Ultimate High Altitude Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you are a regular follower of my blog, you know that I am always searching for good high altitude recipes, since we live in Colorado Springs, at almost 7000 feet. At one time, I thought I had found the best chocolate chip cookie recipe for our altitude, but then I found that sometimes it worked, and sometimes, well, it just didn't, and I had flat cookies again. So my search continued. So, I went online to find yet another high altitude recipe for chocolate chip cookies, and when I found this one, I read the reviews, and several of those who reviewed this recipe were actually from Colorado Springs, so I thought, it's worth a try. Since I had a little spare time today before finishing my orders for tomorrow, I gave it a try, and I was very pleased with the results... crispy on the outside, and chewy on the inside, and they actually looked nice. For those of you who may like a chocolate chip cookie with more of a "cakey" texture, this is not that, but more of your traditional "Tollhouse type" texture. As I was reviewing the recipe, I noticed a couple of things that were unique. First, instead of 1 or 2 eggs, this recipe calls for 3, and it also calls for a bit more flour than your average recipe. I liked the idea that it did not call for any extra ingredients like cornstarch or pudding mix. This recipe also includes equal amounts of butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Any cookie recipe I make HAS to have ALL butter, no margarine or shortening. I just think it makes a difference in the taste. I also sprinkle the tops with just a bit of sea salt before baking to enhance the flavor. My conclusion... I think this may be my "go to" recipe when I need a good chocolate chip recipe for my cookie orders. 

Ultimate High Altitude Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups chocolate chips

Opt.: nuts, sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In large bowl, mix together butter and sugars until smooth. Mix in eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into batter just until blended, and then add in chocolate chips. Drop cookies by spoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Bake in preheated oven just until edges begin to turn golden, about 12 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on baking sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies. 

No More Flat Cookies

*Follow-up on this recipe is at the end of this post.

When we lived back in Arizona, baking was much different than when we moved here to the Springs at almost 7,000 feet altitude. I always used my normal Mrs. Field's chocolate chip cookie recipe and they turned out great. When we moved here, I used the same recipe and my cookies always turned out flat. They still tasted fine, but looked pretty awful. I have been searching for a good recipe to replace my old one and I finally found one that is a keeper. The recipe calls for a simple surprising ingredient... cornstarch. Who would have guessed? This dough is much stiffer than your normal chocolate chip cookie dough, but the end result is absolutely wonderful. For added flavor, try sprinkling just a little sea salt on top before baking, and please, please, do not over-bake your cookies. 

Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. bittersweet chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli)

Opt: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Opt: sea salt for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. (Use paddle attachment with a stand mixer.) Blend in egg and vanilla. Mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt, just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Using a standard sized cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet. If desired, lightly sprinkle sea salt on top of each. Bake for 8-10 min. or until barely brown around the edges. (The tops will not brown, but DO NOT bake longer than 10 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then remove and let completely cool on wire rack.

Tips from Cathy:

1.  I always bake my cookies on parchment paper lined baking sheets.

2.  The trick is to not over-bake your cookies-even if they look like they are not quite done; let them finish baking on the cookie sheet after you remove them from the oven. So many people bake their cookies too long and then you end up with a hard dry cookie.

3.  I don't always sprinkle the sea salt on top of the cookies because sometimes I forget, but I think it adds a really nice flavor. Just don't go too heavy on the salt-just enough to bring out the other flavors.

4.  I think Ghirardelli makes the best chocolate chips. The dark chocolate/bittersweet ones are the best. Be careful not to eat too many right out of the bag. :)

5.  This dough is stiffer than your normal chocolate chip cookie dough, but makes a cookie that does not go flat, especially in high altitudes.

6.  I usually make a double recipe, bake a couple dozen, and then roll the leftover dough into a roll and put it in the refrigerator. If your dough is cold when you bake it, add an extra minute (no more) to the baking time.

Surprise ingredient ... cornstarch

 Roll up extra dough and store in refrigerator.

 Let cookies finish baking on parchment lined baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack.

 Finished product ... yum, yum!

*For one reason or another, I still can't get these cookies to always turn out when I make them at our altitude. For example, I actually made 50 dozen (yes, that's 600 cookies) for my granddaughters' PTA Christmas event, and they all turned out flat...tasted good, but just didn't look very pretty. What a disappointment. So, I have been hunting for a new high altitude chocolate chip cookie recipe ever since. I think I finally found one. Click here for the new recipe.

Best Peanut Butter Cookies Ever!

For those of you who follow my blog, you know that I have problems from time to time with high altitude baking since we live at almost 7000 feet here in Colorado Springs. Most of my cookies turn out fine, but every once in awhile, a cookie recipe will turn out a less than desired result... usually flat flat cookies. Such has been the case with my peanut butter cookies. However, not too long ago, I found this amazing peanut butter cookie recipe that works very well here in Colorado. Stock up on your peanut butter because this recipe calls for allot of peanut butter, but worth every bit. These cookies can be made with or without chocolate chips and they literally melt in your mouth... yum.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies(makes 4-5 dozen)
1 cup butter, softened2 cups smooth or chunky peanut butter1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar1 cup granulated sugar2 large eggs1 1/2 tablespoons milk1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda1 teaspoon baking powder1/2 teaspoon salt2 cups chocolate chips (or peanut butter chips or both) optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine butter and peanut butter in large bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the brown and granulated sugars and mix until well combined. Add the eggs and beat for 1-2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Mix in milk and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix briefly. While there are still spots of flour, add in the chips and mix until well combined. Let cookie dough set for a few minutes to firm up. Scoop tablespoon size balls onto parchment lined baking sheets. Criss-cross with fork dipped in water. Bake for 10-11 minutes, taking care not to overbake in the slightest! Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes to firm before removing them carefully to the cooling rack. The cookies may look slightly underbaked, but will firm as they cool. 

