Super Duper Snickerdoodles

Super Duper Snickerdoodles - made dough June 6, 2015 from Big, Soft, Chewy Cookies by Jill Van Cleave

You’ll laugh but I took so many pictures of these snickerdoodles, it was like I was in the dressing room at Banana Republic snapping selfies of each new outfit I was trying on. As an aside, you should always take selfies when trying on new clothes to see what you really look like, especially at places that have slimming mirrors – note to self: that’s not what you look like after you buy the outfit and try it on at home! But I digress.

Back to the cookies: it isn’t like I was particularly enamored of these cookies and had to document every crumb and speck of cinnamon sugar. More like I wanted to make sure I could capture the thickness of the cookies to do them justice and because the light wasn’t cooperating with me so I kept taking picture after picture. I think I finally managed a few that captured them correctly.

These turned out pretty well and they stayed obligingly thick without spreading too much. As usual, employ all the usual tricks: freeze or chill the dough thoroughly before baking, make golf-ball sized cookie dough balls, bake on the convection setting of your oven if it has it, and don’t overbake.  If the cookies puff up in the middle, that’s fine but you should be looking to take them out shortly after the puffy stage. You want them to sink in the middle after you take them out and as they cool. 

These didn’t topple my favorite recipe for Snickerdoodles but they’re still a good one to try. 

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tablespoon milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and ¾ cup granulated sugar until smooth. Add egg, milk and vanilla extract until just combined.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Add to the creamed mixture.
3. Portion into golf-ball-size dough balls and chill or freeze until firm.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove cookie dough balls to thaw slightly while oven is preheating.
5. Combine cinnamon and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar in a small bowl. Roll dough balls into mixture and space evenly on cookie sheets.
6. Bake until edges of the cookies are golden brown and middles no longer look raw, about 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake. Let cool for 2-3 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.