I've been puzzling over this same problem for years. I thought it might be that the dough hadn't had time to sit (basically what MJR said) so I began to refrigerate or freeze my dough instead of baking the cookies immediately. I still had the same problem with the first batch on many occasions. I had actually lowered the temperature from 375 to 350 as well and had the same problem. So I decided since the oven most likely had a chance to cool down between batches, with the oven door flapping open every 12 to 14 minutes I deduced that the temperature may be too high just after the pre-heat. I kept the oven door open about the same amount of time I would between batches just before I started the first one and amazingly the first batch came out fine. I can't attest that this will work each time but it's fun to try to figure out different conditions that affect the end results and I have learned so much from reading the King Arthur blog and the comments section.

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