It’s especially frustrating when a cookie recipe you’ve been making for years suddenly is ruined—whether it’s too soft or too dry, overly brown or not brown enough. Wouldn’t it be great if you knew exactly what causes the problem? This handy chart tackles some of the most common cookie catastrophes.
| Problem | Possible Causes | Let’s Get the Solution | Remember |
| My cookies are flat | The dough may have been to “wet.” | Make sure you are correctly measuring your flour or try adding in an additional tablespoon or two of flour. | |
| Overworked dough | Overbeating can cause the butter to warm too much and weaken its ability to hold air and therefore hold its shape. | Scoop dough into balls and not disks when baking | |
| Too much baking soda/baking powder | Too much chemical leavener can cause the cookies to deflate. | ||
| Too warm | If the butter is too warm and soft it can cause the cookies to spread too much in the oven. Remember to use cool room temperature butter. Try chilling the balls of dough before baking. | When making drop cookies ALWAYS remember to chill dough for 2 – 24 hours | |
| My cookies didn’t spread at all | Recipes high in fat (butter/shortening) and flour but lean on sugar. | Before you start next time, ensure your flour and leavening, making sure you have the appropriate, fresh ingredients on hand. Try holding back 2 Tbs. to 1⁄4 cup of the flour at the end of the mixing. | Before adding the last of the flour, bake a test cookie to check the texture. This will also help you decide whether to increase the heat a little. |
| A too-cool oven is another possible culprit. | Be sure to heat oven at least 10 minutes prior to baking. | ||
| Leaving out or using expired leavening (baking soda/baking powder) makes for heavy cookies, as does adding too many nuts or chips. | Baking soda isn’t usually tightly sealed and loses its power faster than baking powder from exposure to warm, humid air. | Adding extra chips is fine, but don’t double the amount. | |
| My cookies are too cakey | Using a different flour than usual, such as cake flour, and measuring flour with too heavy a hand. | Next time try holding back 2 Tbs. to 1⁄4 cup of the flour at the end of mixing. Before adding the last of the flour | bake a test cookie to check the texture. |
| Using larger eggs than called for can make cookies cakey. | Make sure the eggs are the right size | ||
| The addition of milk or more milk or other liquids than specified. | Omit the milk if you prefer denser cookies. | ||
| My cookies are too crumbly | Using all granulated sugar for the brown sugar will create a drier cookie, too, since the molasses in brown sugar provides moisture. | Most cookies call for some brown sugar—be sure to add the right amount and the right type. | |
| Undermixing can affect how well your cookies stick together. | Try mixing for longer this create more gluten development (gluten is like glue in doughs). | Eggs are an excellent source of structure and will help provide structure. | |
| My cookies are undercooked but burned on bottom | An oven that runs too hot; the use of dark, heavy baking sheets; | Choose lighter baking sheets for your cookie baking or a double pan (stack an extra pan underneath) to better insulate the dough. | If you don’t bake often, get an oven thermometer. It will save you lots of guesswork. |
| the placement of baking sheets on the bottom rack of the oven | Rotating pans from the top to bottom rack (and back to front) midway through if the oven has hot spots for even color and texture. | Remove the cookies from the cookie sheet and onto a wire rack 2 minutes after baking, the cookies will continue to cook on the hot pan. | |
| My cookies don’t have the crackly top | Baking powder and soda give these cookies their characteristic cracks, so stale leavening is probably at fault here. | Be sure you have fresh leavening on hand before you start baking—baking soda isn’t usually tightly sealed and loses its power faster than baking powder from exposure to warm, humid air. | |
| Also, the right amount of flour is necessary to allow the dough to expand, crack, and set at just the right time—too much flour will prevent this from happening. | Hold back 2 Tbs. of the flour and bake a test cookie before deciding to add it to the dough. | ||
| Check the oven temperature, too, since a hotter oven is sometimes better for these cookies. | More flour will allow you to boost the heat in the oven. | ||
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