About Cookie Sheets and Baking in Batches

Cookie sheets come in a wide variety of sizes. Many of these cookie recipes produce enough dough to fill more than one large cookie sheet (about 16 x 12 inches) and definitely more than one smaller cookie sheet. Never crowd cookies to try to fit them all on one sheet. Restraint in spacing is especially important for cookies that expand while baking. The space will prevent cookies from melding into one large mass. For dough that expands, the recipes alert bakers to leave about two inches of space between cookies. Even those that do not expand much need a little space from their neighbors to bake evenly all around.