I had been wanting to make snickerdoodles for so long – and the only reason I hadn’t was… because I didn’t feel like buying cream of tartar. I don’t know of anything else that would require cream of tartar (although I know there are things out there do require it) and I couldn’t bring myself to buy it just to make cookies.
But of course, if for nothing but the sake of experimentation, I finally just broke down and bought the stuff. And voila, snickerdoodles could be made. Now I just need to figure out what other recipes have cream of tartar, or make truckloads of these cookies…
This recipe is called “soft snickerdoodles,” and they were very soft on the first day out of the oven, but turned completely hard and crunchy the next day. Fine with me, though; they still tasted good!
Snickerdoodles
from Brown Eyed Baker
Yield: About 4 dozen
2¾ cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a baking mat and put in refrigerator to chill.
2. Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
4. Gradually stir in the flour mixture, beating on low speed just until the flour is blended.
5. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.
6. In the meantime, mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
7. Scoop 1-inch balls of dough and roll in the cinnamon and sugar mixture to coat.
8. Place on chilled cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes.
9. Chill the dough and cookie sheets between batches.
10. Let cookies set on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack. Store cookies in an airtight container.
