Baking homemade cookies is fun, but what if you just finished the dough and you notice it’s wetter than it should be? Fortunately, you don’t have to panic because there are simple ways to take care of the problem.
If your cookie dough is too wet you can fix the problem by adding flour, chilling the dough and adding cornstarch.
This article will explore 7 ways to fix cookie dough that is too wet and not stiff enough
7 Ways to Fix Cookie Dough that is Too Wet
Here are 7 easy ways to fix cookie dough that is too wet. These methods will help to stiffen the dough and avoid the wet dough spreading too far in your oven.
1. Add Flour
Adding extra flour to the cookie dough is the easiest way to stiffen the dough and fix dough that is too wet. If you’re used to sticking to the recipe, this might sound like an out-of-place solution, but it’s a very effective method of thickening up cookie dough.
The trick is to add the flour one tablespoon at a time until the dough has the right consistency
If you’re not sure about the consistency, bake 2-3 cookies first to see if they come out right before deciding what to do next.
2. Use Cornstarch Instead of Flour
If your cookie dough continuously comes out too thin and wet, you can try using cornstarch instead of flour in your recipe.
You’ll want to use half as much cornstarch as you would flour, and it works because cornstarch is such a great thickening agent. Cornstarch also makes your cookies softer and chewier in the end.
3. Take a Look at Your Recipe
The first thing you’ll want to do is make sure you followed the recipe to the letter and used the correct proportions of every single ingredient.
If you didn’t, you can either alter the recipe or throw the batter out and start all over again. The latter is often necessary when this happens, especially if you have used 1 1/2 cups of flour when you were supposed to use 1 1/4 cups instead.
4. Chill the Dough
Chilling the cookie dough will help to stiffen it up particularly if it is too wet. You can use either the fridge or the freezer, and it does a great job of stiffening up your cookie dough.
If you chill it in the refrigerator, you’ll have to keep it in there for several hours until it starts to get firmer.
If you use the freezer, you’ll only have to keep it in there for an hour or so until it can be removed.
5. Make Alterations to the Ingredients
If you added twice the amount of milk or water that you were supposed to, simply go back and add to the rest of the ingredients until they are also doubled.
This will result in a much larger batch of cookies, but is that really a problem?
6. Add Some Heat to the Dough
This tip can be tricky but if you’re careful, it can work. Simply set your oven to a very low setting and place the dough on a tray before putting it in the oven.
You cannot leave the dough alone with this tip because the dough can start to dry out after a while. Check the dough frequently so that this doesn’t happen, and remove the dough once it’s thicker.
7. Start All Over Again
There are always going to be times when you have to admit defeat and start all over again. If you can’t remember if you got the proportions right or you’ve tried everything and the dough is still too wet and runny, it’s best if you start over again.
Cookie dough that is too wet will spread out on the tray. The cookies can join together and can make a mess.
Check out this great video to help you to get the perfect cookie dough consistency.
What to Do if Your Cookie Dough is Too Runny
Cookie dough that is too runny likely got there because the recipe wasn’t followed to the letter or the temperature in your home or outside is too high.
More often than not, it is the incorrect proportions of wet-to-dry ingredients, which means you’ll have to add more dry ingredients to get the thickness back. You can also try making the room a little cooler and that may help.
Is It Okay if My Cookie Dough is Sticky?
Cookie dough should not be sticky. A tiny bit tacky in a few places is acceptable, but when it’s so tacky that you can’t manipulate it while combining the ingredients, that’s not good.
When this happens, simply add some flour a little at a time and re-knead the dough until it comes out right. If that never happens, you might’ve messed up the ingredients to the point where you have to start all over again.
How Wet Should Cookie Dough Be?
Your cookie dough should never be dry, tough to manipulate and knead, or too soft, runny, or wet. Instead, you’ll want to make sure the dough is thick, easy to knead without being too difficult, and just wet enough for the dough to stick together and work the way it should.
Why Cookie Dough Becomes Gummy
Cookie dough normally becomes gummy when the proportions of your ingredients are incorrect, the dough is too warm or there’s too much humidity in the air, or because you have too many wet ingredients in it.
As you can likely guess, the best thing to do at this point is to add a little flour so it becomes a little easier to work with and to knead. You can also try chilling the dough for a while.
Can You Overmix Cookie Dough?
You can certainly overmix your cookie dough. The main thing this does is make the dough very dry, sometimes to the point of being crumbly. This makes it impossible to knead and to cut it into the right shapes and sizes.
If you overmix and your cookie dough gets this way, simply add one tablespoon at a time of some type of liquid, such as water or milk, until the dough is a little wetter without being too damp.
Conclusion
Wet cookie dough can affect the taste and texture of the cookies and make kneading and preparing the dough very difficult. In most cases, adding dry ingredients can fix the problem, but you can also chill the dough and see if that works. If all else fails, simply start all over again.
I am an accredited practicing dietitian, experienced gardener and a dedicated cook. I love writing and sharing my experience so you can learn from my successes and mistakes.