Wookie's Snickerdoodles

When I asked the kids last week what kind of cookie they'd want for Christmas if they could have only one kind, Sadie said, "Lace cookies." Kian said, "Snickerdoodles."

My goal was to find out what cookies they really, really loved, so that we could all make, and enjoy, those cookies together. Lace cookies are wonderful, but they're labor intensive (thus making the recipe less than kid-friendly) and feature chocolate (which Kian doesn't like). Fortunately, Sadie was more than happy to work on snickerdoodles -- especially after I told her that there would be lace cookies in the house for Christmas.

The snickerdoodle recipe I used came from Serious Eats, where commenter Donnie was looking to replace the recipe he'd lost. "It was special," Donnie writes, "because there is NO shortening, and not an over abundance of flour."

Commenter Wookie came to the rescue and her recipe, with a few changes, appears below. (I might add a little bit of nutmeg to the dough next time, just to play.)

It's a very nice cookie: buttery, not too sweet, with a lovely cinnamon flavor. We made them Friday night -- three dozen -- and by Sunday morning, they were all gone: the hallmark of a good cookie recipe.

I think we're going to make some more right now...




Wookie's Snickerdoodles (Source)

2 sticks of butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 3 Tbsp, separated
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375-degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs. Beat until well mixed.

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients and add to the butter and egg mixture. Mix on a low setting, just until the dough comes together.

In small bowl, stir together the cinnamon and the 3 Tablespoons of sugar.

Using a small cookie scoop, roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball, and then roll in the cinnamon sugar until fully coated. Place on an ungreased sheet pan, about an inch apart, and flatten gently with the back of a spoon. Bake for 8-10 minutes and cool on a cookie rack.

Yields approximately 3 dozen.