Snickerdoodles

What ever happened to the good old Christmas cookie exchange?  They seem to be a thing of the past - I never hear about them anymore. I hope that there are still people out there who are still hosting cookie exchanges.

It is still a great concept though - perfect and bake one or two of your favorite Christmas cookie recipes and share with your friends.  SHARE!

Instead of trying to master a lot of different cookie recipes - stick with the ones that you're great at and everyone benefits. 

Perfecting a cookie recipe? - that's my specialty.  I've made snickerdoodles for years and I'm always trying to improve on them.  I love the buttery flavor but I've had trouble keeping the pillowy soft texture of the cookie when I try and adjust my butter/shortening ratio.  Fortunately for me, I came across a recipe on mylitter.com that just might have solved my problem.  (A little brown sugar just might be the key to the perfect, buttery Snickerdoodle.)

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

For rolling

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer on high speed.

Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.






Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.



In a small bowl, combine the sugar with the cinnamon for the topping.  Scoop dough into balls and roll in cinnamon sugar.  Let the dough rest for 30 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator.

Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes and no more. The cookies may seem undercooked, but will continue to develop after they are removed from the oven. When the cookies have cooled they should be soft and chewy in the middle.

 Cool on wire racks.

If you host or attend and annual Christmas cookie exchange - I want to hear about it.  Send me a comment and let me know the logistics.  How is it organized?  How do you pack and transport your cookies, ect?

 Ciao!