Snickerdoodles

Even though I find a great recipe for muffins or zucchini bread or cookies, I like to go for different ones the next time I make them. I don't even know how many recipes of just one thing I have bookmarked, but I've made it a ridiculous goal to try them all to find the best one.

I decided to make Snickerdoodles, as it is a housemate's favorite. Last week, she went to the market looking for them but saw none and ended up buying plain sugar cookies, so I decided to bake her some myself. I don't even want to know how many bookmarks for Snickerdoodles alone I have. Most of them are probably the same recipe, but I didn't really look to see. Just clicked and saved. As I wanted to be sure the cookies would turn out great, I went for a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I've made only one recipe from Smitten Kitchen (and a great recipe at that), but it just seems like a food blog that I can trust. I love her pictures and her stories and the many comments that people leave can be very helpful.

The cookies turned out fantastic, but they were even better the next day, and the next day, and the next. My housemate doesn't like too much cinnamon so I will reduce the 2 tbsp to maybe 1 next time. It also didn't turn out as thick as I had hoped. I might use shortening in place of butter the next time I make these because there were a few people who commented that shortening seems to make the cookies softer and crackle a bit more on top. Or maybe I'll try a completely different one...!



Oh, and when shaping the dough into balls, be sure to make them about half the size of golf balls. Or, if you want big cookies, space them very far apart. I didn't realize and then my first batch ended up looking like this:



Snickerdoodles
From Smitten Kitchen

- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 16 tbsp (2 stick or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups sugar, plus more if needed
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon, plus more if needed
- 2 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 400F, with one rack in top third and one rack in bottom third of oven. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
2. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs, and beat to combine.
4. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine. At this point, I chilled the dough for an hour (or you can overnight) before scooping it, because I otherwise found it too difficult to scoop into balls and roll but the original recipe doesn’t find this step necessary.
5. Once dough has chilled, in a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon. Use a small ice-cream scoop to form balls of the dough, and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place about two inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
6. Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after five minutes.
7. Transfer the sheets to a wire rack to cool about five minutes before transferring the cookies to the rack. In theory, they can be stored in an airtight container up to one week, but I say good luck with that.