COOKIE HELP!!!

[Kiwi]

I think we should have some pictures of the now improved cookies!

[Amina516]

I think we should have some pictures of the now improved cookies!

I'll be making more today. I'll be sure to put before and after shots. LOL

[Der Cute]

I only use butter, never margarine for cookies, and I also use baker's sugar.
It's a slightly finer crystal of white sugar, compared to the stuff you normally get. This means it blends better with the butter, and will melt/bake better.
Butter is at room temp, sugar is also, eggs are cold.

Keep an eye on your oven temps, and when they're done (golden, light golden) pull them out and put directly on cooling rack. Anyone who breaks is fair testing game!

Let them cool and transfer directly to airtight container. (mouth is also allowed.)

Have fun!

Cutenoob

[taurinejunkie]

Mouth technically can be an airtight container.

Also, I want cookies now.

*does his best zombie impression*
Coookiiiiiiiessss...

[Amina516]

So, I made more cookies today. My hubby mustve taken the camera to work, b/c its not in the house.

SO results with real butter: better, but only slightly. The cookies werent as spread out, but they were still spread out. The dough before it was baked was thicker so I thought for sure they would look more like commercial chocolate chips. lol. But Im happy with the result.

Mmmmmmmmmm.......My house is now loaded with cookies.

[Bella_Vixen]

I once ate an entire roll of premade cookie dough in a week's time. I couldn't stop myself.

I think the last time I did that, it took me a month. And it was one of those mini tubes.

Though I DID one day...buy a tub of frosting, just for me to eat by itself.

I did that one with chocolate frosting. I think I had one spoonful the first day, maybe a couple over the next few days, and then I couldn't stand it anymore.

I don't really like chocolate frosting anymore...

And I wonder at the size of my ass now..

That explains soooooooooooooo much in my case...

[RetailWorkhorse]

I used to eat a whole tube of cookie dough in the course of a single day.

Okay, so the 8-10 hours I was awake.

I have an incredible metabolism.

Aaaaaaaand now I can't eat it no more. Stupid body going haywire. Where'd I put that popcorn?

[Buglady]

I'm glad you got the butter/shortening issue figured out. Other than that, some people just seem to have a lighter or heavier touch with the dough; my mom and I use the same coconut oatmeal cookie recipe, the same brands of shortening, flour, baking powder etcetera - and we end up with totally different looking cookies. Hers are more like shortbread, while mine turn out thinner and crispier.

[monolayth]

i usually add almond abstract in my cookies, usually the same amount as vanilla.

makes it just a little yummier

[XCashier]

i usually add almond abstract in my cookies, usually the same amount as vanilla.

If you use vanilla extract, make sure you use the real stuff and not the artificial vanilla. Costs a bit more, but it's so worth it, makes your food taste loads better.

[AdminAssistant]

If you use vanilla extract, make sure you use the real stuff and not the artificial vanilla. Costs a bit more, but it's so worth it, makes your food taste loads better.

I ordered some for my Mom online - only $12 all told and it was a HUGE bottle. As in, enough to last for a couple of years (depending on how much you bake, of course).

[VicSilver]

SO results with real butter: better, but only slightly. The cookies werent as spread out, but they were still spread out. The dough before it was baked was thicker so I thought for sure they would look more like commercial chocolate chips. lol. But Im happy with the result.

I wouldn't get so caught up in measuring your baked results against pictures from professional/promotional pictures. A lot of them (myself included) tend to use parchment paper or silicone baking mats for baking cookies. These can cause the baking surface to not heat up so fast, so the cookies don't spread as much.
If you really want your cookies to be nice and plump, I'd recommend trying one of those items. They also help the cookies to not burn as quickly.

You didn't say, but if you're covering your cookie sheet with foil, and baking the cookies on that, don't. That WILL make your cookies spread more.

[Buglady]

I just discovered parchment paper this year. Why didn't anybody tell me???! I love this stuff! I can make the Decadent Brownies without fussing about them sticking to the pan. Which means I am making them a lot more often, heh.

[Primer]

I use the recipe of the bag of chocolate chips. I use real butter, melted in a glass cup in the microwave. Mix everything together in one bowl--don't worry about sifting the dry stuff together first. Use jumbo or extra large eggs, and double the vanilla extract. Refrigerate the dough before and between batches. Pull the cookies from the oven just before they look done, and let them cool till firm still on the cookie sheet. Transfer to wire cooling racks just before it's time to load up the next batch.

I don't get to bake as often as I would like, but I have had coworkers offer to pay me to bake cc cookies!