Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies at high altitude

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies (revisited) - made dough February 10, 2019, from Knewton

I'm going through some re-testing of a few of my favorite recipes at a higher altitude to make sure they'll still turn out when I (potentially) make them for my niece's wedding in Denver. Having discovered my chocolate chip cookie recipe didn't really need to be adjusted for high altitude baking, I decided to try my luck with my favorite recipe for chocolate chocolate chip cookies.

If you recall, I was on a quest to find a good copycat recipe of Levain Bakery's chocolate chocolate chip cookie which I loved when I tried it on my trip to Manhattan. This one from Knewton was the best one I'd found so I wanted to make sure it would work at any altitude.

This time, I only made the recipe as is and didn't make any of the adjustments for the higher altitude. I made the cookies rather small since, if memory serves, it was also rather rich. I'd run out of Pernigotti cocoa and my Valrhona cocoa was still packed in a box somewhere in my garage but I did have some Guittard unsweetened cocoa powder that survived the move and actually got unpacked so I went with that.

The dough was a bit on the dry side when I had mixed everythnig. I don't know if that's because I didn't beat the butter enough and it's rather cold here (hello, actual real winter) but I packed the dough balls rather densely and, when it came time to bake them, was careful to underbake. As in, I only baked these for maybe 7-8 minutes. Then I let them cool completely before taking that first taste test bite. Hallelujah, they still turned out delicious with the perfect fudgy texture that's a must in all chocolate chocolate cookies. They might've become dry if I baked them for the time declared in the recipe, especially since I made them much smaller than before, so I've adjusted the time below to accommodate baking at a higher altitude. I also baked them at a lower temperature and they didn't spread. Actually, they hardly spread at all.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour
5/8 cup cocoa powder
5/8 teaspoon baking soda
5/8 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 sticks (14 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold, cut into tablespoons
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
2 cups chocolate chunks

1. Sift flours, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together.
2. Beat cold butter until creamy, 1-2 minutes. Add sugars and beat until combined. Add vanilla, egg and egg yolk until just combined. Add dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chunks.
3. Portion the dough into 4-ounce dough balls. Separate each ball into halves and combine the smooth halves together, leaving the "ripped" edges on the outside. Cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight. If making them as small dough balls, pat into thick discs.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough balls. Bake for 17-18 minutes for larger cookies or 7-8 minutes for smaller cookies at higher altitudes or until middles are set.  Cool completely on wire racks.