Today the Fawnskin Flyer is featuring a post by guest blogger, Kelly Noble with some tips and hints for cookie baking at high altitude. High altitude cooking tips are very popular–so enjoy!

Being a Colorado native, I know all too well how the high altitude can mess with my baking.

I personally love baking cookies and despite most cookie recipes typically working out in altitudes below about 7,000 ft., they can still sometimes spread out too thin, or end up with a tough or even rock-hard texture.

No one wants to eat a cookie that had gone south because you live up in the mountains.

Never fear cookie lovers because the solution is not so complicated and soon you too can enjoy a tasty cookie despite the altitude.

Just try one or more of these suggestions when baking cookies at very high altitudes.

1. Reduce sugar. Reducing the sugar in a recipe helps give the protein in flour greater control over the overall structure of the cookies. Reduce by one to four tablespoons, depending on altitude, and you will hardly be able to tell any difference in taste.

2. Reduce fats. Reducing the fat in a recipe has a similar effect as reducing the sugar. Fats, like oil and butter, weaken the gluten in flour, helping to create a more tender product. However, high altitudes cause increased moisture loss, which concentrates the fat and weakens the overall structure. Reducing it can help retain structural strength.

3. Increase flour. As with cakes, slightly increasing the flour in a recipe can help to improve the structure of a cookie and help prevent it from sinking too much. Increase flour only one to four tablespoons, depending on the elevation.

4. Increase liquid. Increasing the liquid may also help, since high altitudes make liquid evaporate more quickly and can dry out the flour. Do not go too far, though, since too much liquid can result in creating a tough cookie—and not in a good way.

5. Increase oven temperature. Sometimes cookies just need a slight increase in baking temperature, only 15 to 25°F.

Another tip for baking the perfect cookies wherever you are, is to make sure you place the cookies on a cool baking sheet.

If the baking sheet is hot from a previous batch of cookies, the cookie dough will spread out too much during baking, resulting in flat, crunchy cookies.

It also helps to use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar, if the recipe calls for it.

Textures and consistency are key when baking at altitude.

Make chocolate chip cookies that taste great at high altitudes with the following recipe:

Toll House Style High Altitude Chocolate Chip Cookies
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, stir together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter just until blended, then mix in the chocolate chips so they are evenly distributed. Drop cookies by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets spacing 2 inches apart.

3. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges begin to turn golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

About the Author: Kelly Noble is the Social Media Geek for Food Service Warehouse, a food service equipment and supply provider that also specializes in industry education. She has been an avid wine drinker and home cook for over 8 years and writes the Wine & Dine blog which focuses on her recipes, food trends and favorite wines.

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