When Derek was a little boy, his favorite cookies were snickerdoodles; those slightly cakey sugar cookies, rolled in cinnamon before baking, were the way to his heart. Now he is all grown up, and home from a summer internship for a few weeks. Seems like an appropriate time to pull out the old recipe.
Snickerdoodle love must be genetic. When Larry was a kid, he also had an infatuation with the soft cookie. Someone must have remembered because a plate of snickerdoodles mysteriously appeared on the bridal table at our wedding reception. Makes us snigger all these years later.
In my humble opinion, the quality that sets a cookie apart is slightly underbaking it, producing a chewy texture once the cookie has cooled. I find hard, crunchy, overbaked cookies to be a waste of calories. So watch these gems carefully and pull them from the oven while they are just a little gooey.
Snickerdoodles - makes 4 1/2 dozen cookies
2 c. butter, room temperature (if you live in the south and aren't afraid of crisco, use half butter and half butter-flavored crisco, for an improved cookie texture)
2 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
5 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugars and cream thoroughly. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients into the batter by heaping spoonfuls. Chill dough in the refrigerator at least several hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to convection 350. If you are not using a conventional oven, you may need to increase the temp to 375 and increase the baking time slightly. Form the dough into balls the size of a golf ball. I use an ice cream scoop for uniformity. Prepare a mixture of 1/4 c. white sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. Roll the dough balls into the cinnamon mixture and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Slightly flatten the balls with the palm of your hand. Bake for 8 minutes. When you remove them from the oven, they will still be rounded and puffy, but will quickly settle down and look crinkly.
The proverbial milk and cookies.
I've decided that a few wrinkles are acceptable.