Sunday, July 20, 2008

Snickerdoodles



What not to love about snickerdoodles? Starting with the name it's all uphill from there. How much better can you get than putting 'snicker' and 'doodle' right next to each other? And then to find out it's the name of an outstandingly delicious cookie - covered in sugar and cinnamon?! I know! It's friggin' great!

I've loved snickerdoodles for as long as I can remember. It probably started with the name, after all, this appreciation started when I was a little kid. And I know I'm repeating myself, but honestly - snickerdoodle! A person could never get tired of saying it, let alone a precocious little kid like I was. I still think there's few cookies that beat it, although this is from a person who's really not too keen on sweets. I would most definitely pick a humble little snickerdoodle over a triple-chocolate-fudge-peanut-butter-caramel-crunch cookie, or whatever crap they're coming up with in cookie kingdom these days.

I think next time I whip up a batch of these tasty morsels I'll add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the dough. I really enjoy the cinnamon-sugar coating and think it could only get better with a hint if cinnamon in the dough too. Also, though it's not something I've found a lot of, I used unbleached white whole wheat flour in the dough. It worked perfectly and I'd much rather use King Arthur's than some bleached-to-hell supermarket brand flour. Just remember when you're measuring flour, to not pack it in, use another cup to pour it into your measuring cup, then level it off with a knife. If you're still not sure what I mean by that, watch this movie from Gourmet. It's really quite shocking the difference in weights.



Whole Wheat Snickerdoodles

Makes approximately 30 cookies

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour (or whatever you want to use)
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt

1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish. Set aside.

3. Combine sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until combined and creamy.

4. Sift flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt into bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined.

5. Roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter, roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Press down slightly with the palm of your hand onto baking sheet.

6. Bake 5 minutes, turn baking sheet 180 degrees, bake additional 5 minutes. Let rest on baking sheet for at least three minutes.

7. Remove to cooling rack, or as I like to do (as my mother did before me) cool on flattened brown paper bags from the supermarket(I know some of you people are going to have heart attacks over this saying it's not safe or it's unsanitary, but I prefer to not be such a big whiny baby about things. So there.). The paper bag absorbs some of the residual fats and makes the cookies crisp up quite nicely while allowing the insides to stay soft and chewy.

Now, if you're silly like me, you're going to start taking pictures of your pretty little cookies and forget about the second batch cooking in the oven. This is what happens:



I actually like the overcooked ones better. When I make cookies I like to use a stoneware baking sheet. One of the really cool perks about stoneware is that it's really freakin' hard to burn stuff on it, it tends to just get harder and harder. The cookies left in the oven just got crunchier and I think they turned out nicely. I think I'll send the "proper" ones to work with Husband tomorrow and keep these delicious crunchy ones just for me and a nice tall glass of milk.

17 comments:

Kelly said...

Mmmm... snickerdoodles. I'm with you - they are cookie perfection. When I was growing up, we always put our cookies on the old grocery bags, too, so you're not alone!

Thanks for the recipe!

G said...

Did you put them in the sugar and cinnamon?

Sweet Bird said...

g - Thanks for pointing that out, all fixed!

grace said...

why not throw in some extra cinnamon? a little more cinnamon never hurt anyone. in fact, it's sure to improve them. i love snickerdoodles and yours look perfect. :)

Kristin @ Going Country said...

I have a confession--I like the name Snickerdoodle better than the reality of the cookie. If a cookie doesn't have chocolate in it, I'm usually not too enthralled with it. The MiL and I have a constant raisins vs. chocolate chips in oatmeal cookies battle. But I usually make the cookies, so I win.

Sweet Bird said...

Kristin - Yeah, many folks don't believe something qualifies as a dessert unless it has some form of chocolate. I'm just not huge on chocolate (I think I just had my girl card taken away...) I have to admit I'm pretty ambiguous on the chocolate chip vs. raisin debate for oatmeal cookies. I like them either way.

Anonymous said...

Perfect snickerdoodles. The surface has to crack... Always appreciate cookie recipes that use whole grains whenever possible

Zoomie said...

Lovely photos and the cookies look delish!

Anonymous said...

Hey Little Bird, Your cookies look wonderful, I will give your recipe a try tomorrow on "Scorpio's" bake day. If you are not a chocolate chip fan like your mother, try cranrasins & chopped pecans in your oatmeal cookies. More savory like you like.

Whitney said...

YUM...these look so good!! When do I get to try them?? You can ship some down!! JK.. Cali was so much fun and we had such a great time with you guys! The indian food was amazing!

Pam said...

I love snickerdoodles. Nothing better than a warm snickerdoodle with an ice cold glass of milk.

Sweet Bird said...

Whitney - I'd totally ship some down, except Husband was a little too efficient this time and had already taken the entire batch of cookies to work by the time I got up on Monday morning.

Of course, whenever I don't want more of something he forgets to take it with him...

Astrid said...

I would probably like the darker crispier ones too! Though both are beautiful.

Heather said...

Snickerdoodles are my favorite cookie! I prefer the gooey soft ones, though.

Whitney said...

hahahaha....thats funny! and thanks for telling me about the other thing...those comments are so annoying!!

guylaine rondeau said...

thank you so much for sharing the link for the tip about the flour! little did i know, i was one that measured it all wrong! and i wondered why the dough was so dry... :|

i just discovered snickerdoodle cookies last year. it is possible that it’s not as popular in canada, or else the fact that i’m french might have sheltered me from this english traditional delight.

i will try the recipe again with measuring the flour properly. the cookies were a bit dry to my liking, and i tend to me very critical of my work... but they were all eaten at the brunch i prepared them for. in other words, even with too much flour, they were a complete success!

please come visit my little "yummy" blog... it’s still a baby, but maybe you’ll enjoy something... :]

guylaine

http://myyummyrecipesblog.blogspot.com/

Ally said...

you have a fantastic space..

Ally