Perfect dough balls go in, thin cookies stuck together come out. It's the number one mistake when baking at home, and it can almost always be fixed.
1. The dough wasn't cold enough. The main cause. If it goes in warm, the butter melts before the dough sets and the cookie spreads.
2. The tray was hot. Baking the second batch on a tray straight out of the oven is a recipe for flat cookies.
3. The oven isn't at the temperature it says. More common than you think.
4. The flour was eyeballed. Too little flour, soft dough that can't hold its shape.
5. The butter was too soft. If it's shiny or oily, it's already too late.
Every mistake has a reason, and once you understand it you stop depending on luck.
👉 In The Method we explain the cold, the oven and the formula behind the New York cookie, with a full troubleshooting guide to know what went wrong in every batch.