I’ve been there.
- Are your cookies flat greasy puddles?
- Did you just waste an hour of your time?
- Is your cookie recipe a complete flop?
After years of baking cookies– and writing a cookie cookbook— I know exactly what a failed batch of over-spread cookies is like. It’s frustrating, unappetizing, and a waste of money.
Let me help.
I’m sharing my 10 guaranteed tips to prevent flat cookies.
10 Guaranteed Tips for Thicker Cookies
- Chill the cookie dough. Not all cookie dough requires the chilling step– and I normally determine that by how the cookie dough looks and feels. If the cookie dough is particularly sticky, wet, or greasy, chilling is in its best interest. And yours! Chilling cookie dough helps prevent spreading. The colder the dough, the less the cookies will over-spread into greasy puddles. You’ll have thicker, sturdier, and more solid cookies. Whenever I make cookies, I plan ahead and chill the cookie dough overnight. After chilling, let your cookie dough sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes (or more, depending on how long the dough has chilled) before rolling into balls and baking. Your cookie dough may be a solid rock, so letting it slightly loosen up helps.
- Line your baking sheet. Use a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Coating your baking sheet with nonstick spray or butter creates an overly greasy foundation, causing the cookies to spread. I always recommend a silicone baking mat because they grip onto the bottom of your cookie dough, preventing the cookies from spreading too much. These mats also promote even browning. Mats can get greasy! Here is how to clean your silicone baking mats.
- My tall cookie trick. Roll your cookie dough into tall balls instead of perfectly round spheres. Taller balls of cookie dough ensure thicker cookies. You see this cake batter chocolate chip cookies photo? (Scroll down in the post.) Just like that.
- Cool your baking sheets. Never place cookie dough balls onto a hot baking sheet. Always room temperature baking sheets.
- Quality baking sheets are a MUST. Did you know the color and material of your baking sheets greatly impacts the way your cookies turn out? Dark metal sheets typically over-bake cookies and thin flimsy cookie sheets = burnt bottoms. I’ve tested many brands and my favorite is USA Pan half sheet baking pan. (Not sponsored!) They’re a wonderful size for baking a dozen cookies, have an edge so they’re great for other recipes like toffee, chex mix, and yellow sheet cake. I suggest owning a few. I have 6!
- Cool butter. When butter is too warm, it is too soft. When butter is too soft, your cookies will spread all over the baking sheets. Room temperature butter is actually cool to touch, not warm. When you press it, your finger will make an indent. Your finger won’t sink down into the butter, nor will your finger slide all around. Here’s my trick to soften butter quickly!
- Correctly measure the flour. Cookies spread because the fat in the cookie dough melts in the oven. If there isn’t enough flour to hold that melted fat, the cookies will over-spread. Spoon and level that flour or, better yet, weigh your flour. If your cookies are still spreading, add an extra 2 Tablespoons of flour to the cookie dough.
- Don’t overmix the cookie dough ingredients. Cream the butter and sugar for only as long as you need to, usually about 3-5 minutes. Don’t begin beating then leave the room with the mixer running. I’m guilty of this too! Whipping too much air into the dough will cause those cookies to collapse when they bake. I guarantee that. Here’s even more on how to cream butter and sugar.
- One batch at a time, on the middle rack. I know that sounds a little crazy, but that’s how I bake every single cookie recipe. Here’s why: you get the best possible results when the oven only concentrates on that 1 batch. If you absolutely need to bake more than one batch at a time, rotate the baking sheets from the top rack to bottom rack a couple times through the baking process to encourage even baking. And turn the sheets around as well. Ovens have hot spots.
- Freeze for 10 minutes. We’re coming full circle back to tip #1! After you roll the cookie dough into tall balls, freeze them for 10 minutes. Here’s how I do it: after I roll cookie dough into balls to bake them, I place the balls on a plate and put the entire plate in the freezer. Then I preheat the oven. This time in the freezer firms up the balls which may have gotten a little soft while handling with our warm hands. Remember: the colder the dough, the thicker the cookie.
