So, one of both mine and my husbands favorite cookies is the Snickerdoodle. I love anything cinnamon so I really don't think you can go wrong with any Snickerdoodle recipe, however let's face it - some are better than others. I love how Bridget, a food blogger with a blog I covet, does experiments with recipes and shares the results with us. I've had her Snickerdoodle experiment post starred in my Google Reader ever since she first posted it a month or so ago and I finally made the snickerdoodles. In her post she's comparing Snickerdoodles made with shortening and butter and the same cookie made with just butter. I made my cookies the shortening/butter way, because I actually had some shortening to use up. My husband and I both LOVED these cookies, and in fact last night (a few weeks after we last had some) he told me that I need to make these at the holidays and that his brother who I gave some to said they were the best cookies he's ever had. Well, if that's not a testament to how good these cookies are I don't know what else is!!
** The cookies may look a little large in the picture - that's my fault. I'm HORRIBLE at judging how big of a cookie dough ball I'm making - I ALWAYS make them too big!**
Snickerdoodles
Source: Cook's Illustrated, via The Way the Cookie Crumbles, via Annie's Eats
Makes about 30 cookies
Ingredients
2¼ cups (11¼ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened but still cool
¼ cup vegetable shortening
1½ cups (10½ ounces) granulated sugar, plus 3 tablespoon for rolling dough
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, for rolling dough
Directions
1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, shortening and 1½ cups sugar on medium speed until well combined, 1 to 1½ minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and beat again until combined, about 30 seconds. Add in the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 20 seconds.
2. In a small, shallow bowl, combine the 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon for rolling the dough. Stir or shake well to combine. Working with a heaping tablespoon of dough each time, roll the dough into 1½-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place them on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Use a drinking glass with a flat bottom to gently flatten the dough balls to ¾-inch thickness (butter the bottom of the glass before starting, and dip it in sugar between cookies if it begins to stick).
3. Bake until the edges of the cookies are beginning to set and the center are soft and puffy, 9-11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets 2-3 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
** The cookies may look a little large in the picture - that's my fault. I'm HORRIBLE at judging how big of a cookie dough ball I'm making - I ALWAYS make them too big!**
Snickerdoodles
Source: Cook's Illustrated, via The Way the Cookie Crumbles, via Annie's Eats
Makes about 30 cookies
Ingredients
2¼ cups (11¼ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened but still cool
¼ cup vegetable shortening
1½ cups (10½ ounces) granulated sugar, plus 3 tablespoon for rolling dough
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, for rolling dough
Directions
1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, shortening and 1½ cups sugar on medium speed until well combined, 1 to 1½ minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and beat again until combined, about 30 seconds. Add in the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 20 seconds.
2. In a small, shallow bowl, combine the 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon for rolling the dough. Stir or shake well to combine. Working with a heaping tablespoon of dough each time, roll the dough into 1½-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place them on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Use a drinking glass with a flat bottom to gently flatten the dough balls to ¾-inch thickness (butter the bottom of the glass before starting, and dip it in sugar between cookies if it begins to stick).
3. Bake until the edges of the cookies are beginning to set and the center are soft and puffy, 9-11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets 2-3 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Yum! Gotta love Cooks Illustrated - they really know how to nail a recipe. Speaking of having some shortening to use up, I still have almost an entire container leftover from that experiment!
ReplyDeletelove snickerdoodle's! ha, i have the opposite problem, i always make my cookies tiny so i feel less guilty eating them...of course then I end up knocking back a dozen :)
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