Until 5 years ago, I had never made a single snickerdoodle. They seemed, somehow, to be mysterious. (Note: they are not mysterious. But I thought that they were. I'm not sure why.)
Now, however, they are one of my go-to cookies. Why? They are relatively easy to make, tasty, and since they depend on vanilla and cinnamon for their main flavor, they don't include any majorly controversial ingredients like nuts, raisins, citrus, or--gasp!--chocolate. For those folks concerned about allergies, they are an easy one for people to know if they can have or not. They have flour, eggs, and dairy, but they're cookies, so that's obvious. And while they work for a fall or holiday-time treat thanks to the cinnamon, they aren't really associated with either time of year. Snickerdoodles are just as good in July with a cup of iced tea as they are in November with a mug of cider or coffee.
My snickerdoodle recipe is courtesy of the Minnesota State Fair Creative Activities division. In 2015, they provided this recipe and people competed to see whose were closest to the judges' vision of the perfect snickerdoodle. It was called the Snickerdoodle Recipe Challenge and there were 234 total entries, 86 in my age category. I didn't win a ribbon, but I will admit that mine looked and tasted pretty-dang good. (The one in the upper-left is mine in the photo below.)
For competition, I did all kinds of crazy, exacting things. Like what? Like I measured each ball of dough with a ruler to ensure that it was exactly 1.25 inches in diameter. Like I tried the recipe with all butter, all margarine, and 1/2 of each to see which one my co-workers liked better, measured via a blind taste taste. Like I tested baking on parchment, on foil, and on the plain baking sheet to see if it made a difference in the browning and texture. Like I literally compared every cookie in a batch of *4 dozen* to find the most perfectly matching 4 cookies to turn in for judging.
And ya know what? Those things make a difference if what you want are a batch of practically-perfect-looking cookies. But they aren't all that important if what you want are just some good-tasting, homemade cookies.
The recipe is a simple one, I almost always have all the ingredients on hand, and it makes by a lot of cookies all at once. It is 100% perfect to make and share, even if--or maybe especially if--the sharing is distanced. (My most recent batch of these were made for friends and never touched post-oven, in the spirit of Covid-world.)
So although I did a lot of experimenting within this recipe, to this day I've never used any other snickerdoodle recipe. Why would I? These are practically perfect!
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened*
- 1/2 cup shortening (I've used plain and butter flavored Crisco, and both work just fine)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose or unbleached flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* Most of my co-workers liked 1/2 butter and 1/2 margarine best in taste tests, but some liked all butter and some liked all margarine the best. And everyone liked all of them. So just use what you have!
Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, the butter, and shortening in large bowl until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs; beat well. Sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; stir into the mixture. In small bowl, mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes are until edges are set and centers are puffy. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.
Yield: About 4 dozen.