How to Save Your Flat Cookies!
Here is the trick I always use when my cookies begin to over-spread as they’re baking. I’ve actually never shared this with you before, so I’m excited to spill the beans. 🙂
- Use a spoon. When you notice your cookies over-spreading, remove your baking sheet from the oven. Use a spoon to push the edges back towards the center of the cookie. A spoon can literally reshape your over-spreading cookies. Place back in the oven. Repeat during bake time if necessary, then repeat one more time when the cookies have finished baking.
Works every time.
What are your guaranteed cookie tips?
Pictured today are my salted caramel pecan chocolate chip cookies and soft and thick monster cookies recipe.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi Sally! I have been making your cookies for years and ADORE your recipes! I am having issues with my chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies spreading. I tried every single remedy on your 10 fix list (with the exception of buying more expensive baking sheets – I’ve been using the same 2 for the last few years and have never had an issue). I also tried buying all new brands of ingredients in case it was the flour or baking soda or something. I cannot figure out what is happening. Any ideas? Perhaps my butter is too warm? I haven’t taken the actual temp of it before creaming but instead just followed the 1-2 instruction.
Hi Natalie, the butter could certainly be the culprit, especially if you’re baking in a warmer climate. Here’s a helpful post on what room temperature butter really means. Hope this helps!
Going to try the Chocolate Chip cookie recipe. Will let you know how it turns out. Unless I’m to busy eating them
What can i do to limit the size of my double chocolate cookie, despite all the tips it’s still spreading, and if i use a cylinder to cook it in it, it get stick in !
What can i do?
Hi Suzanne, it sounds like your butter may still be a bit too soft. Here’s more about what room temperature butter really means—it may be cooler than you think!
Sally, I am ready to buy new cookie sheets and wonder if you prefer the Nordic or USA pans. Also, does success depend on Silpat liners or does parchment paper work the same. Thank you in advance for your help! We love, love, LOVE your recipes!
Hi Susan, Nordic Ware and USA Pan both make excellent bakeware. Either are great! We do usually prefer silicone baking mats, but parchment can usually get the job done just as well, with less clean up.
I use a round cookie cutter to reshape my cookies, just use like a hulahoop around the cookie instead of a spoon!
I love these tips. I love you and your website and your recipes!! I am about to try to make large cookies as graduation teacher gifts so this will be so helpful! Much gratitude Sally.
I have so much RESPECT for you after reading your baking tips. I’m going to bake my first ever batch of sugar cookies tomorrow with confidence. I can’t thank you enough.
Pam, thank you so much!
Will I have an issue if I don’t add chocolate chips?
Hi Janice, it depends on the recipe, but generally, skipping add-ins will cause more spread in cookies.
Your cookie recipes are terrific and your baking hints make a big difference! I have a question about chilling cookie dough, which I do, thanks to your recommendation. It seems easier to I I
I learn so much from you and rely on your well-tested recipes. Can I scoop and form cookies before chilling the dough, when it is stiff and harder to scoop into balls. Your advice?
Hi Pam, It matters most that the dough is chilled. We usually recommend chilling the dough before scooping because sticky dough can be difficult to work with, but you can do what works best for you!
Hi Sally. I enjoy so many of your recipes…I plan on trying your lemon blueberry cake for Easter! My question is about baking cookies. Today I made your oatmeal raisin. Anytime I bake cookies of ANY kind, by the 3rd or 4th batch in the oven, they begin to overbake. Today, my oatmeal raisin turned out great, but by the 3rd batch, they began to get darker. I generally have to decrease baking time by 2-3 minutes. Today I also decreased oven temp by 15°, which helped. Have you experienced this before and any suggestions?
Hi Amy, it sounds like your oven runs pretty hot and gets hotter the longer it is on. An oven thermometer can help you track this, or simply cook in batches and give the oven a chance to cool down after a batch or two. Hope this helps!
