Snickerdoodles! You know you want one!

So me in my oldest sister once owned our very own bakery.  The end.  Although anyone who came into the bakery knows these cookies as The Sweet Escape this recipe has actually been in the family awhile.    When me and my three sisters were little, my mother had a new junior cookbook that had this cookie recipe in there along with some other secret recipes to be shared later =)  Getting to make these cookies with my mom as a kid you would think she was letting us flambé bananas or something.   I can remember the kitchen smelling of warm sweet cinnamon.  Still one of my most favorite memories and still one of my most favorite cookies.  

Snickerdoodles

Preheat oven to 350

2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

3 cups / 330 g ap flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar (not to be confused with tartar sauce...seriously)

1/4 cup sugar
1TB cinnamon

When I decided to make these cookies today I thought I was so smart because I was going to get my butter soft by sitting it outside instead of microwaving it.  Well my new cook books distracted me longer than I had planned.   Lets just say I could have microwaved the butter for three minutes and it would have been firmer than leaving it outside!  So I started with 2 very soft sticks of unsalted butter and I add 1 1/2 cup of sugar.  I use my hand mixer to beat it until light and fluffy.  Once you are at the right consistency add both eggs at the same time and once again beat until light and fluffy.  With this recipe you can not over beat in my opinion.  Not with the results that I am looking for anyways.  

Once you have that done go ahead and mix up your dry ingredients.  Weigh out your 330g of AP flour (in baking I ALWAYS weigh my flour so I do not add to much) and add your 1/2 teaspoons of salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda.  Give that a good whisk then add that to your "wet" ingredients.  As you will notice in my picture I am doing it the opposite way.  In another picture not posted is me trying to beat this mixture on a high enough speed so it will pick up the excess flour mixture off the bottom of the bowl that needs to be mixed in!  Once again though I was not afraid of over mixing.


In just a small bowl I add my 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 Tb of cinnamon.  I could actually add more cause I like my snickerdoodles with a little spice.  With a name like that it needs to have a little kick (just not too much to where it taste bitter.)  Mix well and get ready to either spoon out dough balls or scoop them out.  All depending on what kind of gadget you have in your kitchen.  

Once the dough has been rolled in the cinnamon sugar place 6 of them them evenly apart on the baking pan. My cookies spread and they are about 4'' wide, they need their growing room.  Once on the sheet smash them just a bit to where they are no longer round on the top.  This keeps the center from keeping that small pillow of dough that will never cook down.  I have nothing against raw cookie dough trust me, I just don't want my snickerdoodles to look like that.. Slight perfectionist here.  

  

After baking for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees you will see a beautifully risen cookie that looks and smells amazing.  You may want a picture now cause they fall!  The air escapes them shortly after leaving the heat of the oven and you are left with this amazing chewy cinnamon butter cookie that will just put a smile on your face.  Not sure if it has a special power or what.  Seeing people react as adult the same was as I did as a kid while eating this cookie was probably the most memorable experience at the bakery.  Still one thing that makes me =)