I have never really made Snickerdoodles before and truth be told, I never understood what they actually were. Was it the name? How could they compete with my first loves, chocolate chip and oatmeal?
The Cookiepedia drew me in and seduced me with all it's cookie recipes, and before I knew it I was making Snickerdoodles. I discovered that Snickerdoodles really are similar to a sugar cookie, but are rolled in cinnamon and sugar. I used an amazing cinnamon from the Vanilla Food Company, which I think makes all the difference.
Also, I didn't make just plain old Snickerdoodles, but three different kinds, mind you. Be adventurous! You may have a little bit of cinnamon sugar left over, but you could use it to make cinnamon sugar toast with, even! Yum.
Right: stuffed with Kraft whipped peanut butter Left: with Trader Joes mini peanut butter cups.
There's always plain, but I thought plain might be kind of boring.
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
Roll them in:
1/4 cup sugar mixed with 4 tsp cinnamon
Pre-heat the oven to 350F and line some cookie sheets with parchment paper. Or, you can grease them. I prefer parchment-less clean up!
In a medium sized bowl, sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, beating until well mixed. Dump in 1/2 of the flour mixture and mix until it's all incorporated, then add the other 1/2 of the flour mixture and continue to beat until combined.
Roll the dough into 1 inch sized balls, and then roll in the cinnamon sugar. Set on your parchment paper line cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and flatten each slightly with the palm of your hand.
Bake for about 9-10 minutes for chewy cookies, or 12-13 for crispy. Cool on the sheets for a bit before transferring to wire racks.
Makes about 18-20 cookies, depending on how big you roll them.
Peanut butter Sandwich Snickerdoodles: When the cookies are cooled, spread Kraft Whipped Peanut butter on the bottom of one cookie and sandwich with another.
Peanut butter cup Snicker doodles: When you are rolling the dough, stuff 4-5 mini peanut butter cups into the cookie dough before you roll it in the cinnamon sugar. Trader Joes makes awesome mini peanut butter cups, but if you can't find the really mini ones, you can chop up some mini Reece's cups-although I think now they've come out with ones even smaller.
