Quick someone call Alton Brown! I was amazed this Christmas to find people out there with a total lack of Snicker Doodle experience.
SNICKER DOODLES PEOPLE!
The first thing my dear mother taught me to bake as a young swine in the kitchen was the Snicker Doodle. Everybody finds them yummy and so good.
I have grown up and so has my Snicker Doodle making knowledge so let me pass on to you this fine, simple, yet flavorful, cookie for all that is good and cinnamony in the world.
May the Snicker Doodle live on in your house.
Snicker Doodles are basically a sugar cookie with cinnamon used to coat them but I have found their value is in how simple the ingredients list is. The main flavors are butter, vanilla, sugar and cinnamon so keep that in mind. You can get some serious mileage out of top quality ingredients and a little respect for how it all goes together.
In one bowl place…
- 2 3/4 cups Soft White Winter Wheat All-Purpose Flour
I use Soft Winter Wheat here because it is low in gluten-forming proteins and is best for baking cookies not bread, use the other stuff for bread.
- 2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar
Did you know Cream of Tartar is a chemical byproduct of wine making? The things you learn growing up in Sonoma.
- 1 teaspoon Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
That’s regular Morton type table salt not some huge ass fancy schmancy sea salt.
Mix all those dry ingredients together thoroughly and then set aside for later.
Now in a new bowl cream together the following…
- 1/2 cup European Style Butter, softened at room temperature
European Style Butter has more Butter Fat and less Water meaning only one thing MORE BUTTER FLAVOR.
- 1/2 cup Crisco Shortening, softened at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups White Sugar
- 3 Eggs
- 2 teaspoons or so Pure Madagascar Vanilla Extract
The most intense Vanilla Beans used for extracts comes from the island of Madagascar. If you like Vanilla flavor use a little more.
Now your butter and your Crisco should be room temperature and mushy so cream those together really well without any other ingredients present.
Next start adding in your sugar a little at a time and thoroughly cream it into the butter/Crisco mess till it starts actually looking fluffy. There’s a culinary reason for doing this but I forget what Alton said.
Then once that is all together and looking like a fluffy sugary mess start adding your three eggs one at a time and continue thoroughly mixing and fluffing between eggs. I use one more egg than most recipes here because I like an eggy flavor in this cookie. Reminds me of Eggnog.
Now finally add in the Pure Madagascar Vanilla Extract last and once that is done grab that other bowl of dry ingredients and again SLOWLY add that into the wet mixture keeping this mess as fluffy as possible.
You should try to get the cookie dough as wet as possible but dry enough to be sticky and a little mushy and yet you can still form it using a small spoon. I just use a small table setting spoon for this. So if it still feels too wet add a little more flour and continue working it together.
Now preheat the oven to 400 degrees and get a soup bowl and mix the following…
- 3 heaping tablespoons of White Sugar
- 2 or so teaspoons of Ground True “Ceylon Cinnamon”
True Cinnamon comes from Ceylon and has a subtle delicate flavor and is best for baking. Just ask your local Cinnabon vendor at the mall.
Now notice for the sugar/cinnamon mixture I say 2 or so teaspoons of Ceylon Cinnamon. That means I go for a light brown color in the mixture not exact amounts.
Spoon the sticky messy cookie dough into little balls and roll in the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Place two inches apart on the non-stick cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
I set the timer for 9 minutes and to keep these chewy and light as air. Have a spatula ready to move these droopy, chewy, wonderful smelling cookies off the baking sheet and onto a rack or some place to cool.
Tags: Food, That's Not eBooks
Anne Douglas wrote,
Well, that explains the elusive American snicker doodle, and why I wouldn’t have known one if I’d fallen over one – I’m not a cinnamon fan.
But it sounds like a really nice base recipe, I might give it a try sans cinnamon and dip them in some coffee sugar type crystals.
