Why do my cookies always turn out rock-hard?

[snafu enigma]

When they're fresh out of the oven, they taste fine. However, after even just 20 minutes, they turn all hard and rocky. Am I doing something wrong?

EDIT

here's the recipe i used from family circle. i followed it exactly since i'm not too experienced at baking.

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
1. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
2. Beat butter, sugar, egg and vanilla in clean bowl until blended. Stir in flour mixture. Gather into ball. Wrap and refrigerate several hours or overnight.
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat baking sheets with nonstick vegetable-oil cooking spray.
4. Roll out dough with lightly floured rolling pin on lightly floured surface to 3/8-inch thickness. Cut into cookies with 2-1/2-inch cookie cutters in holiday shapes. Place cookies on prepared sheets, spacing 1-1/2 inches apart. Decorate with colored sprinkles, sugars, jimmies and gum drops, if desired.
5. Bake in 350 degree F oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around the edges. Remove cookies to wire racks to cool. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

 

[Alix]

Snafu, could you post the recipe please? It will help us troubleshoot what is wrong. My first thought would be that you should try using melted or partially melted butter as that will yield a softer cookie.

Welcome to the site and post that recipe so we can help you out.

 

[jpmcgrew]

How long are you baking them?And what is your recipe.Is your oven running too hot for what it says? Get an oven thermometer most ovens run hotter than the settings you put them at

 

[Robo410]

some cookie recipes just harden up! Once cool, put them in a can with a slice of white bread. Gramma's trick for keeping her cookies chewy.

 

[Andy M.]

Often times, the ingredients are responsible. With minor changes you can change a recipe to make chewy cookies.

Follow the link below and check out the three versions of chocolate chip cookies Alton Brown makes. They will give you an idea of how a change in ingredients can give you cookies that are flat, chewy or puffy.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ea/episode/0,1976,FOOD_9956_17114,00.html

 

[Angel]

Not too sure; at a rough guess I would suggest you bake them for a shorter lenghth of time.

 

[QQMichelle]

It may be caused by some reasons:

1. over mixed the dough
2. insufficient beaten time for butter (it should be creamy and pale)

 

[marmalady]

Are you sure these are - supposed - to be a soft cookie? Most rolled and cut cookies (think Christmas cookies) are crispy, not soft.

If you beat in the flour/dry ingredients too long, it will make for a 'tough' cookie.

 

[philso]

over-baking is the most probable cause.

baking temperatures and times always have to be taken with a grain of salt. oven thermostats can be wildly off, whether you bake high or low in the oven, what you bake on, etc. etc. will all affect baking time.


one clue in this recipe is where it says to bake until the sides are brown. at that point, nearly any cookie will end up being hard and crunchy instead of moist and chewy. that said, some cookies are meant to be crunchy.

the simple solution is to bake a couple of minutes less and/or at a slightly lower temperature.

other things to try:
- increase the fat content
- instead of rolling them out and using extra flour, just make little balls and flatten them with your hand on the sheet.
- sugar adds not only sweetness, but also moisture to cakes, muffins, etc. but i think in cookies, it may instead make them harden as the sugar caramelizes, so decreasing the sugar may help
- make the dough softer by beating in a little milk with the egg before adding.
- use an extra egg, (essentially adding more moisture and fat at the same time)

good luck next time around. send me a couple if they come out good

 

[Andy M.]

Replace all or some of the sugar with brown sugar.

 

[Shaheen]

Agree with Andy, I usually use half white and half brown sugar.

 

[fawn]

i'm sorry for jumping in, i have a question regarding the cookies i just baked last sunday. the day they were baked they were crispy but comes the next day, they turned soft. I stored them in airtight container once they're cooled, but how come they still turned soft the next day?

I baked them around 15-20min:
I halved the recipe
Original:
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla

Halved it
1 3/4c, 2 T all purpose flour
1/2t powder
1/4 t salt
4 oz butter
3/4 c sugar (should be 1 c)
1 egg
1 t van (should be 1 1/2t)