Snickerdoodle-ocity

You’ve heard the saying, If you want to make an omlette, you’ve gotta break a few eggs. Well, I’ve got a similar one for tonight’s culinary adventure: snickerdoodles. If you want to make snickerdoodles, you’ve gotta use a whole lot of butter. Don’t get me wrong; there are plenty of butter substitutes and I’ve seen and tasted lots of great lower-fat recipe alternatives. But I’m starting to appreciate the depth and flavor butter lends to all kinds of dishes – sweet and savory alike, from sauteed greens to cakes to bowls of popcorn. A former butter-phobe, I’m surprising myself! And my trials in snickerdoodle-dom have made it official: it pays not to skimp on the butter … or the sugar … or the cream of tartar (whatever the hell that is – ok, so I got curious: cream of tartar). Here’s the recipe I used – it makes about 2 dozen cookies – I recommend sharing with friends and making your bed beforehand: There’s a sugar-induced bliss – the snickerdoodle food coma – that is sure to follow:

SNICKERDOODLES

DOUGH:

1C Butter

1.5C Sugar

2 Large Eggs

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

2.75C Flour

2 tsp Cream of Tartar

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

SUGAR TOPPING:

3 Tbsp Sugar

3 tsp Cinnamon

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Cream together the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract
• Combine dry ingredients, and then mix them into the butter blend
• Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes or so
• Meanwhile… Mix together the ingredients for the sugar topping on a plate or a pie pan, a flat surface where you can roll the dough.
• Roll the dough into small mounds – about an inch around – and roll those globs around in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Give them plenty of room on the cookie sheet – they’ll spread out!
• Bake for 10 minutes, and keep an eye on them. They cook fast, and their texture changes quickly too. This is why I keep the mounds of dough pretty small – to make sure their middles cook before their edges get too crispy.
• Pull the cookies from the baking sheet and let cool for as long as you can keep your hands off of them.
• Yum.