Could be, but we just baked some this week that had been in the fridge overnight and didn’t have that problem. What sort of peanut butter did you use?

I did spoon and level the flour so I’m not sure that was it. I let the dough in the fridge for about 4 hours, maybe the dough was too cold?

Hi Elissa, happy to help troubleshoot. It sounds like there may have been too much flour in the dough, soaking up all the wet ingredients and preventing spread. How did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure just the right amount of flour. You could also flatten out the dough balls before baking to help initiate more spread. Hope this helps for next time, and thanks for giving this recipe a try!

I had the same issue…didn’t spread at all, and pretty crumbly. I’m not sure why. Every other recipe of Sally’s I’ve tried has been amazing! Not sure why this one was “off” for me…

Hi Steph, we’re happy to help. How did you measure the flour? Too much flour will prevent the cookies from spreading. Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post. If you decide to make these again and find they are still not spreading, feel free to take them out towards the end of bake time and gently tap the pan on the counter or push the dough balls down with the back of a spoon to help initiate spreading, then return to the oven to finish baking. A fresh batch of baking soda is always recommended for best results—we find it starts to lose its effectiveness after 3 months of opening (even if it’s not yet expired). Hope this helps for your next batch!

Hi Emi, for best taste and texture, we recommend a creamy processed peanut butter like Skippy or Jif.