If you’ve never had a snickerdoodle, you don’t know what you’re missing. And if you think it’s just a gussied up sugar cookie, you’d be wrong, wrong, wrong. It has so much more flavor and depth than that. These cookies are cinnamony and soft and delicious.
MC’s teachers know how much I love to bake and I’ve told them before, if they need treats for any of his class picnics or activities, to just let me know. This week is Hawaiin Luau week and MC’s teachers asked if I’d bring some cookies. I thought about trying to match the theme and discussed it with the teachers, but we decided on these instead. That way we didn’t have to worry about allergies or anything like that.
I used the recipe from The Secrets of Baking cookbook and ended up having to make two batches because, despite the fact that Miss Sherry Yard says the recipe should make 3 1/2 dozen cookies, I ended up with 1 1/2 dozen.(The recipe below reflects a double batch.) I mean, yes, mine were bigger than her recommended 3 inches, but not double. Oh well.
Since I had to make another batch, I decided to try it out with margarine, just to see if I could tell the difference. I think I actually like the one made with margarine a little bit better. Maybe it was the texture or maybe because the flavor was just a bit different, I’m not totally sure. The dough made with butter was definitely firmer than the dough made with margarine. I think that’s why the butter doodles were a little rounded; they kept their shape. But, I liked the way the margarine snickers cracked a bit on top. I flattened the second tray of butter doodles and got a less rounded cookie than the first tray.
Snickerdoodles
Yield: 3 dozen
Adapted from The Secrets of Baking
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
½ pound cold unsalted butter or margarine*, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 ½ cup sugar, plus ½ cup for dusting
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Directions:
In a medium bowl whisk flour, baking soda and cream of tartar; set aside.
Cream butter on medium speed until pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Add 1 ½ cups sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, salt and vanilla. Cream the mixture on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute.
Add the eggs and beat on low until fully incorporated. Do not overbeat.
On low speed, add the flour mixture and beat until fully incorporated. Remove dough and wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Combine ½ cup sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon in a small bowl.
Pinch off pieces of chilled dough and roll into 1 inch balls. Drop the balls into the cinnamon sugar and coat thoroughly. Place balls 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the cookies look dry and feel firm.
*If using margarine, omit or decrease salt amount. Also note, the cookies spread just a little more with margarine, but I liked it that way.
Filed under: cookie, photos, recipes | Tagged: cinnamon, cookie, photos, recipe, sherry yard, snickerdoodle, the secrets of baking | 5 Comments »