PS European butter is the only way to go (well, for eating in this house anyway, it’s a bit too expensive to regularly cook with). If hubby’s info is to be believed(via doing work for Northland Dairy at the cheese? plant in Northland, NZ):
Acceptable butter for the American market is white (versus yellow, which is what I grew up with in NZ), to do this they strip fats from the butter (assuming those that give it the yellow *butter* colour), they then turn around and put those fats into the milk they use to make cheese for the American market, as the more accepted cheese colour in the USA is yellow.
I have to wonder where this convention of white butter and yellow cheese came from considering cheese is more naturally white, and butter yellow.
Which begs the question, when someone describes the walls as ‘butter’ coloured, what colour are they actually talking about.
And I am officially rambling…
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
LBea wrote,
Plz send cookies.
=)
Am waiting.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
Sorry LBea. The last batch I made disappeared overnight. I think I have a Snicker Doodle Leak in the house.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Amber wrote,
White Lily flour is unbeatable for cookies or the perfect Southern Biscuit.
If you can’t find Ceylon cinnamon, look in the Latin markets for canela.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
LBea wrote,
JASON, QUIT EATING MY COOKIES!!
I guess I could send him some buckeyes….
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Amber wrote,
Kumquat Butter Cookies
1 and 1/4 cups of soft flour (try for White Lily)
1/2 cup cornstarch or rice flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar (if you don’t have any, run white sugar through the coffee/spice grinder)
1 and 1/2 sticks butter, softened (If you forget to set it out ahead of time to soften, mash it through a ricer or use a potato masher. Don’t nuke it to melt.)
juice of 3-5 kumquats (use five if quite seedy, three if seedless)
grated peel of those same 3-5 kumquats
Beat these ingredients together. Divide dough in quarters and roll into sausages. Wrap each sausage in plastic wrap. Refrigerate to stiffen the dough, especially if the kitchen is kind of warm. I like to leave them in the fridge overnight, but they keep good for several days.
When you’re ready to cook, pull out however many sausages are left and eyeball them. Each sausage is supposed to make a dozen cookies, so the pieces you’re going to cut them in will look pretty small. Set oven to 350. While it’s heating, mark the sausage to keep you on track, and cut into cookies.
Cook 10 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet. Don’t try to brown the cookies.
When cool, frost with a lemony drizzle or with Nutella.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Jenre wrote,
Erm… Mr Teddy Pig, could I have some clarifcation for a poor Brit who doesn’t understand some of the ingrediants?
Do you use plain flour or self-raising flour?
Is baking soda ‘bicarbinate of soda’ or ‘baking powder’?
Is shortening margerine or lard?
What’s a cup in grammes and kilogrammes (or even oz and lbs)?
I think I get the rest. The cookies sound great – just the thing to bake with the kids to use up some time until they have go back to school.
BTW you only get the good butter here!
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
All-Purpose-Flour is Plain Flour, no additives. For cookies use the soft winter wheat variety.
Baking Soda is not Baking Powder but they both are leavening agents.
You can substitute Baking Powder for Baking Soda at a 3 to 1 ratio and leave out the Cream of Tartar but the taste penalty of doing this in such a simple recipe is horrid.
Try to find Baking Soda for this cookie.
Crisco or shortening is lard.
Oh man, I don’t bake by weight and grams are by weight so I think you get 125 grams per cup of Plain Flour. The problem is it all depends on what is getting weighed which is why we started using cups and spoons for measuring. I am sure you probably can find conversions for this on the net.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Amber wrote,
In case TP is busy:
Plain flour
bicarbonate of soda
lard works better than margarine as a shortening substitute
I found this chart, but haven’t tested it:
Butter – 230 grams per cup
Margarine – 205 grams per cup
Flour – 125 grams per cup
Cornstarch – 150 grams per cup
Sugar, powdered – 130 grams per cup
Sugar, granulated – 190 grams per cup
Honey – 320 grams per cup
One stick of butter is half a cup.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Amber wrote,
Sorry to jump, TeddyPig.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
No it’s fine. We have so many names for things that I am sure it is a nightmare trying to do this overseas.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Jenre wrote,
That’s great – thanks to you both.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
BevQB wrote,
Mr. Pig, is the flour sifted first? And if so, are your measurements pre or post sifting?
