Recipe - Snickerdoodles

[Original post was published December 25, 2010 - I am revamping some articles with better pictures] Snickerdoodle - what a whimsical name. It is a simple cookie that many seem to enjoy because it is built upon the basic dessert tastes that you want. It's mainly sugar, butter, and flour. Who wouldn't want a piece of that? While you can certainly make larger cookies to sate your sweet tooth, I opted for a smaller version that can be popped into the mouth at leisure and as a quick snack. I first started making this recipe in college when I wanted to bake from scratch. Making them small allowed me to make many which allowed me to spread the joy. These were popular with my friends when I would bring them over for study sessions (finals are rough!) so it became a recipe I did often. It's been a while since I've had a need to make them but now that Duc just changed jobs, I have to have him make a good first impression at work right? Cookies for coworkers! Anyhow, give this a try - they're easy enough to put together without much complication.


Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: 5-6 dozen small cookies)

      Dough

• 1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

      Coating

• 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 tsps ground cinnamon

Step 2: Prepping ingredients
Place butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl; cream together. Add in eggs one at a time while mixing before finishing wet mixture with vanilla extract. It will smell amazing at this point. In a separate bowl, sift together baking powder, salt, and flour. Then combine both mixtures until a dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours until dough is hard enough to work with.


Step 3: Rolling
While waiting for the dough to harden, you can make coating mix by combining sugar and cinnamon. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking later. Roll dough into balls (approximately 1" large); cover with cinnamon sugar mix. I used a shallow bowl to roll in.


Step 4: Arranging
These cookies won't expand much but still remember to give some distance between each ball as you lay them on the baking sheet. Evenly flatten balls to about 1/2"-3/4" thickness with the back of a spoon. This will help shape the cookies into beautiful discs.


Step 5: Finishing
Bake cookies on the center rack for 8-10 minutes. The edges should start showing the barest hints of brown. Enjoy!


Photography by Minerva Thai and Duc Duong.