Pancake flat cookies - what went wrong?

[CheddarGorgeous]

Chocolate chip cookies. Plain flour and baking powder. Why didn't they rise at all? (They still taste good)

Baking sodais strong, it is about 3-4x stronger thanbaking powder which is why your cookie spread and didn't rise like a cookie and keep their shape.

Thank you everyone for replying. I'll crack the secret of cookies one day.

Here you go Op

While both products appear similar, they're certainly not the same. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, which requires an acid and a liquid to become activated and help baked goods rise. Conversely, baking powder includes sodium bicarbonate, as well as an acid. It only needs a liquid to become activated.

Baking soda is usually called bicarbonate of soda in the UK. I'd also use recipes which are tried and tested - BBC Good Food has lots.

@wowfudge I have bicarbonate of soda in the cupboard

Oh well!

I have a fab recipe for homemade Hob Nobs if you want it OP.

I posted it on the baking thread and someone made them and pm’d me that they were the best homemade biscuits they’d ever tasted .

My DH put bicarbonate of soda instead of baking powder in his oat biscuits the other week and they had a disgusting aftertaste! He thought they were the same thing

Definitely use BBC Good Food - I started using it for every bake or cook I did as the recipes always turn out delicious, so much so I installed the app! Everything I make from there has been brilliant.

I did query the provenance of the recipe. Unfortunately DD is 12 and therefore knows EVERYTHING and why would she LISTEN to her MOTHER who knows NOTHING but still has to help and do all the clearing up

www.bbcgoodfood.com/user/23650/recipe/millies-cookies-recipe

This is the cookie recipe you need. Trust it, and don’t over cook them.

sallysbakingaddiction.com/chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/

OP the cookies above are amazing and like bakery cookies.

I was going to say OP, you need baking soda or bicarb of soda for biscuits and cookies, not baking powder.

A better effort thanks to @BananaPlant's recipe. I'll try @Yesterdayforgotten's next. Thanks everyone

@CheddarGorgeous they look nice.

Hope you like the recipe. I always prefer my cookies alittle doughy like in the bakery and crispy around edges so they look underdone when I remove them from oven. They set when cool and are good though.

I use the bbc millie's recipe! I baked them with flora rather than butter the other day, actually turned out really well.

Oh i tried that but I much prefer Sally's

I made that exact recipe today and they came out great - I made it without any baking soda as I didn’t have any in. I refrigerated overnight

@FamilyOfAliens could I have your homemade hobnobs recipe, please? I love an oat biscuit!

Hob Nobs recipe:

Combine these in a bowl:
200g caster sugar
190g plain flour
150g porridge oats

Melt in a small saucepan:
225g butter
1tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsp water
When the butter has melted, add 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well.
Roll into balls 2.5cm diameter, flatten and place on a non-stick baking (or use baking paper).
Cook at GM4 for 7-10 minutes. Allow to cool on the sheet then transfer to a cooling rack.
They spread out in the oven so I cook them in batches of six per sheet so they can spread out more.

Thanks @FamilyOfAliens

DD made the Pret a manger recipe ones the other day, they were quite honestly the best cookies I've ever had. So maybe try that recipe.

Those hobnobs are the best, I saw them on here years ago and they get requested by dh workmates regularly.

I’ve posted the HobNobs recipe on here several times under various different usernames since I was first given the recipe in 1999