"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
01/05/2019 at 11:50 • Filed to: Cooking with Gaskets
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"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
01/05/2019 at 11:50 • Filed to: Cooking with Gaskets | 6
| 11 |
Early bird gets the cookie! I’ve had to relearn how to do a lot of things since moving 650 to 7,300 ft. Like simply how to breath. Baking, however, has been particularly challenging. But - I think have finally succeeded in my quest for the perfect high-altitude chocolate chip cookie!
The main secret seems to be using convection while keeping the same bake temperature and time from the sea level recipe. That got me most of the way there. Chilling the dough is the next big step. Other than that a few minor tweaks to the classic Toll House recipe and they are baking right up the way I’m used to when I lived a lot closer to sea level.
Om nom nom. Only 9:30 AM and I already have 64 delicious cookies for the day. Ok actually to bring to a Christmas Tree burning party later, but more like 50 will actually make it to that. Here’s the recipe for any other crazy mountain people interested:
2 1/2 c + 2 Tbsp flour (an extra 2 Tbsp vs. sea level - also, we are a Celiac household, so I use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free flour)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 c light brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar (this is a different mix than the classic Toll house recipe that calls for 3/4 c of each - its more of a personal preference flavor thing than an altitude thing)
1 c unsalted butter softened (2 sticks)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cold water (this is an addition vs. sea level - it sounds counter-intuitive to add water but what happens is that the moisture evaporates more quickly up here so this little boost helps)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
If you’ve made cookies from scratch before, the rest is pretty straightforward. The main change is adding in the extra water towards the end.
Start by putting the flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and sift. In a stand mixer cream the butter and sugar. Then blend in the eggs and vanilla. Add the sifted dry ingredients slowly. Now mix in the 2 tsp of water. Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the chocolate chips (I use a wooden spatula or wooden spoon for this).
Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour. For this most recent batch I chilled overnight, which is fine but you want to make sure it is covered tightly so that it doesn’t loose moisture - I used aluminum foil. KitchenAid actually makes a lid for their mixer bowls that I need to pick up.
Drop about 1 Tbsp each onto un-greased baking sheets. (Use parchment paper if you don’t want to clean the sheets.) I use an OXO cookie scooper for this. Bake in convection at 375F for 8 minutes. Cool on sheets for 8 minutes (this would be the time to put the next sheet of cookies in the oven). Then remove using a spatula to wire racks to cool completely. I use insulated cookie sheets. Plain sheets may require an adjustment to baking time.
Makes about 64 cookies.
Just Jeepin'
> FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
01/05/2019 at 12:25 |
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On a trip to Seattle for work a few years back I had a connecting flight in Denver. The airport was out of open gates, or at least gates available to my airline, so we were stuck on the Tarmac for 20-30 minutes as my window of opportunity to catch my next flight dwindled away.
Finally, with a couple of minutes to spare, I debarked and asked where my next gate was. They told me it was in the same terminal but at the other end, and they’d call ahead for me, but I’d have to hurry.
Dear heavens, trying to make the connection was a mistake. Thankfully they announced the departure while I was collapsed about halfway between the gates. They clearly knew I was trying to make it, and probably guessed correctly I wasn’t remotely prepared to make that sprint .
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FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
> Just Jeepin'
01/05/2019 at 12:32 |
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Just sitting around you don’t really notice it but try to do anything that ups your breathing and heart rate and whew. I’ve been here 6 months now and I’m mostly used to it, but I’ll still get winded sometimes just going up a flight of steps if I forget to take a few deep breaths first.
farscythe - makin da cawfee!
> FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
01/05/2019 at 12:32 |
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7.300 ft... thats about 7.275 ft higher than me.... and im in the dutch highlands :p
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FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
> farscythe - makin da cawfee!
01/05/2019 at 12:36 |
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Last time I visited the Netherlands I really enjoyed how easy it was to cycle everywhere. In half an hour from the Amsterdam city center we were so far out in the middle of farmland you couldn’t even tell there was a big city nearby and hadn’t even broke a sweat. We did end up renting a car to drive to The Hague and just in general explore our last day there though.
DutchieDC2R
> FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
01/05/2019 at 12:37 |
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You never think about adjustments and changes such as these, when moving to a place at a (much) higher altitude. Where did you move to, if you don't mind me asking? And where from...? (Im not from the US, but Im always interested in geographical stuff)...
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farscythe - makin da cawfee!
> FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
01/05/2019 at 12:40 |
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oh yeah for cycling this is a great country (probably why everyone does it here) best way to get around if you dont need to go too far
on windy days you have to work for it tho :p
i used to live near the hague (scheveningen) lovely city
shop-teacher
> FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
01/05/2019 at 12:43 |
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Now I want cookies!
DipodomysDeserti
> FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
01/05/2019 at 13:32 |
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From the high desert and the great Americam Southwest, this is baking with Follow The Trail of Blown Headgaskets.
smobgirl
> FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
01/05/2019 at 13:35 |
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If you don’t have the Pie in the Sky cookbook, you need it. Total lifesaver. It has all sorts of recipes adapted for 5K, 7K, and 9K feet.
The first time I made pancakes in Denver I cried.
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FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
> DutchieDC2R
01/05/2019 at 13:45 |
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I moved from San Antonio, Texas, most of which sits around 650 ft. on an escarpment at the southern edge of the Texas Hill Country, a little over 2 hour drive inland from the Gulf of Mexico. I’m now in a small town in the Jemez Mountains in northern New Mexico. The Jemez are a volcanic range around the Valles Caldera and range from about 6,000 ft to 11,561 ft at the top of Chicoma mountain. I live on a mesa at about 7,300 ft that is part of a larger plateau originally formed by volcanic eruption over a million years ago that has since turned into a network of mesas and canyons due to erosion.
HammerheadFistpunch
> FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
01/05/2019 at 13:53 |
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man I'd be a mess in the kitchen at Sea level