To ask why my cookies always wind up flat and my cakes never rise??

[CakeKiller]

I don't get it. I follow the recipe to a T and expect lovely chunky cookies, yet they always spread out and go flat. I'm doing everything I should - the butter isn't too soft, I don't overmix, I chill the dough, I've even tried rolling them into balls and freezing before baking - but they never wind up like the ones I can buy at a bakery.

I used to make great cakes too, but now they just sink! Again, I'm following the recipe and I've recently replaced my baking powder and bicarb of soda in case that was the problem, but they still dont rise. Banana bread is about the only thing I make that does rise - everything else rises a bit and then sinks.

I did wonder if the oven was a problem and bought an oven thermometer to check if it was getting up to temperature and it is. It can't be the recipe as the same thing happens with any cake I make, apart from he aforementioned banana bread. That's made with oil and the cakes and cookies with butter but surely that couldn't be the reason?

I think you have probably been cursed. Are there any old ladies living near you that have cats?

Are you using the correct flour, i.e. self raising (or plain of you are adding raising agents)? Also, is the flour in date? Intermittently I get bread from my break makers that's not as good as normal and it's down to either the yeast or the flour being too old - I changed one of the other and the problem goes away. Is everything being kept in a dry environment - it's a problem if they get damp.

I always cook with room temperature eggs and butter. I do 99% of the baking in our house - my wife always says her cakes never written out as well at mine and I think/suspect that's down to the fact that I'm quicker at getting the mix into the preheated oven from the time I've added the eggs mainly because I'm strong enough to mix by hand - my wife always seems to take too long to do the mixing on heavier cakes where you can't use an electric whisk.

You've done all the right things by making sure the raising agents are fresh. Is the oven thermostat faulty - maybe the temperature is dropping at some point during the bake?

Can you make the mixture then try cooking them at a friend/neighbours house then you can see if it is the oven at fault

How fresh is the flour? What pans are you using - metal or silicone?

I use the weigh the eggs method to make cakes, is it worth trying a new recipe or method? Do you open the oven door or over mix?

Through trial and error I have found that budget brands of flour result in a lower rise.

Can you write down exactly how you would make a plain sponge cake for example then maybe we could give you some more pointers.

Baking is much more of a science so ingredients need to be weighed exactly.
Are you using the right size tins?
Are you preheating the oven?
Are you overbeating the mixture? Overbeating once you have added the flour develops the gluten and the cake won't rise as much.
If you use too much baking powder the cake will rise and then sink. I find that I usually need to use less than the recipe states.
I don't use the creaming method for a basic sponge, just the all in one method.
You need to put the mixture in the oven as soon as it has been combined as the raising agent in the baking powder starts to react with the other ingredients.

If it’s not your ingredients or over mixing then your oven is too hot.

These are my main issues i've had in the past

1. overmixing, sometimes if you're being too heavy handed with mixing you can incorporate more air, so you get air pockets during baking, which then collapse. make sure you only mix using a gentle folding motion and only until the ingredients are incorporated.

2. leaving the batter too long before baking.. if you dont put it in more or less straight away the raising agents can stop working.. don't let mixed batter sit around too long, make sure your oven is already pre-heated so it can go in asap.

3. opening the oven too early. resist the impulse to peek, lol.

You’re lucky, my cookies always end up with a cake like texture. Sob

If your cakes are sinking they're not baked in the middle. Try a lower temp

Make sure you're using light baking tins- anodised aluminium ones have been a game changer for me. Are you using flexible silicone baking 'tins'

A light coloured baking tray will also reduce the spread issue with the cookies. Line a tray with baking paper, avoid using silicone anything.

Also the recipe you use should be telling you what sort of tins and sizes to use; if it doesn't it's a poor recipe and I'd urge you to find another.

Your oven. I had an oven I couldn't bake anything in. Got a new one, baking is perfect..

Are you thinking light thoughts 😄?

My Granny used to say we had to think light thoughts when we were baking together 💛.

I agree that it’s probably oven temperature.

If it’s too hot the cakes will rise and collapse, and the cookies will spread more.

volunteering to come & be chief tester.

Switch some of the butter in the cookies out for Trex (use a little bit less). The melting point is higher so they don't start to spread as fast as all butter ones 😊👍

It's J K Rowling.

To answer a few questions, yes I am using the right size tins, ingredients are in date, not overbeating (I've tried stand mixer and by hand for cookies and there's no difference), and I'm following the recipes exactly. Some recipes are ones I've made in the past and they were fine then! So that makes me think the oven is at fault because I'm doing everything the same as I always did. Unfortunately my landlord is unlikely to buy that as a reason to get me a new oven!

Literally clicked on the thread to ask the same question. Great minds!

I just remembered that I had some cookie balls in the freezer the other day and fancied just a couple so I baked them in my air fryer and they came out much better. So it looks like it is the oven that's the problem ☹☹

That’s not a bad thing, OP - just turn your oven temperature down to 160° or 170° and try that. If the thermostat is running high it’s easy to compensate for it.

Or if your oven is too low there can be insufficient speed in the rising and so the batter cooks (solidifies) before it's risen enough. Maybe try a batch of cookies and separate them out onto 4 trays, and put them all in the fridge for a bit, then bake the trays separately at different temperatures (according to what your oven says it is) and then see what happens. Eg one tray at 325, one 350, one 375, one 400

I struggled for years until I tried smaller tins. If there's not enough mixture then a sponge won't rise
But now I make tea cake or biscotti. Both are super easy and always go down well.

Could be the oven or the flour. I found that using Tesco flour things were not rising so went back to more expensive and problem was fixed.

It's the oven. I moved here from a different country and had to adjust my baking times, because every oven I've come across so far has doubled the time I was used to from my recipes I put together in my home country. Same ingredients, but the ovens here aren't as strong as the ones back home.

Do you have a fan oven?