Kitchen rescueBaking and pastryPartly saveable

How to fix cookies that spread too much

While the cookies are still warm and soft from the oven, place a round cutter or glass over each cookie and swirl it to tuck the edges back into a neat circle. For the rest of the dough, chill it before baking.

How you can tell

  • Cookies are thin and flat with lacy edges
  • They've merged together on the baking tray
  • Edges are dark or burnt while the middles are pale

Why it happens

Cookie dough spreads as the butter melts in the oven, before the flour and eggs have set. The warmer and softer the butter is to start with, the sooner it melts and the further the cookies spread. Too little flour, too much sugar or too much bicarbonate of soda can also make them spread more. Putting dough on a warm or greased baking tray speeds up spreading too.

How to fix it

Option 1Reshape while warm

  1. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, put a round cutter or glass over each cookie
  2. Swirl it around to push the soft edges back into a circle
  3. Leave them to firm up on the tray before moving them

Option 2Chill the rest of the dough

  1. Put the remaining dough in the fridge until it's firm
  2. Bake on a cool tray lined with baking paper

Option 3Use them another way

  1. If they've merged into a sheet, break them up and use them as a crunchy topping for ice cream or as a base for a cheesecake

Next time

  • Use butter that's soft but not greasy or melting
  • Weigh the flour and sugar carefully
  • Chill the dough before baking
  • Let baking trays cool between batches and line them with baking paper rather than greasing them

Terms on this page

General kitchen guidance, not food-safety advice. If food may be unsafe, for example undercooked meat or anything left out too long, follow the Food Standards Agency and throw it away if in doubt.