A few weeks ago, I made some peanut blossoms (for those of you who don't know, and I didn't, this is recipe from the bag of Hershey's Kisses; a peanut butter cookie with a Kiss smushed on top after baking) for a coworker who was pining for the cookies he had growing up. This made me reminisce about my own childhood favorites; Gingersnaps and Snickerdoodles. Snickerdoodle was my father's pet name for me, and I got a kick out of being named after a cookie - a WHOLE cookie, when my sister's pet name, Schnutz, meant a mere morsel of something. But I digress. We typically made these two cookies on the same day, with my sister and I employed in the process of rolling the cookie into a ball and coating it with sugar.
I didn't have a recipe from home for Snickerdoodles, so I consulted the All American Cookie Book, by Nancy Baggett. On one of the first pages, she has a recipe for "Best Ever Snickerdoodles." I feel that I must argue. What I ended up with was a completely flat, chewy - almost toffee-like - tuile. They were so strange that I immediately reread the recipe, retracing my steps. The taste of baking powder was so strong that I fear I used the wrong amount, or missed a cup of flour somewhere or something. I had done everything correctly, but who would call this flat thing a Snickerdoodle? or even a good cookie? Nonetheless, I took them in to work, with a poll if these were the sort of Snickerdoodle that everyone remembered. Most people said that yes, they did remember a flat cookie. But not me.
Husband agreed that he also remembered something different - a puffy, cakelike cookie full of cinnamony goodness. And so I did whatever I do when I try to make something from childhood that turns out flat and odd-tasting: I emailed Mom. As I had figured out by now, the main key to the puffy cookie was shortening vs. butter. Because butter melts at a lower temperature than shortening, it spreads more in the oven. Also, my mother's recipe used cream of tartar and baking soda, where the Baggett recipe used a baking soda/sugar combination. Finally, Baggett's recipe calls for a combination of sugar and corn syrup; corn syrup caramelizes more and faster in the oven than sugar alone, and provides a dense chewiness, but not one that I really wanted in this cookie.
And so, Snickerdoodle the II turned out just as I remembered; the smell took me right back home. I can recommend these based on their aroma alone.
Please see the previous post, about trans fatty acids, and the alternative I used.
Mom's Snickerdoodles
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cups sugar, plus 2 TBSP (divided)
2 3/4 cups AP flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cream the shortening and 1 1/4 cup sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes or so. Sift together the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. Once the shortening and sugar are sufficiently fluffed, add the eggs and vanilla and continue to mix until you once again have a fluffy texture. Lower your speed and add the flour mixture, beating until just combined.
Combine 2 TBSP sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a wide, shallow bowl or plate.
Roll the cookies into 1 TBSP balls and coat with the cinnamon/sugar/nutmeg mixture.
Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment and bake for 8 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through to ensure even baking.
