Choc Chip Cookies FLAT --- Help!

[cheeseloverinBA]

Please help neophyte cook in South America...I have a gas oven and each time I have tried to bake chocolate chip cookies so our friends down here can taste an American classic, they turn out flat with very flat edges. Could it be the gas oven, the temp, or butter? THank you all in advance for any help.

[Frantastic]

Answer: all of the above


post the recipe and let's take a peek. Then check your oven - have you had it calibrated? Find an inexpensive oven thermometer and see what temp it's running. What level in the oven are you putting your cookie sheet on?

Are you using parchment paper or greasing the pan?

What temperature is the cookie dough when you scoop it and bake?

[Tajiri]

Do you chill your batter first? Starting with cold batter prevents some flattening.

[cheeseloverinBA]

OK - to answer...
Recipe is the classic Nestle Tollhouse
No, I have not had the oven calibrated. We have a tiny kitchen (barely workable) and small gas oven.
However, I am baking at 190 - 200 celsius (I have a thermometer but who knows if it is accurate).
I am putting them on the middle rack, and am not using parchment or greasing the pan, as they don't stick.
Cookie temp is cool to room temp, although I have tried chilling the dough first, and still get the same result.
THANKS for helping, looking forward to your comments!

[grendlesmoder]

Hi cheeseloverinBA
I live in italy, and my choc chip cookies always came out flat and greasy, my pie dough also never worked.
Then reading julia child on making french bread, she said that french flour is "softer" or "weaker" than american flour (less hard wheat, less gluten). So i thought maybe you need more italian flour than american flour in the recipe.
Then i also heard that american butter has more water content. So i also reduced the butter.
buenos aires is not rome, but maybe the flour and butter are similar. You might try it.
I always do this by eye, mayube a tbsp or two less butter, a tbsp or two more flour. experiment and you'll find the balance. Good luck

[popthebaker]

I have found that beating the sugar/butter mixture longer helps with giving the cookies more loft. The Nestle directions indicate beat the sugar/butter until “creamy” so I double that time.

I must avoid butter due to dietary restriction so I use light olive oil and a bit of imitation butter flavoring. It took some time to work out the proportions but I came up with a flavorful cookie that won’t clog the arteries too badly.

I am not sure of the chemistry of this but it works for me. Please let me know if it works.

The comments about flour may well be another reason. Check the protein level of the local flour and compare it with the level of U.S. All Purpose flour which is about 11 to 12 percent.

Pop

[ChezLeRecherche]

There is a scientific test called the "cookie spread flour test".

You might try using a bit more flour in the recipe. Chill the dough; cool the sheets.

Is there an egg? Is it the right size?

[cheeseloverinBA]

Thank you everyone for the great advice. I will take everything you have offered into consideration, experiment a bit, bake of course, and post the results tomorrow!

[jonesg]

It sounds like you just plain old missed something in the measurements.
All the variations and ingredient substitutes won't make such a huge difference as making a mistake in measuring.

Sometimes I use butter, sometimes marg, sometimes salted, more often unsalted, sometimes I use bread flour and sometimes whatever is in the scoop.

Sometimes I use brown sugar, more often I use regular granulated, sometimes I'll add some molasses, other times I can't be bothered.

With all the variations I do, it still comes out similar because the measurements are spot on.

Sounds like too much sugar or not enough flour.

Try bake a test cookie before commiting the batch to bake, then you can adjust the batter to suit,

chilling choc chip batter is not necessary unless you've really loaded up on the butter.

[thecooktoo]

One thing you didn't mention, stale or old baking powder. It can put you down in a heartbeat. Shelf life is only a few months after opening. Try a fresh can.

Jim

[cheeseloverinBA]

OK, here I am reporting back happy! CHANGES I MADE (based on all your contributions) :
decreased the butter content by almost 30 grams (1 cup or 1 stick of butter is 225 grs, the recipe calls for 225 and I put 195); I increased flour by almost 1/3 cup (it calls for 2 cups 1/4, I put a little over 2 1/2); I increased the quantity of brown sugar and decreased the quantity of white sugar; I beat the butter/sugar/egg/vanilla mixture much longer until slightly fluffy; and finally, I let the dough chill one hour in the fridge. RESULT: The cookies came out tall, fat, thick and delicious -- no sign of flat, melty-like cookies with burned edges. !! They were slightly on the dry side this time, but this can be adjusted also the other way. I am thrilled with result and cannot thank everyone enough...And to thecooktoo, I will check the freshness of my baking powder! Thanks.

[jonesg]

That tells me you missed on the measurements the first time,
those recipes on the package are well sorted out,
if measured properly they work.

A cookie that flattens out and crisps up on the edge can only be due to mismeasurement, even mixing it wrong will never do that. You can put that in the bank.

[grendlesmoder]

That tells me you missed on the measurements the first time,
those recipes on the package are well sorted out,
if measured properly they work.

A cookie that flattens out and crisps up on the edge can only be due to mismeasurement, even mixing it wrong will never do that. You can put that in the bank.

Hi Jonesq- you are right if you are cooking in the country the recipe was made for, but clearly you haven't tried to bake cookies abroad. The flour and butter are different and you HAVE to adjust quantities. i happen to do it by eye, and it always comes out, so the absolute precision is not necessary, in my opinion, as long as you got the proportions pretty much right. But definitely you can measure all you want but if you make the american cookie recipe here in italy, and probably other places, they will always come out flat and greasy.

[LeviF]

I realize I'm late to the party but I wanted to add that Alton Brown did a great show about chocolate chip cookies where he made 3 types, thin, puffy, and chewy, all based on the basic tollhouse recipe and explained what to vary to get different results. Transcript of the show here:

http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Season3/Cookie/CookieTranscript.htm

Might not be news to a real baker, but I found it very interesting.