Why does cookie dough cut with a cookie cutter keep their shape when baked but not when it is cut by hand, such as with a knife?

Question

I’ve seen so many of those baking fails when someone tries cutting a heart or unique shape but the dough bakes and spreads into a giant blob or circle lol

Edit: Thank you for all of your responses! I guess most of us can agree on it being fat content and chilling the dough, but it can be any number of factors affecting how it comes out when baked.

In: Other

Answer 1

I’m not a cook but the science makes sense. One fluid downward motion will be a cleaner cut and more likely to seal the edges. A dragging motion is more likely to leave micro tears in the soft dough. That creates “pores” for relatively unstable dough ingredients to escape, making a relatively worse result