Small Batch Flourless Chocolate Cookies (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you dont put enough flour in chocolate chip cookies? ›

Adding too little flour can cause cookies to be flat, greasy, and crispy. Most recipes assume you'll use all-purpose, but if you want a lighter, crumblier cookie texture, choose one with a lower protein content such as cake-and-pastry flour. Baking soda helps cookies spread outward and upward while cooking.

Too Little Flour

If your first batch of cookies bakes flat, try adding 1-2 tablespoons of flour to the remaining dough. Then bake a test cookie before baking the rest or adding a bit more flour.

Too much flour can result in cookies that look like scoops of ice cream. Packing the flour — tapping the measuring cup on the counter or pushing the powder down with a spoon — will result in using too much.

Use powdered sugar: Dusting the work surface and rolling pin with powdered sugar instead of flour is a great way to improve a sticky cookie dough. It also contains cornstarch and is less likely to dry out your cookie dough. It will also give the cookies a sweeter taste.

Kind of like how crumbly dough is usually because there's too much of the dry ingredients, runny cookie dough comes from having too much of the liquid ingredients.

Flour is a stabilizer and thickener and controls how much the cookie rises. It holds the cookie together, providing it with its structure. If you use too little flour your cookie won't keep its shape but if you use too much you'll end up with a thick tasteless cookie.

A spread with less fat, diet "margarines" or spreads in tubs contain have too much water. The water creates steam, causing the cookies to puff. Low protein flours, such as cake flour, absorb less water, leaving excess water to create steam, which causes the cookies to puff.

Don't Overmix the Dough

Overmixing is literally just the process of mixing something too much, which usually creates texture issues from too much gluten development and leads to tough cookies.

Eggs promote puffiness and spreading in cookies, while also holding the cookie together during baking. The height and texture of the final product is determined by how much egg is incorporated into the batter. Substituting ingredients can make or break a recipe.

Why didn't my chocolate chip cookies rise? ›

Too much sugar, not enough flour.

Using too little flour will prevent rising, and too much sugar will result in more spreading since sugar liquefies when heated.

I look at it like buttermilk (which often times I never actually have so I make my own using vinegar) in a recipe. King Arthur Flour says the purpose of the vinegar is to temper the sweetness of the sugar and it also reacts with the baking soda to allow the cookies to rise a bit more in the oven.

When cookie dough is too sticky, you may have an imbalance of wet and dry ingredients. You can fix this by adding a teaspoon of flour or cornstarch at a time until your dough is just how you want. The added flour or cornstarch will absorb the excess liquid and reduce the dough's overall stickiness.

It's not the egg, all-purpose flour, or even the vanilla extract. The simple, yet oh-so-necessary component is cornstarch. That's right, the flavorless thickening agent used for soups, stews, and curries is also the secret weapon for baked goods that boast a silky-smooth mouthfeel.

Even if your cookies aren't turning out flat, however, more flour can still be beneficial. Per Food & Wine, the more flour you use, the denser the consistency will be. Instead of a cookie that is soft or bread-like, you'll end up with one that is firm yet tender and chewy, similar to that of a brownie.

If you bake cookies using too much heat, the fats in the dough begin to melt before the other ingredients can cook together and form your cookie's rise. Always bake cookies according to the temperature recommended by your cookie recipe.

Expect about one teaspoon per five ounces of flour; thin and crispy cookies may need a little less, thick and chewy cookies may need a little more. Even without baking powder, a well-aerated dough will still puff with steam. If that supply cuts off before the cookies set, a soft dough will collapse in on itself.