My adventure with Snickerdoodle cookies...

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My adventure with Snickerdoodle cookies... I've been baking a lot lately. I needed to bring some cookies and various desserts for the annual youth group gathering at our church... there would be about 100 kids. As you can imagine, I was quite busy. Besides baking the usual oatmeal cookies, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, I decided to bake some snickerdoodles. Can you believe I've never made snickerdoodle cookies before?! I don't know why...but maybe it's because I've never had a snickerdooodle...until last year. Yes, I know, I missed out all these years. But I didn't grow up eating snickerdoodles or too many chocolate chip cookies... that just might be a reason why I never had a snickerdoodle.... until last year:)...

In any case, I had used most of my ingredients when making the other desserts, that I had just enough butter for only one batch of cookies. But, I so wanted to see the difference between snickerdoodles made with cream of tartar and snickerdoodles made with just baking powder, that I decided to do 2 batches. I had some coconut oil that I could substitute for half of the butter. It should work, right? Well, I went ahead with my plan and started making the first batch. As I made the first batch, I noticed that I wouldn't have enough flour for the second batch...what to do? Well, I did have some bread flour. Would that work? I knew bread flour would make the cookies a bit more chewy...why, Alton Brown uses bread flour in one of his chocolate chip cookies. Couldn't I ? But then I had doubts, and thought maybe I should add a bit of cake flour...just to lower the protein a bit and balance it out. So I used a mixture of flours in my second batch. And because I had just made some oatmeal cookies, my oven was set at 350. Now, most original snickerdoodles are baked at 400 degs....so I just popped them in the oven(at 350) and forgot to set the oven to 400. I did find out that there are a few recipes that bake them at 350, so I was glad my mistake wasn't so bad after all. The cookies turned out ...even with all my substitutions. I liked them both. The cream of tartar version were flatter and had the crackly surface... while the baking powder version didn't spread out very much and were softer and chewier. In any case, I am listing the traditional version and my 2 versions...for comparison and personal preference. Just thought to share a bit of what sometimes happens in my kitchen:)...Hope you enjoy...

You will need:

ORIGINAL VERSION

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tsps cream of tartar*

1 tsp baking soda*

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

* the amount of cream of tartar and baking soda combined can be substituted with 2 teaspoons baking powder, but will yield a softer and not so flat cookie( without the crackly surface).

MY VERSION:

Snickerdoodles #1

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Snickerdoodles #2

1 1/2 cups bread flour

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cinnamon Sugar Coating: for all versions~

2 TBS granulated white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon( you can decrease this a bit if you don't like it too cinnamon-y)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F( some recipes use 400 deg, I chose to make mine at 350) . Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Make cinnamon coating: In a large shallow bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth (about 2 to 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. You will most likely need to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough. Refrigerate, while you clean up or until dough is firm enough to form into balls. Take out from fridge and shape the dough into 1 inch round balls.

Roll the balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar and place on the prepared pan, spacing about 2 inches apart. You can gently flatten each cookie to about 1/2 inch thick,using the bottom of a glass...I chose to leave them alone without flattening.

Bake the cookies for about 8 - 10 minutes, or until they are lightgolden brown around the edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

...Baked cookies with cream of tartar and regular flour along with an equal mixture of butter and coconut oil.

...Baked cookies with baking powder and bread flour/cake flour and an equal mixture of butter and coconut oil.