The Best Snickerdoodle Cookies
by Sarah S.
What could be better than soft, buttery cookies covered with cinnamon sugar? To tell you the truth, I already know the answer to this question (it is nothing). Once these cookies are in your mouth, they will feel like a warm hug (perfect for when you are shivering in the autumn or wintertime). And to top that off, they won’t leave you sitting in your kitchen confused for hours, you will be able to make them in a breeze.
What makes snickerdoodles different from other cookies?
A snickerdoodle is no normal cookie. Once you have tried them, you will never go back. Standard cookies, as well as snickerdoodles, will both have ingredients such as eggs, sugar, flour, and butter, but there is a special secret ingredient to snickerdoodles that just adds that extra stabilizing touch to them. The secret ingredient is cream of tartar. Who would have thought that would be a good ingredient in cookies? The cream of tartar prevents the sugar from crystallizing and getting hard, making the cookies pillow-y, with just a right amount of tang. These cookies can never be hard or crunchy (because who likes a crunchy cookie?), they have a perfect, melt-in-your-mouth texture that accentuates the comforting flavor.
Some tips on making the perfect snickerdoodles
1) To make the smooth texture of snickerdoodles stand out, sifting the flour first is essential. This prevents chunks from getting in your cookies. You use a strainer and just shake the strainer full of flour into the measuring cup. Make sure you use the exact amount of flour (you can check by measurement or by weight) to prevent dry cookies.
2) Softened butter will cause the cookies to become lighter, so before making the cookies, leave your butter out overnight.
3) Speaking of butter, when the cookies are done, you will want to spread butter on the top of the cookies before adding the cinnamon sugar, to make sure every single grain of sugar sticks. Cinnamon sugar mix will also go into the batter.
4) When making the dough into balls, you can make them either thick or thin depending on your preference (mine are usually thicker but either way tastes amazing)!
How to serve the cookies
Once your kitchen is full of the comforting cinnamon sugar aroma, and your cookies have come out of the oven, I’m sure you will want to immediately eat them, but you must chill them for a few minutes. Spread your cinnamon sugar on top of the soft cookies while warm to create a melt-y glaze. Once cool enough to not burn your mouth, set them on a plate (just to look fancy) and then you may get a glass of whatever beverage you prefer (milk, coffee, hot chocolate). The taste will be worth all the baking, and you can send some to family or friends ; unless you eat them all since they are just irresistible.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 medium eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Tip for cinnamon sugar: For each 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, I use 5 teaspoons of granulated sugar.
Steps
1) Mix together softened butter, sugar, and eggs with a hand mixer until thoroughly mixed and fluffy. If you don't have a hand mixer, you could use a wooden spoon but it may take up more time
2) Next, in a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients which consist of the sifted flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
3) Take both the dry mixture and the sugar butter and egg mixture, add the dry ingredients at about a third of it at a time to the wet ingredients, make sure the scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula after each mix. This will form a nice dough.
4) If preferred, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the cookie dough in the fridge for about 15 minutes. To save time, while the dough is in the fridge, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
5) Scoop out a large tablespoon of cookie dough and roll it in out hands to make a ball. Then place it on your cookie sheet and pat it down to whatever thickness preffered. Bake them in the oven for 8 to 11 minutes.
