What makes the difference between domed and flat cookies?
I'm baking cookies using recipe from Ruhlman's Ratio, which goes something like this:
- 100g butter
- 90g sugar
- 160g flour
- 1 tsp baking soda (I use baking powder)
- 150g chocolate chips
I scoop the dough using my ice cream scoop and have nice good tasting round cookies come out. They are rather tall and domed.
What can I adjust to get flatter cookies like in the following picture? What difference would it make if I, say melted the butter first, then combined with sugar and egg (like brownie batter) and then mixed with my dry ingredients? Or does my use of baking powder cause the difference?
This is what I would like my result to look like:
This is what it looks like:
Best Answer
Baking powder instead of baking soda could certainly cause that dome. Baking soda requires an acid to leaven, baking powder has that acid included. Cookies don't have a lot of acid on their own so baking soda doesn't cause them to rise much.
The baking soda is in a recipe like that to help with browning by altering the PH, soda makes the dough more alkaline. Since baking powder includes an acid, it doesn't have the same effect on the PH of the dough. That's probably why your cookies aren't as nicely brown as the ones in the other picture.
Try using the baking soda next time, let us know how it it goes.
Concerning your butter, you might like what melting it does, see Why is there a difference between softened and melted butter when baking?, but I'd definitely recommend trying the baking soda first.
Pictures about "What makes the difference between domed and flat cookies?"
Why did my cookies come out dome shaped?
You changed the recipe Or in some cases, the cookie recipe will require you to flatten the cookies before baking if they haven't been designed to spread naturally. If you reduce the amount of butter or oil in a recipe, your cookies won't spread as much. If you add too much flour, your cookies won't spread as much.What causes your cookies to be flat?
The Problem: Your Oven Is Too Hot 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.Why are cookies flat instead of fluffy?
Your Butter Melted Prematurely Butter, due to its low melting point, is usually the culprit behind flat cookies. It can be extremely fickle to work with, given that if it's too cold it won't mix well with other ingredients and if it's too warm it can cause cookies to spread too thin.How do you make cookies rise instead of flat?
9 Tips to RememberThe Science Behind the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies - Kitchen Conundrums with Thomas Joseph
More answers regarding what makes the difference between domed and flat cookies?
Answer 2
I have found that lowering the temperature creates a flatter cookie as well. I once used a recipe that called for the temperature to be at 325 F, but would result in flat cookies. The cookies would raise in the oven, but when you took them out they would deflate and become flat. However, when I raised the temperature to 375F the cookies would retain their leavening much more substantially.
I believe it has to do with the fact that higher temperatures cook the exterior of the cookie much faster than the interior. This allows the outside of the cookie to completely set before the carbon dioxide is completely released in the interior of the cookie, which traps more of the CO2.
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