Snickerdoodles

One of my favorite cookies. Soft and chewy on the inside, delightfully crispy on the edges. They are a lot like a sugar cookie, but better...much better. The main difference is the use of cinnamon and cream of tartar in the recipe. The cinnamon is perfectly balanced with the cream of tartar to give the cookies their sweet, spicy flavor. I have to make them sparingly, though, because they don't last long in my house.

I remember snickerdoodles from my childhood. When I started baking them, I had an old handwritten recipe that only had the list of ingredients, so I had to figure out at what temperature to bake them, and for how long. I ended up baking them at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until the edges were just golden brown and the tops of the cookies starts to crack.

A few months ago, I was going through some old family recipes and found the complete snickerdoodle recipe. I was delighted to see that the recipe was the same as the one I was using, and I was using the correct baking temperature of 350 degrees. I still do not know where the recipe came from, so I am unable to give any source information.

I highly recommend this recipe. If you decide to try it, be sure not to leave out the cream of tartar, as it is integral to give this cookie it's signature texture and flavor. Cream of tartar can also be used to help stabilize and give more volume to beaten egg whites, so it has more than one culinary use. It's a nice addition to anyone's pantry; just as this recipe is a nice addition to anyone's cookie arsenal. Enjoy!

Snickerdoodles

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 sticks of room temperature unsalted butter

1½ cups sugar

2 eggs

2¾ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon vanilla

Cinnamon and sugar to coat

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350˚.

Cream butter and sugar together. While mixing, add eggs one at a time, then add vanilla. Once the batter is smooth, add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt and continue mixing until everything is well incorporated.

Roll balls of dough about the size of a walnut then roll them in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Place on a cookie sheet two inches apart. Sprinkle each cookie with additional cinnamon before baking if desired.

Bake at 350˚ for 10 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes and then remove to a rack.