Why are my cookies always thin??

[GentleRadical]

Please, dear baking experts, tell me why my cookies (namely Chocolate Chip) always come out FLAT and THIN? I love chunky type cookies (either crispy or chewy) and no matter how hard I try, they ALWAYS come out thin and flat!!! Whyyyyyyyy?? (The recipe I use is the one on the back of the chocolate chip package.

Thanks in advance!

Aloha,
Colleen

[Suzanne]

Colleen -- I'm moving this to the baking board, where we have many, many more people who can answer your question in a flash. In the meantime, though, you might have a look at this part of Baking911, in which chocolate chip cookies are discussed in depth.

(I have no connection to that website, but did work on Sarah Phillips's book, so I know she talks about the flat versus puffy versus chewy issue.)

[mymilkexpired]

After reading one of the other cookie threads i bet your problem is butter. You should try re-chilling the dough to bring the fats back to a solid so they hold their shape better.

Honestly i never thought about this until i read that particular thread. It reminded me of what my mother used to do when i was a kid. She would make her cookie dough, usually enough for 2 batches. Then she would whip out the saran wrap and put the cookie dough down the middle and roll it up (like a summer sausage). Then into the freezer it went. When she was ready to make the cookies she would pull them from the freezer and slice them right off the hardened "sausage" of cookie dough. Perfect shape and they always turned out perfect in the oven...

You should try using two cookie sheets and alternate them during your baking, so that your chilled dough isnt going on a piping hot pan.

[cookieguy]

It could be so many things: Wrong flour or too little. Too much baking soda. Too much sugar. Too much water. A cold oven. Warm dough. Not enough fat/ too little fat. Scaling improperly. Or a combo of many. Baking on paper restricts flow. Re-check everything.

[GentleRadical]

Thanks for the replies! Thanks Suzanne!

I think my problem MUST be the soft butter because yes, I was always leaving it to soften at room temperature. Okie dokey, I can't wait to try again with these new pointers.