I must say that the recipe is tempting. I may not spring for the fancy-schmancy vanilla or Cinnamon, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen butter labeled as “European Style”, but the wheat flour and 3 eggs makes this sound like it definitely will taste different than the average Snickerdoodle.
Now, whether I can find “Soft White Winter” wheat flour or just wheat flour may be a whole ‘nuther issue. Hmmm… maybe I’ll try mixing half wheat flour and half white flour if I can’t find it.
Or, you know, you COULD just send me some so I’ll know what I’d be missing by substituting ingredients. Really, you wouldn’t even have to bake them– just mix ‘em up and send me the frozen dough to bake myself. Oh wait, keeping them frozen would be a problem, wouldn’t it? So, yeah, it would be best if you send them already baked, KTHX. :-D
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
lbea wrote,
I concur with bev!!!
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Sarah wrote,
Yum. I think I get all the ingredients and as I have been attempting to bake these holidays I might even give this a crack! Also been noming the step mums passion fruit melting moments. They’ve have to roll me out of the house. I made the beloved’s biscuit fudge from his Nana’s recipe. Acceptable apparently.
Bizarre that your butter is white did Anne say? Ours is so yellow and the fat bits are the best part!
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
LBea wrote,
STOP: Biscuit fudge? Uh. That sounds so good. What the heck is it?
Nom.Nom.Nom.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Amber wrote,
Am I the only one with a dirty mind here?
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
is the flour sifted first?
Sifted? What’s that? Who has time to sift anymore?
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
LBea wrote,
We should have a naughty bits bake off.
Er.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Amber wrote,
To paraphrase Charlaine Harris, instead of a cook off, we could have a…hmm.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Lauren Dane wrote,
dear mr pig, I love snickerdoodles. I will trade books for them. Just sayin.
BTW, we get butter from the local organic dairy and it is yellow. I’ve never had white butter. Hm. But I have had european butter, and yes it’s far more deliciously fatty than most american butter. And I sift! It doesn’t take much longer, I just measure the flour through the sifter. Tap, tap tap, all done.
Gah, curse you, I want cookies.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
Well, when my parents forced me at a young age to experience life first hand on a farm near bum fuck Cave Junction, Oregon for about three years.
I milked two cows everyday sunrise and sunset. One for the milk and one for the cream.
Anyway, we made butter in a huge pickle jar with this electric churning thing which was just a propeller on a long stem that you screwed onto the top of the jar.
The butter came out a white lump.
Then you had to use a paddle and work the watery milk residue out of it to get it less mushy so you could mold it.
I always heard that the yellow in store bought butter was actually food coloring.
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Kris Jacen wrote,
Ummm, Teddy Pig? Is it cheating if I get my snickerdoodles from the Cookie Corner store near my office? I do know how to bake (made cinnamon rolls from scratch for Christmas morning) but never get around to making cookies from scratch these days.
Aloha, Kris
Link | December 28th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
LBea wrote,
That butter makin’ sounds sexy. Blech.
Hey, speaking of paddles. Did you ever read that Vampire/Joey Hill book????
Link | December 29th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Ally Blue wrote,
O_O
I am coming to your place for cookies. Tell Jason to save a couple next time.
Am also totally saving any and all recipes posted on this thread in anticipation of that magical day when I actually bake again…
Link | December 29th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Lauren Dane wrote,
I’ve churned butter a time or nine – although not milking cows for three years (allow me a moment to give thanks, milking cows is hard). But the butter was yellow, like spring yellow, when it was done. I wonder if it has something to do with what the cows are eating?
Link | December 29th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
TeddyPig wrote,
Could be, I just seem to remember it was not bright yellow like store bought. Pale yellow or off white but not bright.
Link | December 29th, 2008 at 4:26 pm