A freshly baked, warm cookie is one of the most delicious desserts in the world. While cookies should be pretty easy to make, lots of people make these 12 common baking errors. We are going to tell you how to stop making these mistakes and make better, tastier cookies.
1. Using too soft or too cold butter
Go to the recipe: Chocolate chip walnut cookies
Most cookie recipes call for room-temperature butter. Room temperature butter should be around 65 degrees Fahrenheit. It should also be soft and pliable, but not runny. By the way, did you know that you can make your own homemade butter?
Read also this: How to make your own homemade butter
How to fix it?
Let your butter sit at room temperature for a minimum of 60 minutes to reach the correct temperature. If it goes much longer than that and becomes soft or runny, you may need to put it back in the refrigerator for several minutes until it's pliable but not so soft.
2. Not checking the oven temperature
Go to the recipe: Raspberry Cheesecake Cookies
Ovens can vary quite a bit in temperature and almost all home ovens are either over or under heat. The recipe developer usually calls for an oven temperature assuming that your oven is correctly run. For example, a too-hot oven can cause the cookies to dry out or even burn.
Read also this: If the disaster already happened, check what to do with burnt cookies
How to fix it?
Purchasing a digital oven thermometer is a great way to test out the actual temperature of your oven. If you suspect the oven temperature may have been too hot, an accurate oven thermometer can make a big difference in your recipes even beyond cookies. The cost of an oven thermometer is really low considering the ingredient cost nowadays.
3. Using greased cookie sheets
Go to the recipe: Brownie Cookies
Nobody likes it when their food sticks to the pan, in fact, greasing is a super important step to get bundt cakes out of the pan. But, using a greased cookie sheet is not a good idea. Buttering the cookie sheet will add extra fat that can cause the cookies to spread much more than you intended and leave you with a greasy mess.
How to fix it?
Rather than greasing your cookie sheets, use silicone baking mats or parchment paper to prevent your cookies from sticking.
4. Using hot cookie sheets
Go to the recipe: Coffee Cookies
Many people wonder why the cookies turn out flat and are not aware that the dough should always be baked on cool cookie sheets. If the cookie sheet is hot, the butter will immediately begin to melt and make each cookie spread before the flour has had a chance to build the cookies' structure.
How to fix it?
Purchase multiple cookie sheets (at least 2) for quick batches or allow time between batches to let the cookie sheet cool, which usually takes 5-10 minutes.
5. Not using the right ingredients, eg. the right kind of fat
Go to the recipe: Biscoff Butter Cookies
It's important to use the specific kind of fat called for in the recipe. Standard cookie recipes commonly call for butter but just because there are similar products that work in cooking, doesn't mean they can be substituted in baking.
Read also this: How to substitute butter in baking
How to fix it?
Be sure to use the correct fat called for in the recipe. Eg. you cannot just replace butter with oil or margarine or Crisco without slightly reformulating the recipe.
6. Not chilling the cookie dough before baking
Go to the recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies without Brown Sugar
If you find your cookies are flat, the cookie dough may have been too warm when baked. Almost all cookie recipes including coffee cookies, chocolate chip walnut cookies, and raspberry cheesecake cookies, call for chilling time, for a very good reason, not to end up with pancake-like cookies.
How to fix it?
Always refer to the recipe before beginning so that you can plan for adequate chilling time. Usually, cookies need at least 30 minutes to chill, but it's not uncommon that a cookie recipe calls for 2-4 hours or more.
7. Undermixing or overmixing the butter and sugar
Go to the recipe: Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies
Creaming the butter and sugar (just like when making cakes or cupcakes) together creates air pockets that help give cookies rise. Creaming them for 2-3 minutes will make the mixture fluffy, however, over-mixing can actually break down the air bubbles you're creating.
How to fix it?
Be sure to start with room-temperature butter. Cold butter won't properly cream. Use the recipe's reference photos and tips to look for the proper texture.
8. Not measuring the ingredients correctly
Go to the recipe: Oatmeal Craisin Cookies
What all professional Bakers agree is that measuring cups are inaccurate and the only accurate way to measure the ingredients in baking is a digital kitchen scale. A digital scale also allows you to easily double or half any recipe and it produces much fewer dirty dishes vs measuring cups!
Not enough flour can be a disaster for your cookies and they can easily turn out flat during baking. Just a little bit too much flour is the most common reason for heavy, dense, and dry cookies. Baking is science and small details, in fact, do make a big difference especially when it comes to measuring the ingredients and oven temperature.
How to fix it?
A kitchen scale is always the best method for accurate ingredient measurements, you can purchase one for as low as 10 USD, and it will change your life and baking game forever, I promise!
9. Using expired baking soda
Go to the recipe: White Chocolate Matcha Cookies
If you find your cookies are flat, the leavening agents may be the reason why. Baking powder and baking soda help give cookies their rise, but if they are not fresh they will not work properly. Additionally, while these two ingredients look similar, they are not interchangeable.
Related articles:
How to bake and substitute baking soda
How to fix it?
Replace your baking powder and baking soda regularly to maintain freshness. Once opened, each should be replaced every six months.
10. Using an unreliable recipe
Go to the recipe: Heart Shaped Cookies
Sometimes it just comes down to the recipe. It's important to use recipes from trusted and experienced sources. Especially if you are a beginner, look for long-format, step-by-step recipes that explain not just the how but the whys. Once you feel more comfortable in the kitchen, you can easily mix and match recipes, swap out ingredients, and experiment on your own.
How to fix it?
Use a trusted source when looking for recipes online like Spatula Desserts, where the creator of the recipes clearly has the right knowledge and experience. The recipes have process shots and step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow. Look for the recipe ratings and comments before deciding on trying a new recipe.
11. Relying on the recipe's baking time
Go to the recipe: Danish Butter Cookies
Every oven is a little bit different. Some ovens run hotter than others and some bake unevenly. In order to bake perfect cookies, you really need to know how your oven operates and the little quirks it may have. Blindly following a cookie recipe's suggested baking time can result in underbaked or overbaked cookies. The baking time is not set in stone and following it to a T is a serious error.
How to fix it?
Get an oven thermometer that goes inside your oven so you can know the true temperature. Adjust the baking time based on your oven, adding a minute or two for ovens that run colder and baking cookies for less time if your oven is hotter than average.
You should always check your cookies about 1-2 minutes before the suggested baking time just to get a feel for how they are doing. Remove your cookies from the oven when they look done, not when the timer tells you they are baked. Golden brown edges and a top that is not wet are good visual keys.
12. Baking With Dark Pans
The color of your baking sheet pan matters! Darker pans actually attract the heat of the oven. This means the pans get hot quickly and tend to burn the bottoms of the cookies. When the bottom of the cookie is burned but the center of the cookie is still raw dough, you have a serious cookie problem!
How to Fix It?
Buy lighter-colored pans! It is worth the investment if you plan to bake a lot of cookies. If a darker cookie sheet tray is your only option, line the cookie tray with a silicone mat for a thicker layer of protection. You can also reduce the oven temperature by 10% to compensate for the heat of the pan.
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Got to the recipes: Sweet Breakfast Recipes
This post was originally published as Why Are My Cookies Flat at Spatula Desserts.
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