Elaine's Snickerdoodle Cookies

Snickerdoodle Cookies
Originally uploaded by gummychild

Elaine gave me this recipe for my bridal shower a few years back, and though I've been wanting to try it, never got to it until today! Mmm, it's delicious! It makes a fragrant and soft cookie...just the way we like Snickerdoodles to be. =)

It's a sturdy basic recipe, but some recipes call for shortening. Like NolaOkra, I'm not a fan of shortening, but our reasons are different. My reason is simply that I've never used it before, and it looks kinda gross, hahaha...plus, plain ol' butter always seems to work best when it comes to baking. For me anyways. =)

Here's her recipe, with some of my own tips thrown in. ^_^

1. Cream 1 cup of softened butter with 1.5 cups of sugar. When well blended and fluffy, add 2 eggs and cream well.

2. In a separate bowl, sift 2 and 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour with 1 tsp. of baking soda, 1 tsp. of cream of tartar, and 1/2 tsp. of salt. Add this to the butter and sugar mixture, and mix well.

3. Roll the dough into logs about 1" - 1.5" thick and wrap with saran wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours. I think the reason for doing this is because we're not using shortening here, the cookies might spread too much, and it'd be too soft. Putting it in the fridge would allow it to be a little tougher so that it won't spread too much during baking. You can probably keep the dough refrigerated longer, and even freeze and defrost it in the fridge, which is what I'm going to do with some of this dough. I only made about a dozen cookies today, and the recipe says it can make 4 dozen!

4. Turn your oven on to 374 degrees F, and line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Take out your logs of dough, and cut them into thick coins so that you can roll them into walnut size balls.

5. Roll them into a sugar and cinnamon mixture. I used 1/4 cup of sugar mixed with 2 Tbsp. of cinnamon.

6. Place them onto the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart as they will spread, and bake for 8-10 minutes. DO NOT LET THEM BROWN! In my oven, 8 minutes was perfect for super soft cookies that were just done. Go for 10 minutes if you want a crisper Snickerdoodle (or longer, but I'd keep a good eye on it).

The wonderful thing about these cookies, besides its taste, is that it fills the entire kitchen and home full of sugar-cinnamony goodness, hee hee...I'm not a fan of straight-up cinnamon...but used in baking, I think I'm liking it more and more. =)