The Cookie Crusade

I don't know about you, but I think cookies are pretty great. Easy to bake, easy to eat and most importantly they are delicious.

However the one thing that has been perplexing me about cookies is how to stop them spreading so much! See my recent (still delicious) disaster. Certainly more pleasing to the palate then the eye.

I now present to you my most recent batch of cookies in all their glory

So what have I learnt is the secret to making these gorgeous puffy cookies, as opposed to their ugly-spread-together predecessors.

1. Chill your cookies before you bake them! This made such a big difference in the level of spread for my cookies. I popped mine in the freezer for approx. 10 minutes after I had already dropped them on the cookie sheet. The logic behind it is that it allows the fat to become more solid which means it isn't melting (and therefore spreading) as soon as it hits the oven. 
2. Less butter. I know, I was horrified when I read this tip. When has less butter ever improved anything?! Just trust me on this. My first recipe had 175g to 2 cups flour, the second 125g to the same amount of flour. 
3. Giving them breathing space! Lesson learnt, 9 is far too many cookies for my baking sheet. I have settled on 6, I may have been able to fit a few more on this tray, but it is less of a headache to just spread them out to begin with.

So there you have it! What is your favourite type of cookie?