Si Foster gets tons of inquires for her amazing chocolate chip cookies, and admits it is tricky to get a good cookie in our altitude.
She shares the cure for the flat chocolate chip cookie.
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour* (make sure to read note below)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter (not margarine), softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups or 1 (12-oz. pkg.) chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375° F. If using convection, preheat to 375 as well.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, beating well. Stir in flour mixture and chocolate chips all together, taking care to not over mix. Using a cookie scoop, drop onto ungreased baking sheets. I use a large scoop, and place 6 cookies per baking sheet. Flatten slightly with palm of your hand.
Bake for 7-10 minutes on middle rack until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets completely.
This recipe yields 18 large cookies.
TIPS:
The amount of flour I always use is 2 3/4 cups. The original recipe said: 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups flour.
Only use butter. Unsalted is best. The butter should be more firm than room temperature butter. I take it straight out of the fridge, and microwave it for about 20 seconds.
Don’t over beat the butter sugar mixture, or the batter will become too soft, and your cookies will not be beautiful and puffy. They will resemble pancakes.
Don’t sift the flour.
There is a notable difference between using a convection and a standard oven (see pics above). If you bake at the same temperature, for the same amount of time, the convection cookie will be done, with a beautiful, golden, slightly crispy outer layer. Still soft on the inside. And it will be taller than the cookie baked in a standard oven. Not everyone has a convection oven- if you don’t, you can still bake a great cookie using a standard oven.
I think two of the biggest mistakes made while baking cookies are:
1-Over mixing. This will cause the batter have too much air incorporated, producing a fluffy, instead of a chewy cookie.
2- Over baking. Under baking is good! Not under baked to the point the cookie is doughy, but just until the top sets, and the dough looks like it has a bit of a crust.
Chocolate chips – For semi sweet, I use Nestle Semi Sweet chips. You can’t go wrong here. But for Milk Chocolate, we prefer Guittard. The chips are bigger. I think they are called Maxi Chips.
High Altitude info: Not recommended-directions on Nestle Choc Chip package for high altitude- I have tried this variation, and don’t like the result. The cookies aren’t quite sweet enough, and have a crispy more cake like texture. Here are the directions on the package: (again I do NOT recommend using this method, but have printed it here as an FYI) Increase flour to 2 1/2 cups. Add 2 teaspoons water with flour and reduce both granulated sugar and brown sugar to 2/3 cup each. Bake drop cookies for 8 to 10 minutes and pan cookie for 17 to 19 minutes.
Last tip: mound the cookie into a ball. I make them about the size of a golf ball. I use a cookie scoop, because it’s easier for me. For years, I just used a spoon, and then shaped them by hand. Make sure to flatten the cookie just a bit before baking.
Find more recipes at www.abountifulkitchen.com.
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