I used whole whole flour and coconut sugar instead of brown sugar (didn’t have any) and these turned out BEAUTIFULLY!! <3
I used whole wheat flower for this and coconut sugar in place of the brown sugar (didn’t have any) and they turned out BEAUTIFULLY
Sally and team, thank you for the amount of work that y’all put into your recipes! I was having issues with a stubborn cookie spreading too much (think the butter got too soft), so I tried a couple of the tips you have shared in this post and it worked!! Thank you!!
So glad to hear this, Carrie!
Can I use pre-sifted flour from the bag I bought by mistake if I use the scale to measure it with for cookies recipes that ask for non- sifted flour?
Thanks … you’re genius… as you know!
I just want to say if you have any leftover Christmas cookies I’d be happy to help you eat them!! My coworker usually brings a bag of cookies each year to our holiday party but she didn’t include me this year. It’s been a few years since I’ve baked Christmas cookies due to several family circumstances. But I am definitely checking out some of these recipes for next year. I have saved so many of them because they just all look good. But I really miss some Christmas cookies this year. I just want to eat everything you make.
Can you tell me what is best cookie sheet ? My cookies come out flat thin & dry
Hi Jan, you’ll see all of our favorite baking tools here. We love these cookie sheets.
First time baking this recipe today and the gingerbread muffins are delicious! The consistency of the muffins are moist but firm and the top has a crispy texture. I was thrilled to see how high they rose up in my muffin tin. Thank you for all your tips . I used coconut sugar, and fage yogurt. I really appreciate the fact that they are not overly sweet.
They turned out fine. Panicked for nothing. Thx
I overmixed the chocolate chip cookie dough. The first batch I baked were cake like. Anything I can do before I bake the rest of the dough?
Hi Raquel! There isn’t much you can do at this point – what makes you think you over-mixed it? Too much flour in the dough is a common culprit for cakey cookies. Make sure to spoon and level flour when measuring (or use a kitchen scale for most accurate measurements).
Don’t think I messed the flour up. I’ve used this recipe before. I’m just going to wing it and I’ll let you know what happens. I did over bake them as well. Originally made the recipe and added way too many chocolate chips then I made another recipe without the chocolate chips and mix the two so I’m assuming that’s over mixing it
I made four of your cookies for Christmas this year: choc chip, lemon thumbprint, double chocolate crinkle, and butter.
The suggested bake times were pretty bang on, and the textures and flavours were superb. However, I had the same problem with every single batch: over-spreading.
For all except the butter cookies I made the doughs the day before and chilled. All took a good trip back to the fridge before baking. All the baking sheets were cold before adding the cookies to them. I used quality baking sheets and got a lovely *even* bake on everything, just… too thin. All ingredients were carefully weighed out. I used your tall dough trick for the choc chip cookies, too. The crinkle cookies were the best, height-wise, but they definitely could have kept a bit more height.
Maybe I need a hotter oven for a shorter bake, or an adjusted flour to butter ratio? How might I approach it?
Thanks, and thanks for the superb recipes as always. Everyone loved their cookies!
Hi Courtney, I’m happy to help troubleshoot. It sounds like you’ve done everything right here, especially in terms of chilling the dough for best results. The other things you can try are adding an extra tablespoon or two of flour; use silicone baking mats instead of parchment paper to line the baking sheets; and a few minutes before the end of baking time, take the cookies out of the oven and use a spoon to reshape them by gently pressing around the edges of the cookies. Hope one of these tips does the trick!
I baked sugar cookies, unfortunately I used an old recipe I had. The recipe originally had 3 tsp of coriander and I replaced it with 1 tsp vanilla extract and reduced the milk.
Well, I noticed as I was storing the cooled cookies that my hands were a bit greasy. I don’t think that happened with the original recipe. Could it be that I overworked the dough and did not cool it in the fridge although the recipe doesn’t call for cooling. I am so upset and hope you’ve come across something like this. I thank you and wish you all Happy Holidays! Sincerely, Evelyn
Hi Evelyn, it’s hard for me to say without knowing the recipe or trying it myself. I don’t think over-working the dough would case the greasiness, but it could. Is it a butter-heavy dough?