I get excited over small things...

The littlest things sometimes tend to excite me the most. Case in point...the last time I made brownies, they turned out PERFECT! A few years ago, I wrote a post about the difficult time I had making brownies at this altitude. So, I have tweaked the recipe several times, even trying new cake pans, and never being quite happy with the results. I wanted to be able to bake my recipe in a 9x13 pan without the problem of the brownies sinking in the middle. The last brownie order I had was for regular and mint brownies...both turned out great. I don't know if my recipe was just right, or if the atmospheric pressure was just right that day, or what...but they turned out perfect. Here is my regular brownie recipe, along with my high altitude recipe that I use here in the Springs.

BROWNIES

½  cup melted butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

½  cup flour

⅓ cup cocoa (unsweetened baking)

¼ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup nuts (optional)

Blend melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in mixing bowl. Add eggs and beat well. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; add gradually to egg mixture until well blended. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Spread in a greased and floured and parchment lined 8 or 9 inch square pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar or frost with chocolate icing. For 9x13 pan, triple the recipe, use 1 cup chocolate chips, and bake about 40-45 minutes.

Variations

Mint:  To original recipe, replace chocolate chips with Andes mint pieces. When cool, ice with mint icing: Combine 2 cups powdered sugar, ½ stick butter, ½ tsp. mint flavoring, green food coloring, and enough milk to make thin consistency. Ice and let set, then ice with chocolate buttercream frosting.

Cheesecake Swirl or Raspberry Cheesecake Swirl:  Combine the following until smooth and fluffy. Do not use entire recipe-this will be enough for several pans of brownies:

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

Spoon dollops of cream cheese mixture onto brownies and swirl with knife, or for raspberry cheesecake brownies, spoon dollops of cream mixture alternately with raspberry filling or jam and swirl with knife. Bake about 5-10 longer than original recipe. Check doneness with toothpick inserted into center. When cool, ice with cream cheese icing: Beat together until fluffy (1) softened 8 oz. package cream cheese, ½ stick of butter, 1 tsp. vanilla, and about 2 cups of powdered sugar.

HIGH ALTITUDE DIRECTIONS FOR

MOM’S BROWNIES

Yield: Makes 9x13 pan (You can half the recipe for an 8 or 9 inch square pan; bake for 30 minutes)

1 ½ cups butter, melted

2 ¾ cups sugar

1 T. vanilla

6 extra large eggs

1 ¾ cups flour, unsifted

1 cup cocoa

½ t. baking powder

¾ t. salt

1 T. water

1 cup chocolate chips

Prepare as directed for regular brownies, except change to above amounts for ingredients. Also, do not grease sides of pan. Bottom only!  Bake at 350° for approximately 45-50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, and center is firm to the touch. Run knife around outside of brownies before removing from pan.

Regular brownies with chocolate chips...no sinking in middle

Mint brownies with Andes mint pieces...no sinking in middle

Brownies after being iced with chocolate buttercream

The mint brownies have a thin layer of green mint icing under the chocolate buttercream

High altitudes and baking do not always "mix" well!

Raspberry Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

I never thought it would be as difficult as it sometimes is to change my ways of baking because of high altitudes. We lived in Glendale, AZ for about 25 years and baking was pretty easy...you just followed the directions in the recipe. Then we moved to Colorado, and I had to change the way I baked my cakes and brownies. My husband didn't seem to mind, because the more I experimented, the more he got to eat my mistakes. We both grew...me in my baking techniques, and my husband in his waistline. After over 2 years of experimenting with my brownie recipe, I finally got the adjustments right, so that the middle of the brownies didn't sink to the bottom of the pan. I make several different varieties of brownies. My husband's favorite is raspberry cream cheese swirl with cream cheese frosting. Here is the recipe for just the basic brownies:

HIGH ALTITUDE DIRECTIONS FOR
MOM’S BROWNIES

Yield: Makes 9x13 pan

1 ½ cups butter, melted
2 ¾ cups sugar
1 T. vanilla
6 eggs
1 ¾ cups flour, unsifted
1 cup cocoa
½ t. baking powder
¾ t. salt
1 T. water
1 cup chocolate chips

Prepare as directed for regular brownies, except change to above amounts for ingredients. Also, do not grease sides of pan. Bottom only! Bake at 350° for approximately 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, and center is firm to the touch. Run knife around outside of brownies before removing from pan.

I recently traveled to San Diego to make a wedding cake for a friend as a wedding gift. I forgot how nice it was to bake at sea level. Oh well, it still isn't enough to make me want to leave Colorado!