Snickerdoodles

Usually when the holidays roll around all hopes of eating well are cast aside.  I can't help but eat all the delicious treats and home cooked food that's in front of me, and I usually eat a lot.  This year was no exception, especially since I was homesick and went a little nuts with all the holiday cooking.  Usually I don't feel too guilty or gross by the end of December, but this time I did, and I think these devil cookies did it for me.  They were so good that I literally made myself sick eating them (half batch next time Britt). What's not to love? A buttery, half chewy half cakey cookie, rolled in cinnamon and sugar, and it's called "snickerdoodle"? Um..yes please!

Usually a snickerdoodle cookie calls for cream of tartar and baking soda.  Having never made these cookies myself, I really wanted to use an original recipe, but I could not find cream of tartar at any of the expat stores.  Desperate to find an alternative, I of course did a Google search and found these.  In place of cream of tartar and baking soda, this recipe calls for baking powder. DONE. I was all over these the next day, and the apartment smelled like buttery cinnamony (which is so a word) heaven.  I would like to try them with the cream of tartar and will definitely do so when I return to America. If you decide to make these, just be careful. You will want to eat them all. 

Snickerdoodles

Adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 3/4 cups granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.  In a separate bowl, beat the butter and 1 ½ cups sugar until smooth, about two or three minutes (I did this by hand as I don’t have an electric mixer here in Beijing *sigh*, but using an electric mixer would make your life a little easier). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla extract.  Add the flour mixture and beat until a smooth dough forms.  Cover and refrigerate for one to two hours, or overnight like I did.

When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat your oven to 400˚F and place rack in the center of the oven. If you have parchment paper, use it, it not there is no need to grease the pan.  Prepare coating mixture by combining remaining ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.

Shape the dough into 1 inch round balls. Roll the balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on prepared cookie sheet, spaced about 2 inches apart.  Then, using a bottom of a glass, gently flatten each cookie to about ½ inch thick.

Bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes, or until they are light and golden, but firm around the edges.  It is better that they are undercooked then overcooked! The centers of the cookies should be a little soft. Remove from oven, and let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. I highly recommend trying one before they’re completely cool. This recipe yielded roughly 3 dozen cookies.