There is a cookie recipe cabal, I tell you.

April 3, 2006 8:22 PM

Can anyone actually make six dozen cookies based on the cookie recipe? I can, at best, get three dozen. Unless I use a half teaspoon measure and make cookies sized for Lilliputian midgets, there's no way I get six dozen. Is it me? Is it the lying liars that make these recipes? Betty Crocker, et al, constantly put expectations of dozens of cookies that always come to naught (naught being 24 - 30 cookies). Chipits, j'accuse!
posted by Salmonberry to Food & Drink (16 answers total)

From a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation, you could only get 44 cookies out of the package even if you split the dough into subatomic particles.
posted by Krrrlson at 8:31 PM on April 3, 2006

You're not alone. I consistently get about 2 dozen out of a standard recipie. It doesn't make sense either. You'd think they would want you to make bigger cookies, thereby using more product.
posted by cosmicbandito at 8:38 PM on April 3, 2006

I've never had cookie recipies make the claimed amount. I just figured I like my cookies big - which is certainly true.

What's annoying is that I used to be put off by the claimed yields, so I'd halve the recipe and end up with, oh, three cookies.
posted by loquacious at 9:01 PM on April 3, 2006

While six dozen sounds like wishful thinking, there are cooking-fu skills to make dough rise higher and fluffier, reducing the amount of dough used for each individual cookie. For example, sifting the flour or using a flour brand such as White Lily -- mostly, this means whipping more air into the dough.
posted by frogan at 9:11 PM on April 3, 2006

The bane of my existence. I always figured it's because the recipe calls for "small spoonfuls", and I enjoy "massive honking spoonfuls".
posted by muddgirl at 9:11 PM on April 3, 2006

Considering that you're supposed to use a teaspoon to dish out the dough, I'd suggest that most of us simply like big cookies. Polite "tea cookies" are supposed to be dainty. :)
posted by acoutu at 9:28 PM on April 3, 2006

You're probably making the cookies too big. I use a scoop for my cookies, and I usually wind up with a yield about what the recipe says (modulo the dough that doesn't make it into the cookies). (The scoop is a compromise between making cookies by hand (what I want) and not making them at all(which is what my shoulder doc would prefer).)

The Number 40 scoop makes 1 Tablespoon cookies; the Number 60 makes smaller ones. Scoops are available at GFS or other kitchen supply store.
posted by jlkr at 10:20 PM on April 3, 2006

If you're anything like me, you're probably eating at least a dozen's worth of dough before it ever hits the pan...
posted by Galvatron at 11:16 PM on April 3, 2006

My favorite cookie recipe always winds up with about 6 dozen cookies (probably 60-70 instead of the full 72 but close enough). Comparing to the recipe you link to, though, it uses about twice as much stuff (more flour, eggs, etc). But then again, look how huge (self link) the cookies it makes are!

(they're actually on the smaller side, which is fine because then you can eat more of them. six dozen cookies is still really quite though)
posted by aubilenon at 12:45 AM on April 4, 2006

Sometimes I end up with more cookies than the package (Nestle) says I will. I think it might be because I'm a small person with small hands so I measure the cookies out small. I use a teaspoon to scoop it, but don't usually use a whole teaspoonful of dough.

I like small cookies, anyway.
posted by srah at 3:44 AM on April 4, 2006

I agree with jlkr. Since I started using scoops for cookies, muffins, cupcakes, etc., my results are more consistent and usually agree with the recipe's predicted yield. I highly recommend buying scoops in several sizes for your various baking needs.

However, most recipes do expect you to make SMALL cookies.
posted by briank at 6:14 AM on April 4, 2006

As an offshoot of what Frogan said: it's also possible you're not creaming the butter and sugar together properly. With room temperature butter and a fairly decent stand mixer (say, a KitchenAid), it takes a good five minutes at a medium-high speed to properly combine those two ingredients. If done right, you get a lot more structure and a lot more dough.

If your leavener is fresh you can also start with smaller amounts of dough per cookie, and still get a larger resulting cookie.

Still, I doubt I could get more than 60 cookies out of a "standard" off-the-bag recipe. Someone should call the Tollhouse and demand an answer.
posted by bcwinters at 6:17 AM on April 4, 2006

I never get the yield that recipes call for. I just double up if I know I'm going to need more, because there's nothing sadder than working all afternoon and only having half the cookies you wanted.
posted by sugarfish at 6:22 AM on April 4, 2006

Part of it is the need to make the nutritional information more appealing. Most every "junk food" item relies on unrealistically small serving sizes to keep the calorie, fat, and sugar percentages down. Thus you get odd things like 2.5 servings per can of soda, 3 2/3 servings per tiny bag of candy, and so forth. I think 48 cookies per box is another example of that.

One product that bucks this trend is the Hungry-Man All Day Breakfast, which isn't afraid to boast of 64 grams of fat, over 1000 calories, and 230+% of your RDA of cholesterol.
posted by ewagoner at 6:49 AM on April 4, 2006

So, when you measure out a cookie with a teaspoon, do you then bite the resultant cookie? Or do you slam it back in one gulp, like a wee cookie shooter? These sound more like cookie vitamins than actual cookies.
posted by Shutter at 7:57 AM on April 4, 2006

ewagoner mentioned the nutritional information; I wish the recipes were more realistic in this regard. My partner has to calculate insulin shots based on the net carbs on the label, and sometimes the odd serving sizes make this really maddening.
posted by Robert Angelo at 10:44 AM on April 4, 2006