Snickerdoodles are my FAVORITE

Out of all the cookies there are, snickerdoodles are my absolute favorite. That's why I decided on them the other day when I wanted a quick, familiar treat. Maybe I shouldn't have; I sat down and ate half the batch without blinking an eye. ack. So good.

One thing I will note that I adjusted during the recipe was the size of the cookies themselves. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of dough to be rolled into a ball but once baked, they spread way too much into thin discs. Now, they tasted fine (and chewy so, yay!) but if you want something a little more presentable and traditional-sized, I'd cut the cookie size in about half and watch the baking time (unless you like crunchy cookies which snickerdoodles traditionally are not). (BTW, pictured above are the smaller, normal-sized ones.)

I've had better snickerdoodles but in a pinch, these are pretty good.


SNICKERDOODLES
Source: The Best Recipe by Cook's Illustrated

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, plus 3 tablespoons for rolling cookies
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon for rolling cookies

1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

2. Whisk flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Either by hand or electric mixer, cream butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar until combined, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes with electric mixer set at medium speed. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Add eggs. Beat until combined, about 30 seconds.

4. Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 20 seconds.

5. Mix remaining 3 tablespoons sugar with cinnamon in shallow bowl. Working with scant 2 tablespoons of dough each time, roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll balls in cinnamon sugar and place on cookie sheet, spacing them 2 to 2 1/2 inches apart.

6. Bake, reversing position in oven halfway through baking time (from top rack to bottom and front to back), until edges of cookies are beginning to set and centers are soft and puffy, 9 to 11 minutes. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet 2 to 3 minutes before transferring them to cooling rack with wide spatula.