I probably use between 1 and 1.25 cups.

Oh, and I grind my own whole wheat flour from wheat berries, usually fresh right before making the cookies. Wheat berries are stored in the freezer, but quickly get warm from the grinding process (Vitamix).

I tend to use a slightly lower temp and bake them for a slightly shorter time. I rotate three pans, so the dough sits on the pans for a baking cycle: one pan is in the oven; one pan has freshly baked cookies on it on top of the stove (still warm, which is why I remove them a minute or two early); and I am adding raw dough to the third. When I finish putting the raw dough on, I take the freshly baked cookies off the pan and put them onto wire racks to cool. If I leave them on the pan too long, then they will spread a bit....

[APToddlerMama]

I have noticed that this happens when I use a certain cookie sheet, and not with others. In particular, the "air-bake" types of sheets that are supposed to help prevent burning have been a problem for causing "spreading cookies."

[camelfam]

[QUOTE=cristeen;14618552]Chill your cookie dough thoroughly before baking. They'll spread less.
QUOTE]

This is what I do to keep mine from spreading. Always nice & chewy.

[noobmom]

It wouldn't hurt to check your oven temp too. A low temp might cause the cookies to spread more before they set up.

I had great success using the Toll House recipe just the other day using flour from my co-op. It's regular flour + germ. I like to think of it as half-wheat since it has the germ but not the bran.

[425lisamarie]

Oh i forgot one big thing. Baking POWDER will make your cookies puff up, baking soda will make them puff faster, brown faster thus spreading out.

WW flour shouldn't be a problem, I use it all the time. I use 1.5 tsp of baking powder, 2 eggs, half organic shortening/half butter.

subbing a little (maybe 1/4 -1/2 cup) powdered oats/oat flour helps keep a nice chew and adds fiber

[Arianwen1174]

Holy cow, thanks for all the replies! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate them soooo much!

[kel32brown]

Originally Posted by goldfinches

Is it a no-no to use crisco? that will cure your problem. if you want, you could do 1/2 crisco and 1/2 butter. (I don't know much about this forum, if crisco is frowned upon?)

Nah, there's no Crisco police here. But we don't eat hydrogenated shortening at my house, so it's butter, or liquid oil, or naturally hydrogenated lard from a farmer's pig.

I did find that the cookies my neighbor makes are softer/chewier and better looking than mine can be, and she said it's the butter flavored Crisco she uses. They're nice! But we're trying to eat a certain way - no hfcs, no hydrogenated fats, more whole grains, more veggies and fruit in their recognizable state.

Hey - you don't have to give up chocolate chip cookies to have a healthier lifestyle!

[Hatteras Gal]

Alton Brown has a chewy recipe. I've never used it; we use his thin recipe b/c we like out cc cookies to be flat and crispy. His thin recipe is perfect and so is just about everything else he does so I'd guess his chewy recipe would be perfect too.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/a...ipe/index.html

[rayo de sol]

I LOVE flattened, crisp, crunchy, browned, thin chocolate chip cookies!

We should do a poll to see how many like their cc cookies soft versus crunchy!

[FaithfulOne]

I have found that if I soften my butter too much it makes the cookies spread more. Also, make sure you really whip the butter/sugars well (until they are smooth) Once you add the eggs, whip it really well again (until its a new light and fluffy color)

~Kelsey

[Theoretica]

I want to second the recommendation of chilling the dough first! I make CC cookies several times a week and it's SO easy!

Melt 1 stick of butter
Whisk in 1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar and 1 egg
Whisk till well combined
Sprinkle 1 tsp salt into mixture
Now add a 'splash' of vanilla (2 tsp? 1? doesn't matter?)
a TINY pinch of cinnamon (maybe 1/8th tsp?)-it shouldn't be noticeable, but it adds a happy boost
Add 1 and 1/2 tsp Baking Soda to mix
Add 1/8th tsp Baking Powder to mix

Stir all above together well to combine.

Add in 2 cups 'fluffed' or sifted flour and mix well.

Add 1 cup choco chips and 1 cup chopped walnuts (all together now...yummmmmm!)

Mix well.

Add 1/2 cup sifted/fluffed flour. Mix well again.

Refrigerate for about an hour, until dough is well chilled.

If you want to REALLY make life easier on yourself, make this a double batch and plop the whole thing onto wax paper. Then shmooze it into a log and wrap it up. When it's chilled you have your own personal easy bake cookie log! Just slice and bake!

Oh and I bake at 360 for 8-12 minutes, depending on how many cookies I'm doing.

[*Jessica*]

Originally Posted by Theoretica

If you want to REALLY make life easier on yourself, make this a double batch and plop the whole thing onto wax paper. Then shmooze it into a log and wrap it up. When it's chilled you have your own personal easy bake cookie log! Just slice and bake!

I really wish I had read this earlier today, before I spent 30 minutes rolling the leftover dough from our cc cookies into balls to toss into the freezer!

[bandgeek]

Mine spread out, but on purpose, and I manage to keep them nice and chewy.

Here's what I do:

Make them a little bigger than normal. Under-bake them just a bit. Not so much that they are doughy, but if you bake them the full time, that makes them crispier. You'll have to experiment with your oven. When you pull them out of the oven, tap the cookie sheet on the counter with just enough force that you don't toss your cookies. This makes them flatten out and I think it must make the air go out of them or something. This is the KEY to how I keep my cookies soft. Don't put them on paper towels or anything like that, it'll just soak up the extra moisture. They'll stay good and chewy for 2-3 days. If you want them to keep longer than that, stick a piece of wax paper or foil on top of the cookies, place a piece of bread on top of the paper, then put the lid on the container. The cookies will absorb the moisture from the bread and stay softer longer, but if you place the bread directly on the cookies, it'll make the ones it touches soggy.

I just use the tollhouse recipe with all real ingredients (real butter, real sugar, ect).

If you use splenda for the sugar, they puff up and stay soft for a decent amount of time too, but I just don't like the stuff. If I'm going to eat cookies, I'm going all the way.

I also noticed when I made cookies on a thicker pizza pan, they wouldn't flatten even if I slammed the pan on the counter and they stayed soft a while.

[kel32brown]

I hold you all personally responsible for the logs of chocolate chip cookie dough temporarily residing in my freezer.

Yeah, all in the name of research.

[SophieAnn]

Originally Posted by chelko

Alton Brown on Good Eats did an episode where he made 3 different textured cookies, flat & crispy, cakey, and chewy. He talked about fats - butter (melted vs softened) or shortening, amounts of sugar (white/brown), eggs, and leavening, and how it all affected consistency from a chemical perspective. Maybe this will help.

I learned sooo much from this Good Eats episode!

Basically, butter creates flat cookies because it has a lower melting point - so the fat melts sooner and spreads the cookie.

Shortening makes a thicker/fluffier cookie because it has a higher melting point.

Try half butter & half shortening.

[smpayne]

What PP said - great episode of Good Eats

Adding more flour will make a chewier cookie. Weather/humidity level will also make a difference in how much flour really needs to be added. Baking powder and baking soda have a shelf life and may not be as effective if they have been sitting around a while.