Should Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies Be Flat After Baking? | Ask Nigella.com (2024)

FAQs

Should you flatten chocolate chip cookies? ›

If the dough is chilled before baking then the cookies will be slightly more rounded, so if you want slightly flatter cookies then bake them as soon as you have mixed up the dough. But we would not recommend flattening the cookies completely as this will affect the texture.

Oven temperatures are a crucial factor in baking. If your cookies consistently come out flat, you may have selected the wrong baking temperature. If you bake cookies using too much heat, the fats in the dough begin to melt before the other ingredients can cook together and form your cookie's rise.

Q: Why are my cookies so puffy and cakey? Whipping too much air into the dough. That fluffy texture you want in a cake results from beating a lot of air into the room temperature butter and sugar, and it does the same for cookies. So don't overdo it when you're creaming together the butter and sugar.

Putting a slice of fresh white bread in the container with the cookies will help the cookies stay soft: fresh bread is moist, and that slice will give up its moisture for the greater good: keeping the cookies from drying out. We recommend white bread so that no flavor is transferred to the cookies.

They cool. The action doesn't stop when your cookies come out of the oven. As they cool, the liquified sugars cool and harden, producing crisp bottoms and edges, and the air inside cools, causing the cookie to deflate slightly.

Chocolate chip cookies are done between 175 and 185°F (79 and 85°C). With a good thermometer, you can play with the doneness and note your preferred temperature in your recipe.

Add an extra tablespoon of flour to the recipe and bake a batch. If they are still too flat add another tablespoon. Once you have figured out how much extra flour to add, make a note on your recipe so you do not forget!

Cornstarch Is The Secret To Soft And Chewy Cookies.

“When chilled cookies bake, the butter stays in a solid form longer, slowing the spread,” says Dawn. “30 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator does wonders, and you can bake the cookies right from the fridge.” Not only will chilling help the fats firm up and the flour hydrate, but it also helps the flavors develop.

Butter keeps cookies fluffy in two ways. First, creaming cold butter with sugar creates tiny, uniform air pockets that will remain in the dough it bakes up. Second, cold butter naturally takes a longer time to melt in the oven.

Can you over mix chocolate chip cookie dough? ›

Unless you want extra-crispy cookies, avoid overmixing your dough. "Overmixing your dough will result in flatter, crispier cookies," Cowan said.

Too much butter makes cookies turn out just as you'd expect: very buttery. This batch of cookies was cakey in the middle, but also airy throughout, with crispy edges. They were yellow and slightly puffy in the middle, and brown and super thin around the perimeter.

Corn Syrup (Light)

Light corn syrup is sometimes used in specialist cakes and confectioneries to help keep baked products soft and doughy for longer.

Also, underbaking them by a minute or 2 will help them retain a dense, chewy bite, explains Jenny McCoy, pastry baking arts chef-instructor at the Institute for Culinary Education in New York. Adding more moisture to your dough in the form of extra butter, egg yolks, or brown sugar will make your cookies even softer.

Your cookies won't properly spread if your oven temperature is too high; the edges of your cookies will cook faster than the middle before they have a chance to spread properly. To avoid this issue altogether, always double-check the temperature setting on your oven before beginning any cookie-making sessions.

Rolling the dough creates an easier reference of size. If a recipe calls for flattening with a sugar coated glass or fork, I'll still roll them first to ensure that the pressed cookies are the same size. Rolling the dough into equal size balls also gives each cookie the same surface area.

Should I Use A Cookie Cutter Before Or After Baking? Forming cookies before putting them in the oven is the most common practice. Many shape their cookies before baking to ensure cookies come out properly shaped and to make the most of their dough.

If they don't spread out well enough and are too thick and chewy, I may flatten them some before baking the next time. There are too many variables in cookie recipes to know what adjustments to make before you try the recipe, but most cookies I've made do not need flattening before baking.