Day 7: Snickerdoodles

While these might not be considered a very Christmas-y cookie, I decided to make them this year. I hope you will consider making these year round - they are delicious! There is something about a plain-ish cookie coated in cinnamon and sugar... yum! These cookies are a little thinner, and have a little bite to them - not that they are hard, but they are not thick, soft cookies either. I really liked the balance, and they are great for dunking in milk!

Snickerdoodles
from Annie's Eats, originally from Baking Illustrated
Yield: about 2 1/2 dozen cookies

2 1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1/4 c. vegetable shortening
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar, plus 3 tbsp. for rolling dough
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon, for rolling dough

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar on medium speed until well combined, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and beat again until combined, about 30 seconds. Add in the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 20 seconds.

In a small, shallow bowl, combine the 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon for rolling the dough. Stir or shake well to combine. Working with a heaping tablespoon of dough each time, roll the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place them on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Use a drinking glass with a flat bottom to gently flatten the dough balls to 3/4-inch thickness (butter the bottom of the glass before starting, and dip it in sugar between cookies if it begins to stick).

Bake until the edges of the cookies are beginning to set and the center are soft and puffy, 9-11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back halfway through the baking time. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets 2-3 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.REVIEW:
These turned out great. I'll admit - I completely forgot to flatten my cookie balls with a drinking glass, but I still think they turned out well. These might not be the most exciting cookies on my platter this year, but once you try one, its really hard to not go back for more.