High Altitude Snickerdoodle Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you adjust high altitude cookie baking? ›

Cookies. Increase 15 to 25°F; use the lower increase when making chocolate or delicate cakes. Since leavening and evaporation proceed more quickly, the idea is to use a higher temperature to “set” the structure of baked goods before they overexpand and dry out. Decrease by 5-8 minutes per 30 minutes of baking time.

Snickerdoodles might turn out hard if they are overbaked or if the dough is too dry. Be sure to keep an eye on them as they bake – when the edges are set but the centers are still soft and puffy, they are done. Also, make sure you're not adding too much flour.

For every 1,000 feet elevation above sea level, decrease the temperature(s) in the recipe by 2˚F. (Example: You live at 10,000' and your recipe indicates a finish temperature of 236˚F. 10 x2˚F. = 20˚F, so your adjusted finish temperature is 236˚F- 20˚F=216˚F.)

But if you live in Denver, Calgary, Johannesburg, or a host of other high-altitude locales, you'll face fallen cakes and overflowing batters if you don't. As elevation rises, air pressure falls, which means that bakers living at 3,000 feet (1,000 meters) will see different results than lowland bakers.

Refrigerating snickerdoodle dough lets the butter resolidify and prevents the cookies from flattening out in the oven. I recommend giving the dough at least 45-60 minutes of chilling time in the fridge before baking.

If your cookies repeatedly turn out flat, no matter the recipe, chances are your oven is too hot. Here's what's happening. The butter melts super quickly in a too-hot oven before the other ingredients have firmed up into a cookie structure. Therefore, as the butter spreads so does the whole liquidy cookie.

From 5,000 feet to 7,000 feet, baking is often improved by raising the oven temperature 15°F to 25°F, because the higher temperature quickly sets the batter's cell structure. Between 7,000 feet and 9,000 feet, raising the temperature can sometimes cause over-crusting on the surface of baked goods.

WHAT IS CONSIDERED A HIGH ALTITUDE FOR BAKING? High altitude is considered 3,500 feet or more above sea level.

High altitude is considered to be 3,000 feet or more. Air pressure decreases as the elevation increases. The higher up you live, the lower the air pressure in your kitchen. Because of that, ingredients in cookies respond differently than they do at lower altitudes and the baking process changes a bit, too.

At heights 3,000 feet above sea level and higher, preparation of food may require changes in time, temperature and/or ingredients due to lower atmospheric pressure. Air pressure decreases as elevation increases.