My chocolate chip cookies always come out like really flat. Anybody have any ideas on how to make them thick and yummy.
Is your baking powder fresh? Do you overgrease or overheat your pans so that they either spread too much or melt?
Well, as they say, you can't get to where you're going if you don't know where you are. So, how about you post the recipe you're using now...and maybe we all can help you tweak it?
Here’ the scoop on cookie making from Alton Brown’s food scientist friend, Shirley O. Corriher. Here’s the info she gives on page 131 in her Cookwise book (a must have cookbook!).
Change the flour and fat in a recipe to give the texture you wish:
Thin cookie = butter rather than margarine or shortening
Crispy = a little corn syrup for the sugar
Puffy = use shortening and cake flour to prevent spreading, also use another egg in your liquid amount
Moister = brown sugar
Color = increase baking soda
More spreading of the dough = more liquid and use all purpose flour instead of cake flour
Limit spreading = use baking powder instead of baking soda, or decrease fat and sugar by 2T
In between cookie = use equal parts butter and butter-flavored shortening
I’ve had some good results with chilling the dough for an hour or two before baking.
Short of changing your recipe, there are two things you can do ... thoroughly chill the dough prior to baking AND roll the dough into a ball between your palms instead of simply dropping from a spoon.
This is an excellent chocolate chip cookie recipe. The cookies are large, and the trick is to use a 1/4 C. measuring cup to measure the dough, and just barely press the cookies down on the baking tray. Do not flatten them but just a bit, and don’t overbake. Cookies will look “raw” in the middle and golden brown on the edges, but they are done!
Happy New Year!
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 ½ cups butter, softened
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 bag (24 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (I use milk chocolate chips instead of semisweet, and you might have to buy two 11—12 oz bags, if no big ones are available)
I also add about 2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
Heat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl, mix butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs with spoon until well-blended. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.
On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by level ¼ cupfuls about 2 inches apart. Flatten just slightly with fork.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). The trick is to not over-bake them. The edges will be light golden, and the centers quite soft-looking, and you will think they need more baking, but they don’t. I generally bake them about 13 to 13 ½ minutes. 15 minutes would make them too crunchy (but that depends on your oven, of course).
To me that reads as though you have too much fat in the recipe be it butter, or shortening, but I don’t know your recipe.
I read a post about too high a heat, but that usually makes for textural difference than thickness. For those that use multiple cookie/jelly roll sheet pans be sure to be consistant with type. The type of pan will effect the outcome of your cookies. Aluminum will make lighter colored cookies that are softer, and the dark stamped steel sheet pans will make your cookies darker, and crispier in the identical amounts of baking time at the same temperatures.
I tried a new recipe for white chocolate macadamia cookies several weeks ago. They turned out flat so I had to adjust the recipe because it had too much butter in it. That’s usually the problem (for me anyway).
Try this recipe:
The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie
Cook’s Illustrated, May/June 2009
1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
3/4 cups (5 1/4 ounces) packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)
Preheat oven to 375 F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and baking soda together.
Set a medium skillet over medium-high heat and add 10 tablespoons of the butter. Cook until melted, about 2 minutes, then lower the heat slightly and continue cooking until the butter is golden brown with a nutty aroma. Swirl the pan frequently to ensure the butter browns evenly. Transfer the browned butter to a heatproof bowl and add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter, stirring until it melts completely.
Whisk the brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt and vanilla into the butter until fully incorporated. Add the egg and egg yolk and whisk until the mixture is completely smooth, about 30 seconds. Let the mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat the resting and whisking 2 more times until the mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Add the flour mixture to the bowl, stirring with a rubber spatula until just incorporated. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts (if using).
Portion the dough into large balls, each about 3 tablespoons, and arrange them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, 1 tray at a time, until the cookies are golden brown and puffy, with edges that are just set and centers that are soft, about 10-14 minutes. Remove the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool completely.
If you like peanut butter I have an awesome recipe for peanut butter dark chocolate chunk pecan cookies that always turns out great. An adjustment here and there over the years has resulted in the perfect cookie the whole family enjoys.. even the picky ones.