Cookie Time: Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are a new holiday cookies for me. In fact, I don’t think I’ve made snickerdoodles since I was about 12 years old, when my friend Kari and I made a batch. We ate more of the dough than we baked, and ended up feeling pretty unwell, and I subsequently stayed away from snickerdoodles for about eighteen years. But for some reason I started craving them lately, so I had to make them as part of my holiday cookie baking fest. And for this one I decided to break out the Betty Crocker Cookbook. The cookbook was a gift on my 18th birthday, and I don’t think I’ve ever made anything from it before. That might have to change, because these cookies were perfect.

Snickerdoodles have such a distinctive taste, which I think is due to the cream of tartar in the dough. This recipe produced cookies that are really crispy on the outside, but soft and buttery on the inside. Be careful not to overbake them, unless you like your cookies very, very crispy.

Once again, I baked only about 4 of these, and froze the rest. I decided to freeze them after rolling them in the cinnamon and sugar. We’ll see if all gets knocked off in the freezer.

Unlike the Mexican Wedding Cakes, these will expand when you bake them, so they shouldn’t be this close together on the baking sheet when they go into the oven. This proximity is purely for freezing.

Snickerdoodles

• 1/2 c butter, room temperature
• 1 c sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 2 T sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the butter using a hand mixer (or stand mixer) for about 30 seconds. Beat in the sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar until it’s well blended. The beat in the egg and the vanilla. Slowly mix in the flour, switching to a spoon or spatula when it comes difficult to mix. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Use a tablespoon or a cookie scoop to scoop out dough and roll into one inch balls. Mix together the remaining two tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon, and roll each ball of dough in the sugar cinnamon to coat. Place the cookies about two inches apart from each other on a baking sheet, and bake for about 10 to 11 minutes, or until they are just crispy, but not browned.

These are so good that I think they’ve banished the memory of my snickerdoodle stomachache, and I suspect the snickerdoodle will be a much more frequent cookie in my little house. Especially since I have a bag of about 30 of them in my freezer.

Tomorrow I will be making a bouche de noel for my library’s holiday party, so come back soon to see how it turns out. And go make yourself some cookies in the meantime.