Snickerdoodles

Hi guys!  If you're like me and have been studying for and taking finals this past week, you need a sweet treat to celebrate.  You're probably sick of chocolate (yes I just said that) because you've been munching on it to get you through long days of studying, so you don't want a dessert with it.  How about something warm, sweet, and comforting?  Is that hitting home for you?  If it is, today's recipe is for you!

Although ice cream is pretty much my favorite dessert, it's pretty hard to beat a warm cookie, fresh from the oven dunked in a tall, cold glass of milk.  Especially when that cookie is perfectly spiced with cinnamon.  That cookie is a snickerdoodle! (which spell check does not think is a word 😡😉)

So just in case you don't know, a snickerdoodle is a cinnamon-spiced sugar cookie.  There's a lot of iterations on snickerdoodles, but the two must have ingredients are cream of tartar and cinnamon.  Never heard of or used cream of tartar?  All it is is a byproduct of wine making that adds that signature snickerdoodle flavor  (www.sallysbakingaddiction.com)(www.google.com).

Now while a lot of snickerdoodle recipes just call for the sugar cookie dough to be rolled in cinnamon sugar, today's snickerdoodle recipe gives the cookies a double-dose of cinnamon by having it be mixed into the dough!  I absolutely LOVE cinnamon, so I really enjoy these cookies.  And it seems that I have been on a bit of a cinnamon kick lately.  (Carrot cake or apple crisp anyone?)

Speaking of being on a cinnamon kick, do any of y'all love the combination of cinnamon and chocolate?  Let me know in the comments below.   I thought it would be weird together until I had a slice of chocolate cake with cinnamon frosting on it recently.  It was amazing 💕!!  So if you want to put a spin on this classic snickerdoodle recipe, throw some chocolate chips into the dough before baking and let me know how it goes in the comments below!  I've never done it myself, but I bet it would work as long as you don't put more than 1 cup of chocolate chips.  Who knows 🤷?!

To bring you today's recipe, I slightly tweaked this recipe.  Have a great weekend, foodies!

Snickerdoodles

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup plus 2 T.  granulated sugar, divided
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2.  In a large bowl using a hand-mixer, cream the softened butter for about 1 minute on medium speed.

3.  After the butter is nice and smooth, add 1 cup of sugar on medium speed until fluffy and light in color.

4.   Beat in the egg and vanilla, scraping down the sides as needed and setting aside when finished.

5.  In  medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, 2 tsp. cinnamon, and salt.

6.  Beat in the flour mixture on low speed in 3 different parts.  the dough is quite thick and you might need to stir the rest by hand.

7.  In a small bowl stir together the remaining 2 T. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon.

8.  To form the cookies, take 1.5 T. dough and roll it into a ball.

9.  Roll the dough balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

10.  Arrange the cookies on a cookie sheet and bake them in the preheated oven for 11-12 minutes.

11.  While they are are still very warm, press the cookies down lightly with the back of a spoon to help flatten them out a bit.

12.  Enjoy, storing in an airtight container for up to 7 days and/or freezing for up to 3 months.