I throw myself on the mercy of the bakers here, for some advice...

I have constantly had problems, trying to bake light, raised, cookies
with my Spelt flour. They constantly turn out flat and thin, like lace
cookies or puddles.

A while back, Vox Humana graciously posted a recipe for crispy peanut
butter cookies. I tried them, and they came out perfectly - light,
slightly crisp, over 1/4" thick, with a lovely texture. Best I've ever
had come out. Made them several times since, and they are gone quickly.

Even a great peanut butter cookie is just not enough of a repertoire. My
girls had been baking snickerdoodles the other day (from frozen
fund-raiser dough), and tonight, I felt the need for some myself.

I searched and read a number of recipes, and finally settled on one from
recipesource.com which I'll quote below. It uses more flour to fat ratio
than Vox's, but not altogether dissimilar. The instructions were pretty
generic; since Vox's details on creaming and mixing times and orders
were quite precise, and the recipe *works*, I followed that process. The
cookies raised nicely in the oven, spreading only a little more than the
2" expected spacing, so only a few touched together. Stayed high and
puffy, right up to a minute or so before they started to set and get
some color, then went flat as the kind of pancake I like. They're crisp,
quite delicious, but just not the 1/4" to 3/8" thick, airy cookie I was
hoping for! When I touched one, after about 6 1/2 minutes, to see if it
was getting set, it deflated like a soap bubble - there was just nothing
there...

Can someone please analyze these two recipes, and suggest how I might
get the results I'm looking for, from anything except this one peanut
butter cookie?!?

Dave

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Here is the recipe that I use for peanut butter cookies. They turn out
crisp. Don't make any substitutions.

Peanut Butter Cookies
-----------------------------------
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (not self-rising)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream the butter and peanut butter for about 1 minute in an electric mixer.
Scrape the bowl and add the sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg.
Beat on high speed for an additional minute.
Combine the dry ingredients.
With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients.
Increase the speed to medium and beat for about 1 minute.

Form 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.
Press flat with the tines of a fork in a criss-cross pattern, dipping
the fork into sugar between cookies to prevent sticking.

Bake in a pre-heated, 375F oven for 10 - 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

[On insulated sheets, with Spelt flour, make it 400F for 10+ minutes.]

Makes about 3 dozen

Vox Humana in rec.food.baking

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Snickerdoodles

1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c shortening
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 c flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix thoroughly butter, shortening, 1 1/2 c sugar and the eggs.
Blend in flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt.
Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls.
Mix 2 tbs sugar and the cinnamon; roll balls in mixture.
Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set.
Immediately remove from baking sheet.