The Genius Trick to Keep Your Cookies From Spreading

Baking and decorating cookies is a fun way to celebrate the holidays and there are so many ways to be creative. From stars to candy canes and snowmen to Christmas trees, each cookie is like a tiny masterpiece, bringing delight to both the baker and those who enjoy the treats.

But when cookies spread in the oven, the joy of making them can quickly turn to frustration. Those crisp stars morph into blobs, and the clean edges of trees blur beyond recognition. Even if you're not making cut-out cookies, a flat, oily cookie isn't what you're going for. When your baked goods flop, the effort that you put into making them feels wasted.

If you've felt this particular disappointment, food blogger and content creator Sarah Visintainer (aka @halfbatchbaking) is here to help. She's professionally trained in pastry and has a master's degree in science, so she can explain the hows and the whys of baking to help you make your cookies better.

One of her most recent Instagram posts focused on stopping cookies from spreading and as soon as we saw it we started taking notes. Here's what you need to know to make your cookies so much better this holiday season—and beyond.

Related: The Genius Christmas Cookie Trick We Wish We'd Known About Sooner

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Why Do Cookies Spread and How Do You Prevent It?

According to Visintainer's Instagram post, there are several possible reasons that your cookies are spreading as they bake. Knowing these potential pitfalls can help you avoid baking blunders.

1. The butter's too warm.

Many cookie recipes have you start the process by creaming sugar with butter with an electric mixer. "This process adds air to the batter and increases the volume of the cookies," she wrote in the caption to their Instagram post. "However, if the butter is too soft or melted, it can cause the cookies to spread more." If you're a baking nerd, you might also appreciate Visintainer's explanation of exactly what's going on during the creaming process. In the voiceover on the video, she says that the sugar acts as "tiny abrasive agents, cutting into the butter creating tiny pockets of air. The pockets of air create a foundation, helping the cookies rise. If the fat is too warm the butter starts to solidify and it cannot trap air."

Fix It: To make sure the texture of your cookies come out as you'd like, the butter should be between 65 and 68°, said Visintainer. She went on to add that butter that's above 70° is too warm. How can you tell? Stick a thermometer in it. And if you don't want to go that route, press your finger into the stick of butter. You should be able to make an indent but it shouldn't be squishy. If it's too warm, stick it in the fridge for a few minutes.

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2. You overbeat the sugar and butter.

Ok. So your butter is at the right temperature and you stuck it in the stand mixer with the sugar and then moved on to other things while the mixer does it work. That's totally fine, right? Sure, to a point, but you still have to pay attention. "Even if your butter is the correct temperature and you overbeat it it adds too much air and this can result in uneven air bubbles and a weak structure that when baked it spreads thin and flat and has a dense, oily texture," said Visintainer.

Fix it: The fix here is pretty simple. Keep an eye on the butter and sugar. When the mixture is light and fluffy you're good. After that point, you head into overbeaten territory.

Related: You Can Buy the World’s Best Butter at Walmart

3. There's too much sugar.

Another factor that Visintainer brings up is using too much sugar. Excessive sugar liquefies and caramelizes during baking, causing the cookies to spread more. Recipes with a higher sugar content tend to produce cookies that spread more.

Fix it: To make sure the amount of sugar is what it should be, be precise when you're measuring ingredients for cookies. Although baking can be an art, it's also a ton of science. Starting with the science means you'll get a delicious, good-looking bake that you can put your own artistic spin on.

Related: We Baked Cookies With 10 Different All-Purpose Flours and the Winner Won By a Landslide

4. The dough is too warm.

This one goes back to the butter. If the dough is too warm, the fat in the cookies will melt too quickly, resulting in increased spreading.

Fix it: If your dough starts to get sticky and doesn't roll easily, just stick it in the fridge for a few minutes. Once the butter firms up you should be ready to roll (literally).

Related: The Best Way To Soften Butter Quickly

5. The oven isn't hot enough.

Flat cookies can also signal an oven issue, says Visintainer. If the oven temperature is too low, the cookies may spread before they have a chance to set, which will give you flat cookies and also ones that are doughy and raw in the center.

Fix it: All ovens are different, so it's important to know yours. After you've baked in your oven for a while you'll start to know its quirks. Maybe it runs high or low, maybe there are hot spots, etc. It's a good idea to put an oven thermometer in the oven so you have a sense of the real temperature inside the oven—it doesn't always align with the number on the dial. You should also double-check your recipe to make sure you're heating the oven to the temperature they suggest.

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Related: My Dad Cracked the Code to the Best-Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies