Snickerdoodles

Sifty, sifty!

Well, it's time for another installment of Cookies for Adam! Except, this time I chose to blog about them after I'd given them to him, as my clever ruse of titling the last post ADAM DON'T READ THIS POST in no way deterred him.

I'll be honest, it was difficult to keep from eating this batter.

This time I made the whimsically-named snickerdoodles! Crackling with cinnamon sugar, these crisp-on-the-outside, cakey-on-the-inside treats are buttery and delicious.

Mmmm...

I made these cookies late one morning, and then I packed the cookies into robot snack bags (I know my audience), packed the bags into a shoebox, and toted them with me on my 13-hour red-eye to Riyadh. They survived the journey just fine, and are now residing in Adam's freezer, unless they're already gone.

Crunchy! Cakey!

Now, Adam and I always keep homemade cookies in the freezer (something my mom always did), and I'm discovering that certain types work better as freezer cookies than others. These aren't perfect frozen. They're not bad, don't get me wrong, they're still delicious, but they lose that soft cakey inside texture once frozen. They come out more like frozen crunchy cinnamon butter cookies, which hey -- who wouldn't love that? But I sure do love that crunchy/cakey texture they have when they're fresh.

Super cinnamon-y.

Snickerdoodles
via Smitten Kitchen

*I substituted about half the flour for whole wheat flour, but because of the amount of butter in this, I didn't feel that the recipe warranted a Health Ninja seal. I was nervous to try this with lighter baking sticks like Smart Balance, because the focus of a butter cookie is, well, the butter. I felt you might notice a difference in this recipe.

2¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¾ cups sugar, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if needed
2 large eggs


Step 1: Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Step 2: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter and 1½ cups of sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Step 3: Add eggs, and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine. Chill the dough for at least an hour (I chilled it overnight).

Step 4: Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 400°F, with a rack in the top third of the oven. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper; set aside.

Step 5: In a small bowl, combine remaining ¼ cup sugar and the ground cinnamon. Use a small ice-cream scoop to form even balls of the dough, roll briefly with your hands to smooth the balls out, and then roll in cinnamon sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheet after five minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.