What happens when you add more flour to a cookie recipe (2024)

This monthly experiment revolves around flour AGAIN! (Recall my first ever experiment in July.) The central premise: What happens when you add more flour to a cookie recipe? I used Snickerdoodle cookies are my test cookie because everyone knows that Snickerdoodles are phenomenal cookies.

How it all began (also known as the scientific question):Back in the day, when I was a wee little girl, I baked Snickerdoodles exclusively for about a year. Every few weeks, I would whip up a batch of these babies and every time, I managed to make a vastly different cookie. (Thankfully I’ve learned how to make consistent cookies.) One time, I threw all of the ingredients haphazardly into the mixer (even though I’d made these about four times before, I still forgot to cream the butter and sugar first. Go figure. Neurons?) and the cookies turned out fluffy and cake-like. Another time, I halved the recipe and I forgot to halve the flour and the cookies were ultra thick and pillowy.

What does this have to do with my experiment today? Well, I think all of my early cookie failures made me develop a taste foronly thick, fluffy Snickerdoodle cookies. Pish posh on this thin Snickerdoodles! I wanted to have to make an effort to take a bite. But how did I make those cookies so thick and fluffy back in the day?

I did a lot of reflecting. Could I have chilled them? No, I didn’t chill my cookies when I was younger, even though mom insisted I didn’t get it. What could’ve happened?

Flour. The culprit was flour. Like I’d said: one time I halved the batch and I frequently forgot to halve some major ingredient. Perhaps flour made fluffy, thick Snickerdoodles?

I wanted to test this hypothesis, even though I had a feeling I knew the answer.

Hypothesis:More flour in the Snickerdoodle cookie recipe would certainly yield a thicker, fluffier cookie because more flour meant less spread. However, I also was nervous that more flour would lead to less desirable taste because too much flour diminishes the gloriousness of the Snickerdoodle.

The Control Recipe:This is my mom’s classic Snickerdoodle cookie recipe that I baked with as a wee lass. For my experiment, I halved the recipe (I can’t afford that much butter, people) and then used these flour measurements in the halved recipe:

1 1/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons flour

1 3/4 cups flour

2 cups flour

Mom’s Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe

Author: Brita

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 24-48

These are my mom’s classic Snickerdoodle cookie recipe and the recipe that I baked many times as a kid.

Ingredients

  • For the cookie:
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or more if you’d like!)
  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon cinnamon (or more, if you’d like)
  • For the cinnamon sugar coating:
  • 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 3 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

  1. In a bowl, using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream together the butter and granulated sugar.
  2. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix until incorporated.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.
  4. Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg/sugar mixture.
  5. Mix only until incorporated.
  6. Chill for two hours or up to 48 hours. Remove from the fridge for about 15 minutes before rolling into balls. Roll into balls that are about three Tablespoons big. (These cookies will be massive and delicious!)
  7. Then roll them in the sugar and cinnamon mixture. I tend to go heavy on the cinnamon for maximum cinnamon flavor.
  8. If you don’t use the dough within that time, freeze it. A trick that I have is to roll the balls before I freeze them for easier baking. When you bake them from the freezer, let the dough thaw on the counter for a half hour.
  9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the first brown appears.
  10. Once baked, these cookies will last in a sealed container for up to three days.

Results:

I was right! But the extra flour really didn’t affect taste all that much. What it affected more was how well the cookies baked all the way through. The recipe with almost double the amount of flour was overdone on the bottom and gooey in the middle. The cookie with the least amount of flour spread too much. My favorite? The one right in the middle. (I feel like Goldilocks.)

The Snickerdoodle Recipe made with 1 1/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons flour

The Results:This cookie spread the most by far. They tasted amazing! So much cinnamon.

Opinion:Too thin for me! Not enough substance for me.

The Snickerdoodle Recipe made with 1 3/4Tablespoons flour

The results:This cookie had the nicest looking edges and the overall baked the best. It was evenly baked throughout. It also tasted delicious! It didn’t have an overpowering flour taste.

The opinion:My favorite of the bunch!

The Snickerdoodle Recipe made with 2cups flour

The results:This cookie spread the least, which isn’t surprising because it had the most amount of flour. However, it did not bake very evenly throughout. The middle was still a bit undercooked while the bottom was overcooked. Also, the “too much flour” flavor started coming through.

The opinion:I still liked it better than cookie number one 1 (1 1/4 + 2 Tablespoons), but number 2 (1 3/4) was by far the best.

Conclusion:I ended up going with cookie number 2 that had 1 3/4 cups flour. I even posted a beautiful post about Snickerdoodle cookies with that recipe!

What fun! I can’t wait for the next experiment. A hint: lots of chocolate involved!

What happens when you add more flour to a cookie recipe (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you add more flour to cookies? ›

However, it's important to note that adding too much flour will make your cookies dry and crumbly. So, it's best to start with a small amount of extra flour and add more as needed.

How does amount of flour affect cookies? ›

Since flour provides the bulk of the structure in a cookie, the amount you use can alter the texture of the cookie: less flour to butter ratio means thin spread out cookies; more flour to butter ratio means dense and doughy cookies that don't spread as much.

What would happen if you added too much flour to your recipe? ›

It's a common mistake, especially for newer bakers. When there's too much flour and not enough liquid, the whole rising process is thrown off. The dryness of the dough will prevent the yeast or another rising agent from activating properly, leading to a stunted rise (or it may not rise at all).

Does too much flour make cookies cakey? ›

A little too much flour can be the difference between a dry, cakey cookie and a fudgy, chewy one. And if you're weighing your flour by volume (i.e., with measuring cups), then it's very likely you're adding too much flour.

Does too much flour make cookies flat? ›

I always recommend using a kitchen scale to measure your baking ingredients, especially your flour. Because too little flour and your cookie will spread – too much flour and your cookies will stay as balls in the oven.

How does extra flour vs less flour impact the cookie? ›

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.

What happens to chocolate chip cookies with too much flour? ›

What happens when you put more flour into a chocolate chip cookie? If you add extra flour to a chocolate chip cookie recipe, the cookie will be thicker and a bit drier with a “cake-ier” texture, rather than chewy.

What makes a chewy cookie? ›

Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

How do you fix runny cookie dough without flour? ›

There are several ways you can thicken cookie dough without adding flour: Add more butter: Adding more butter to the dough can help thicken it and give it a softer, more tender texture. Just be sure to incorporate the butter evenly throughout the dough.

How do I know how much flour to use for cookies? ›

However, a general rule of thumb is that the sugar-to-flour ratio for most cookie recipes should be around 1:2. This means that for every one cup of sugar, you should use two cups of flour. The ideal sugar-to-flour ratio for cookies can vary based on personal preference and the type of cookie you're aiming to achieve.

How do you fix cookies that are too cakey? ›

Using too much flour will make your cookies too cakey, so try reducing the flour amount by two tablespoons. Avoid using cake flour instead; try a mix of all-purpose flour and bread flour for a more dense and chewy texture.

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