High Altitude Valentines Chocolate Chip Cookies

Growing up, on Valentine's Day, Mom would make us these big heart-shaped chocolate chip cookies. I have wanted to continue the tradition with my own boys, but the original sea-level recipe is particularly sensitive to altitude. For the past several years I've made changes to get these cookies to work where I live--it takes years because I only make these cookies for Valentine's Day.

This year, with recipe testing help from Mom, we finally figured it out.

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High Altitude Valentines Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Hershey's Chocolate Town Cookies
Yields at least 8 large heart cookies

1 c butter, at room temperature
199 g light brown sugar
93 g  granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 T light corn syrup
2 teas vanilla
365 g flour
3/4 teas baking soda
1 teas salt
2 c semisweet chocolate chips

(If you don't have a kitchen scale, use a packed 1 c of brown sugar, 6 1/2 T granulated sugar, and 2 2/3 c flour.)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream together the butter, sugar, eggs, corn syrup, and vanilla. Then mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Finally stir in the chocolate chips.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, then place the dough on the sheets in heart-like shapes. The cookies will spread a little so it's ok if your hearts aren't perfect. (The picture doesn't show parchment paper, but it also doesn't show the broken mess I made trying to get the cookies off the sheet!)

Bake for 12-14 minutes until the cookies start to brown on the edges but still look raw in the middle. You can adjust the heart shape somewhat while the cookies are still hot. Then leave the cookies on the sheets for several minutes before moving the parchment to cooling racks.

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Sea-level Valentines Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I (Colette) got this recipe on the back of a bag from the Hershey's Chocolate Town, (now it's billed as Chocolate World), shortening was a common ingredient in baking and the recipe called for 1/2 c butter and 1/2 c shortening. And it called for 2 tablespoons water. Since I altered the recipe to make it with butter (which is nearly 20% water), I removed the water but I only tested this at a high altitude. If you want to see the recipe as it was decades ago, see this site. But here, I am using all butter and no water.

1 c butter, at room temperature
1 c light brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 T light corn syrup
2 teas vanilla
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 teas baking soda
1/2 teas salt
2 c chocolate chips, either semi-sweet or dark

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream together the butter, sugar, eggs, corn syrup, water and vanilla. Then mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Finally stir in the chocolate chips.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, then place the dough on the sheets in heart-like shapes. The cookies will spread a little so it's ok if your hearts aren't perfect.

Bake for 12-14 minutes until the cookies start to brown on the edges but still look raw in the middle. You can adjust the heart shape somewhat while the cookies are still hot. Then leave the cookies on the sheets for several minutes before moving the parchment to cooling racks.