Well, it only took me about 25 years of making cookies before I finally solved my flat-cookie problem.

I’ve made a lot of cookies in my time, and my best cookie is an oatmeal chocolate chip that is a genuine county fair blue ribbon award winner. (The big secret is that the recipe is the one on the bottom of the Quaker Oats lid.)

But I have a problem with cookies: aesthetics. My cookies just never look as nice as I would like them to look. Of course looks are not really important in a cookie, but it drives me a little bit crazy, particularly if I’m taking them somewhere to share. I can’t make a nice-looking chocolate chip cookie to save my soul.

I’ve tried a lot of things to fix this. I’ve used half shortening and half butter. I’ve used all shortening. I’ve tried adding a half cup of pecan meal, sifting the flour vs. not sifting the flour and at least a dozen other tricks, all to no avail. Flat cookies, every time.

So imagine my delight when I made a humble half-batch of chocolate chip cookies and they turned out both delicious and nice to look at.

My adapted recipe is below. I believe the difference this time around was using slightly colder butter than usual—just a few minutes out of the fridge rather than room temp as I am used to doing. I also made my own brown sugar, which may also have had an effect. This is probably a “duh” for more experienced cookie makers but I am proud to have finally cracked this (perhaps very obvious?) code.

Black & White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 t wheat germ, toasted (optional)
1/2 cup butter (softened just a bit—not room temp)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (to make your own, follow these directions)
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

Method
Preheat oven to 350.