Over the years, Deer Valley’s dining scene has become somewhat iconic. Aside from being a world-renowned ski resort with impeccable grooming, and stupendous customer service, another huge reason why people keep coming back to Deer Valley, is the food. When my family and I ski there, lunch is our favorite part. Everyone has their favorites from their ever famous turkey chili to their decadent desserts created by Pastry Chef Letty Flatt. Being a former employee of Deer Valley’s Bakery, take my word for it when I tell you that every chef behind those big green curtains is putting heaps of love into everything they make, and they’ve been doing it that way for 30-plus years. Many of the baked staples you find there today are made with the same recipes that Letty created when the resort first opened, and there is a reason why they haven’t changed.
“What’s in the cookies?” was the most common question I was asked during my days there and my answer was always “nothing surprising, it’s just a really good recipe!” However, the mere size of the cookies might have a little bit to do with it. The bakers use a very large ice cream scoop to size the cookie dough so when they bake, they end up being a good 4-5 inches around. The assortment of flavors cover all the standards from chocolate chip, double chocolate chip, snicker-doodle and oatmeal raisin. Instead of needing to ‘break for hot chocolate’ during your ski day, it’s all about the cookie breaks here. They’re big, chewy and cookies just don’t really get any better.
So, you asked for it, we got it! The recipe for Deer Valley’s famous jumbo chocolate chip cookies.
“After we mix a huge batch of cookie dough, we put a test cookie in the oven. By the time all of the raw cookie balls are scooped and wrapped–if you are a fast scooper–the warm tester is ready to eat. You can make your cookies smaller than we do at Deer Valley, just scoop the dough by teaspoons or tablespoons, or use a miniature ice cream scoop. Be on the watch though, the smaller the cookies, the shorter the baking time.” – Letty Flatt
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup Sugar
- 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla.
- Mix well and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
- Mix into the creamed butter, scraping again.
- Stir in the chocolate morsels.
- Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or oil them lightly with canola oil.
- Scoop the cookie dough into 12 large (1/3 cup) mounds arranging them 4 to a sheet about 3 inches apart.
- Bake until cookies are flat and very lightly golden brown (about 20-25 minutes).
- *makes 12 jumbo or 24 medium cookies
- *High Altitude - reduce sugar to 3/4 cup
For more information regarding Deer Valley’s Snow Park Bakery and all of the delicious desserts they offer, click here!