Question! I recently made the Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies, and (while delicious) they came out super flat. I could’ve done a number of things wrong, plus I’m working with an oven that is new to me, but my question is mostly about melting the butter, since this recipe calls for melted and slightly cooled butter (as does the chewy chocolate chip recipe, which I use all the time). Can using melted/cooled butter cause the cookies to spread in the same way that too-soft butter can? Even if I’m chilling the dough before baking for at least a couple of hours?
Hi Caity! The guidelines are a little different for recipes that call for melted butter – but make sure to allow the melted butter to cool a bit before using. If you add it hot, it can change the consistency of the dough.
Thank you for all these tips. I’m trying them all on my next batch! I noticed you mentioned chilling dough over night. You also mention putting the rolled out cookie balls in the freezer for 10 minutes. Do you do both of these things, or one or the other? Just wondering if I making the dough, if I can get away with freezing the balls for chilling. Or putting it overnight in the fridge is better. Then wondering if I do put the dough in the fridge, if it’s good to freeze the dough balls too. Thanks!
Hi Lauren! For dough that needs to chill, chilling overnight in the fridge is better. The fridge more evenly chills the dough than popping in the freezer. You can freeze dough after chilling, or just put it in the freezer right away.
I am making the gingerbread men recipe. The first time I made it, my cookies turned out great! No spreading, nice and thick. Beautiful! However, the next few times the cookies spread – it was disastrous. I’ve read all your tips, and figured it must be butter that was too warm. I was pretty sure I was measuring the flour correctly, but I decided to weigh it for the next batch. I weighed the flour and used butter that had been sitting out for about 2 hours. Although the spread was not disastrous, there was still spread! So frustrating! It’s only been a few days between the first batch and today. I can’t for the life of me figure out what the problem might be. Any suggestions? I’m trying to make these as Christmas gifts, and I’m starting to panic a little 🙁 (PS – I made this same recipe a few years ago for an event, and the cookies did not spread and were fabulous!)
Hi Sue, you can shorten the amount of time the butter softens even more. It usually only takes about an hour and room temperature butter may be cooler than you think! The dough can often warm up as you work with it, so it’s helpful to stick the cut cookies back in the refrigerator for a few minutes before baking. Hope this helps for your next batch!
Do you have any recommendations for why a cookie recipe I’ve made before has now started turning out flat. I went and bought new ingredients and measured everything to a T.
Hi Ansley, are you using one of our cookie recipes? If so, we can help troubleshoot based on that specific recipe. Thank you!
My chocolate chip cookies always spread in greasy blobs. I have read all your great suggestions but what about high altitude baking? I live at about 4750 feet above sea level. Would using more flour I. The recipe help?
Hi Val, I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
I struggled with spreading cookies for years. This recipe literally solved it. These cookies came out so chewy and gooey at the same time. Delicious. I added a bit more chocolate and vanilla for taste. Thanks!
Thanks so much for all the great baking tips. I am getting ready to make my Christmas cookies
What is the proper oven temperature for chocolate chip oatmeal cookies? Guess I missed it…
Hi Linda! We bake our chocolate chip oatmeal cookies (and most cookie recipes) at 350°F (177°C).
Thank you for your advice. I will try this when I make my cookies this weekend.
I saw one of your recipes on Facebook and signed up for emails. This is the BEST baking site I have ever seen. I love the fact that you give the “why” of each step and that you use real stuff. No premade carmels or pudding recipes. If I’m investing my time to bake I want something stellar. Everything I’ve made from your recipes has been. Keep them coming!!!
Thank you so much for your positive feedback, Marcia!
Whenever I bake, my boys exclaim that it must be a Sally recipe! Thanks for sharing!!!
I love your recepi so much it help me so in tricks and tips on cookie