Cookie help please!

[Shellie]

I couldn't find a cooking section anywhere and cookies didn't seem appropriate for healthful eating!

For some reason, I cannot make a batch of chocolate chip cookies lately! They turn out as thin as pancakes and a terrible texture!

I am a seasoned baker and I've never had this issue. I've tried all the typical things and my latest batch is as bad as ever (if not worse). Here are the things I've addressed:

1) butter vs. margarine....I *am* using butter but this recipe has worked fine for me with butter for years

2) flour measuring...after careful measuring kept failing me, I converted the flour requirements to weight and still have a problem

3) more flour....I added another 1/4c to the second half of the dough and still have the problem

4) temp....the butter is cold when I'm starting, out of the fridge but the house was 68 degrees, so I know it's not overly soft butter

5) overbeating....I used to be in the habit of really creaming the heck out of the butter/sugar but when the cookies first got flat, I read that over-creaming can cause that...since I've tried it both ways with no change

6) I'm using a cold sheet in a preheated oven (and parchment)

7) I don't have an oven thermometer but the oven is less than a year old and this recipe was turning out fine till a few months ago *and* the oven temp seems fine for everything else, including cake and brownies

8) I used brand new baking soda today

I can't think of anything else but I am so frustrated. The cookies have the taste/texture of thinly sliced Pillsbury sugar cookies...they are NOTHING like this recipe should be...and this is the recipe my mom used when I was a baby and it'd always worked for both of us!

Any ideas?

[annettemarie]

Moving to Nutrition and Good Eating.

[Ola_]

Have you tried refrigerating the dough before you bake?

Another thought - does the recipe call for all baking soda, or is there baking powder as well? You could try to substitute a small amount of the powder for the soda. But I'd try cooling the dough first, esp. since it's a tried recipe.

[aikigypsy]

If this is a well-tested recipe, then there are two possiblities I would check out. First, oven temperature: Is your thermostat working? Do you have an over thermometer? (... oops! Just read OP more carefully. It sounds like you've got that covered.)

Second, it sounds like it could be a problem with your flour. I've been baking for years and I've only just started to really learn about flour. It doesn't keep forever. It goes rancid after a while, and should ideally be kept in the refrigerator.

Other than that, I have no idea. Good luck!

[BeckyBird]

I love to make Nestle Tollhouse cookies. One thing I do is use soft room temp butter. I don't overly cream the mixture either. In fact, I mix the whole batch by hand. Also, I love soft chewy cookies, so I'll take them out right at 7-8 minutes. We can eat a whole batch in one night!
Now I want some cookies!!!

[serenbat]

you mentioned nothing about what leveling you are using??- could it be old?- even old baking soda will effect the rise, as well as baking powder

[Shellie]

Thanks ladies! I did replace my baking soda and still have the problem. Also, refrigerating the dough seems like it's helping but they still fall and end up almost lacy and thin after coming out. The only fix I've found that somewhat works is to add like an entire cup of flour (and it only calls for 2.25 to begin with!) but then the taste/texture is off.

The only thing I can really think of is that I recently purcashed a new 25 pound bag of flour at Costco. It's a different brand than the flour from Sam's Club I was using but I *think* this was happening before I bought the new flour. Although I didn't have the problem with any cookies at Christmastime and that was using the old bag of flour. In fact, I made a double batch of these sometime in January and they were great and NORMAL so maybe it IS my new flour???

Also, I will buy an oven thermo. just to make sure...but like I said, everything else is turning out as expected.

I don't know! It almost seems like the recipe wouldn't work well....1 cup butter, .75 cup brown sugar, .75 cup white sugar, butter, 1 egg, 2.25 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking soda and .5 tsp. salt....seems like a LOT of butter for 2 cups of flour BUT like I said, this is the Betty Crocker recipe my mom used when I was little and I've been using it off and on my entire life too.

I need a head-scratching emoticon!

[icxcnika]

Could you try buying just a small bag of a different kind of flour and test out the recipe with it, to see if it is the new flour?

[tinybutterfly]

Here ya go. ( It's : then scratch )

Hope you find out what the problem is.

[staceychev]

That's pretty much the Nestle Toll House recipe except for two things: the Toll House recipe calls for vanilla and two eggs. I'm wondering if your egg size is off.

[junipermuse]

This may be a stupid question, but did you recently move? We had the same thing happen to the cookies the last time we made them (they were all lacy and thin) but we were at a vacation house in the mountains and we figured it was a difference in altitude. The recipe we used at the time was the one on the Nestle chocolate chips so it was a standard recipe. So I was wondering if you're living somewhere with different altitude then before.

Another thing is the butter. I have a America's Test Kitchen recipe that makes very doughy cookies and it actually calls for the butter to be melted into liquid before adding it with the other ingredients, so I was thinking maybe using really cold butter is making the problem worse not better. Just a thought.

[JessicaS]

I freeze my little dough balls before cooking them to slow the spreading down.

[ChocolateNummies]

Could the new flour be self-rising flour? You'd then end up with twice as much leavening agent in your recipe which could cause the cookies to overrise then fall.

[Shellie]

Thanks mamas! I did check and it's AP flour. I haven't moved recently and my oven temp. checks out OK.

I made another recipe I used to use a lot (before I discovered the dangers of hydrogenated fats LOL) and had the same problem although not to the same extent. I used Spectrum shortening in Crisco's CC cookie recipe and they were still thin and greasy-looking. Not as bad as the Betty Crocker recipe but not like they used to be.

The only recent change aside from the new bag of flour is that I've switched to organic free-range eggs (a couple months ago). They do seem a little larger. Before this I'd been using the cheap eggs that are $5 for 5 dozen (in the big trays).

Tomorrow I'll buy a small bag of good flour and make them again and see if that helps. I wouldn't mind having to throw out this flour...it was only about $6 for the huge bag. I just want to figure this out--it's driving me nuts!!

[staceychev]

Keep us updated, Shellie! I'm so curious to find out how your mystery gets solved!

[Shellie]

Welp, I have an answer. It must be the flour! I bought a 5# bag at the grocery store this evening and as soon as I started to mix it in, I could tell that was the answer. The dough was the right stiffness and had the right texture. While using the "bad" flour, the dough was almost slimy and was thin and oily-feeling.

So...my dh says to just chuck the Costco flour--that it's not worth dragging it down there. I sure would like to find out what's wrong with it though! Also, I have a 25# of bread flour (I'm sure I did not mix them up!) from them as well and while it seems to perform OK, I have to wonder if there's a QC issue with this brand and it makes me not want to use it!

Thanks for all the ideas!

[blumooned]

Sometimes flour can behave differently if it somehow has more/less moisture in it than what you're used to. If it was stored in humid conditions (maybe before you bought it) it would contain more moisture & not absorb as much in the dough.
Glad you figured it out - I was on your post & interested to see what the problem was.