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Hey Besties! We’re tackling a topic that infuriates cookiers and causes all kinds of commotion in cookie discussion groups. Cutout cookie spread! Ugh…such a downer in the world of cookie decorating! And if you ask 10 people how to avoid cookies spreading, you’re likely to get 10 different answers. Which, to new cookiers, can be extremely confusing and frustrating. There’s a lot of misinformation out there, but fortunately baking truly is science, so there are answers we can rely on. Is it the baking powder? Butter? Chilling? Let’s dive in!
What Is True Cookie Spread?
I always give it to you straight, just like a true Bestie, and this is something we need to address. Somewhere along the line, cookiers started on a quest to achieve ZERO spread cookies. And if they had 1/8″ of growth, they were convinced they had a cookie spread problem. No ma’am, that is not cookie spread. If your cookies GROW a little but, even as much as 1/4″ overall, that is not cookie SPREAD. If your cookies are delicious and are clearly the shapes that are supposed to be, you have beautiful cookies. Your quest is over! Cookie SPREAD is when your cookies grow significantly or come out of the oven as unrecognizable blobs. That is cutout cookie spread and something you can fix.
When I tell you I receive messages from cookiers showing me the 1/8″ growth of their cookies and they are distraught about their “spread”! I’m over here zooming in as far as possible to even see what they are concerned about. Bestie, that is not spread. Enjoy or decorate that cookie!
A Word About Cutout Cookie Recipes
As we all know, there are thousands of cutout cookie recipes out there. The recipes that will give you the best results for perfectly keeping cutout cookie shapes are well-written, balanced recipes. And when I say this, I mean they are created with the proper flour to butter ratio so that the structure of the cookie can absorb the melting fat of the butter.
I personally only use and publish no-chill cutout cookie recipes, which do not require ANY chilling. Selfishly, I just don’t have the time to chill dough and since these recipes still produce delicious, perfectly shaped cookies, I don’t need to! The ONLY time I might chill my dough is if I will be hand-cutting shapes. I can get cleaner cuts with my blade while hand-cutting if my dough is cold. But if I am using cookie cutters, I NEVER chill my dough. I can have cookies ready to decorate in 30 minutes from the time I start pulling out my ingredients. No time wasted and beautiful, delicious results.
The recipe you use may require chilling as a factor to avoid spread. But if you use a no-chill recipe, chilling is truly unnecessary.
Does Baking Powder Cause Cutout Cookie Spread?
Oof, baking powder is SO commonly blamed for cutout cookie spread so let’s talk about it. Baking powder is a 2-in-1 chemical leavening agent that includes an alkali and an acid, hence the “double action”. When moistened, a chemical reaction takes place that produces carbon dioxide which inflates cookies. In simple terms, the alkali and acid work together to provide air and lift within baked goods but contain it to the structure.
Cookies with baking powder will be lighter, whereas a cookie without baking powder will be denser. The more baking powder a cookie has, the more cake-like texture it will have. Baking powder also already includes cornstarch, lending to the softness when used in a cookie. It can be easy to remember that baking powder PUFFS and baking soda SPREADS.
So is baking powder to blame for cutout cookie spread? No. Does it serve a purpose? Yes. If you’re using a recipe that calls for baking powder and you choose to remove it, you will have a denser cookie.
I prefer cookies that are light, soft and chewy, which is why all of my cutout cookie recipes do include baking powder. And yet, the cookies perfectly keep their shapes since the recipes are balanced.
You may have a recipe you love that does not include baking powder, but that doesn’t mean everyone should simply remove the baking powder from their recipes. Baking powder is not the cause of cutout cookie spread and does serve a purpose. Let’s not confused PUFF with SPREAD, as they are two very different things.
Cookie Experiment!
To illustrate, I baked our normal vanilla cutout cookie recipe which includes 2 tsp of baking powder and a batch with no baking powder. The cookie with baking powder was puffier and lighter in texture whereas the cookie without baking powder was very dense, compact and almost concave. The flavor was basically the same, but the texture was different. I also needed to add an additional 3T of flour to the batch without baking powder in order to get the dough to pull away from the bowl when mixing, like the regular batch. You can see how these cookies looked here! On the left, baking powder was included and on the right, no baking powder was excluded.
So Why Do Cutout Cookies Spread?
Alright, so now that we’re going to stop blaming the baking powder, let’s talk about the 3 most common reasons your cookies may spread. In helping thousands of cookiers, it is almost always one of a combination of these 3 culprits.
Butter is Too Warm
If there is one thing I have learned over the years is that “room temperature” is very different to everyone. And when it comes to baking cutout cookies, if your butter is too warm, your cookies will very likely spread. Try using more chilled butter. When I’m making cutout cookies, I use butter that has been out of the fridge for less than 30 minutes or simply zap in the microwave for 12 second on half-power. Then cube your butter so that is creams easily. You’ll notice a huge difference by using colder butter when making cutout cookies.
OverCreaming Butter & Sugar
This the arguably the most common culprit I find when helping bakers. Y’all are creaming that butter/sugar for FAR too long for cutout cookies. Try creaming your butter for 2 minutes or just until the sides of the mixing bowl are painted with the mixture. That is as long as you need to cream for. Excessive creaming will absolutely lead to cookie spread. I’ve included a video link below so you can see exactly how long I cream our butter & sugar for our cutout cookies.
Baking Surface Matters
The surface you bake your cookies on makes a world of difference in the results. And what works best for drop cookies may not be what works best for cutout cookies! I recently published THIS post where we compared two different kinds of parchment papers, silicone baking mats and perforated baking mats. The perforated baking mats were the hands-down winner without ANY cookie spread. Whereas one of the parchment paper types led to significant spreading. So, if you’re doing everything else right and still getting spread, it likely can be resolve by simply switching your baking surface. THESE are the perforated baking mats we use and love. And HERE are the only parchment paper sheets we use which still curb spreading.
One Last SUggestion…
Don’t overcrowd your cutout cookie pan. If your cookies are too close together, they’ll be drawn to each other, contributing to spread. Leave each cookie with at least 1-2″ space around it.
Cutout Cookie Mixing Video
If you’d like, you can see exactly how we mix out cutout cookies every day. This will show you how long we cream for and more. You can find this video HERE!
Putting an End To Cutout Cookie Spread
Lastly Bestie, I’m always an advocate for trying something different if you’re not getting the results you want. If you’ve tried everything and don’t love the results, try a different recipe! There’s nothing worse than sticking with something that’s not working for you. Enter the definition of insanity, right?
I hope this helps you and other fellow bakers achieve beautiful, delicious cutout cookies. My hope is that this can dispel some of the misinformation out there and truly help bakers fix this issue if they are struggling with it. And also ensure we’re only trying to fix an issue when it’s actually an issue. A tiny bit of cookie growth is normal and not something that needs to be corrected or worried about.
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