If your cookies turn out flat and thin it's most often a result of not chilling the cookie dough or your oven is too hot.
The butter melts super quickly in a too-hot oven before the other ingredients have firmed up into a cookie structure.
Therefore, as the butter spreads so does the whole liquidy cookie.
If you don't chill cookie dough the cookies will usually wind up flat and like disks instead of chewy cookies.
Cookies made from chilled dough are also much more flavorful.
Adding cornstarch to cookies helps create a crumbly and tender dessert-like texture.
Cookies are cooled before they are stored to prevent condensation on the cookies which ruins the cookies.
Cookies have to be completely cool to the touch before you store them or the trapped heat will create condensation, which ultimately will ruin your cookies.
If you put too much butter in your cookies the cookies will then spread a lot and the cookies will also ultimately crisp out on the outside and cause them to become flat.
Too much sugar, too much butter, or too little flour can all contribute to cookies that are on the run.
When salt is added to cookies the salt acts as a binding agent and adds strength to the flour and dough of the cookies.
Salt has a binding or strengthening effect on gluten and thereby adds strength to any flour.
The additional firmness imparted to the gluten by the salt enables it to hold the water and gas better, and allows the dough to expand without tearing.
What cream of tarter does to cookies is the cream of tarter stabilizes whipped egg whites, prevents sugar from crystallizing, and acts as a leavening agent.
If you use more white sugar than brown sugar in your cookies the cookies will be less moist and less chewy and the texture and the color of your cookies will change.
Baking powder makes the cookies fluffier while baking soda causes the batter and cookie dough to spread and makes the cookies less fluffy.
If you want fluffier cookies you should use the baking powder instead of baking soda.
You can use baking powder instead of baking soda in chocolate chip cookies although it's best to use a double acting baking powder instead of regular baking powder in the chocolate chip cookies.
For baking soda look for substitutes like baking powder, sour milk, self-rising flour, potassium bicarbonate, active dry yeast, Baker's ammonia, and egg whites that are already available in your kitchen.
These ingredients make the cookies to rise when baking, making them a good substitute for baking soda.
Baking powder does make cookies rise as baking powder is a leavening agent.
Both baking soda and baking powder are used as leavening agents in baked goods to help the dough rise and without it the dough would not rise properly or at all.
If you put more or extra egg in your cookies you get a chewier cookie and if you put less eggs in your cookies you get a less chewy cookie.
To make cookies chewy and not cakey you want to use 2 different types of sugar which are white and brown sugar and also make sure your butter is at a good temperature and not too cold.
Other ways to make cookies chewy and not cakey include.
Don't Chill Your Cookies.
Use Melted Butter instead of Room Temperature Butter.
Use Less Flour.
Don't Beat the Butter and Sugar Too Much.
Add Baking Soda.
Decrease Baking Powder.
Drop the Pan on the Counter a Few Times after Baking.
Decrease the Amount of Eggs.
The temp or temperature that butter should be for cookies is between 63 F to 68 F degrees.
Butter plays a critical role in cookie structure; the fat and moisture can enhance or inhibit gluten development, which directly impacts the shape, spread, and texture in your cookies.
In short, the temperature of your butter for cookies directly impacts how cakey, crispy, or flaky your cookies will be.
Adding milk to cookies makes the cookies moist and also adds flavor, protein as well as color to your cookies.
When milk is added to cookie dough the milk moistens the cookie dough, and adds protein, color and flavor to the cookies.
The best flour for cookies is all purpose flour or pastry flour.
Most cookie recipes call for all-purpose or pastry flour.
If you use bread flour with its high gluten protein content, or cake flour, which is high in starch, you'll end up with cookies that tend to spread less when you bake them.
You don't have to flip the cookies when baking although some people do.
If you need to bake more than one batch of cookies at a time for an event, holiday baking, etc– rotate the baking sheets from the top rack to bottom rack once halfway through the baking process.
When mixing cookie dough it's better to mix the cookie dough by a mixer as it's faster and easier.
However you can mix the cookie dough with a mixer or by hand whichever you prefer but it's faster and easier to use the mixer although both the mixer and mixing by hand will produce the same results of the cookie dough.
It's also better to use butter instead of margarine when making cookies for a better flavor.
When you're baking, butter triumphs over margarine every time.
For cakes, cookies, and pastries, butter (unsalted, that is) provides richer flavor.
(It begins as cream, after all, and margarine is made from vegetable oil.)
Butter's high fat content is also what gives baked goods their texture.
If you don't put baking soda in cookies the cookies will not rise properly and turn out dense.
The baking soda helps the cookie dough rise as it bakes so the cookies will be flatter when you don't use any baking soda in your cookies.
If your cookies taste like soap it means you've added too much baking soda to the cookie recipe.
Brown sugar when added to cookies helps to prevent too many air pockets from forming and helps to trap moisture in the cookies which makes the cookies more moist as the brown sugar helps retain moisture in the cookies.
When you use only brown sugar in a cookie recipe, the cookies will have more moisture and typically be chewier.
Since the molasses in brown sugar also is acidic, it reacts with baking soda to help leavening; it will be puffier.
Baking soda does not make cookies crispy but instead the use of baking soda in your cookies makes the cookies soft and fluffy.
When added to dough, baking soda releases a carbon dioxide gas which helps leaven the dough, creating a soft, fluffy cookie.
Baking soda is generally used in recipes that contain an acidic ingredient such as vinegar, sour cream or citrus.
The use of brown sugar in your cookie recipe is what makes cookies soft, moist and chewy and white sugar and corn syrup is what makes your cookies crispy.
When your cookies turn out flat and crispy it's because you didn't use enough flour.
Not using enough flour in your cookie dough can make your cookies turn out flat and crispy.
Sometimes cookies turn out flat and crispy or flat and crunchy because your oven is too hot too.
If your cookies repeatedly turn out flat, no matter the recipe, chances are your oven is too hot.
Here's what's happening.
The butter melts super quickly in a too-hot oven before the other ingredients have firmed up into a cookie structure.
Therefore, as the butter spreads so does the whole liquidy cookie.
When you're making cookies you can mix butter and shortening in your cookies.
Mixing both butter and shortening in a cookie recipe, you will get the wonderful flavor of butter, while the shortening will keep the cookies from spreading too flat.
The best shortening for cookies is Crisco All Vegetable Shortening.
Cookies that are made with butter spread more and are flatter and crisper if baked long enough.
However, they are more flavorful than cookies made with shortening.
Cookies made with shortening bake up taller and are more tender, but aren't as flavorful.
Egg Yolk acts as a binder in the cookie dough.
Adding egg yolks to the cookies yields a super tender, chewy cookie.