So I finally had time to go to the two story Crate & Barrel that opened by my house, and absolutely fell in love. I walked through the entire store twice just to make sure that I didn’t miss anything. I cannot wait until the day comes that I am able to decorate my own house. I have a secret love for interior decorating and even decorated my friend’s entire house last year! He let me choose everything, including the wall moldings, paint color, flooring, kitchen counters/cabinets, and furniture. I get such a kick from matching patterns and color palettes to see what materials blend the best. One of my guilty pleasures is home improvement magazines. I have a subscription to Better Home & Gardens and have no problem admitting that it’s my favorite magazine. My boyfriend thinks I’m crazy for it, but who will be the one laughing when it’s time to decorate a house/entertain guests/clean/cook and find fun ideas and tips? Not me.
Anyways, back to Crate & Barrel, there are so many useless kitchen gadgets that I want! I managed to hold back with the poor college student budget that I have and just walk out with a pastry dough scraper. It’s always been on my list of things to get (along with a kitchen scale and a pastry blender) and now I finally have it. I’m starting my kitchen gadget collection early, so that when I have my own kitchen, it’ll be well equipped with all my baking needs.
Who doesn’t love snickerdoodles? I think that these are always a definite crowd pleaser, no matter what the audience. Kids, Teens, Grown-ups.. they all love them. I brought these to the birthday party mentioned in my last post and they were the first to disappear. This is the one cookie that I bake when I am absolutely clueless on what to bring to a party or social gathering. I bake this the most out of all my baked goods, and people never get tired of it. As a matter of fact, they just keep asking for it! In my opinion, any snickerdoodle recipe without cream of tartar is NOT a snickerdoodle! That is what makes the cookie, so don’t omit it! As I’ve figured, it’s a lot cheaper to buy cream of tartar online rather than in the stores. You can always buy it in bulk and store the rest in a air-sealed can/bag for later.
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/4 cups white sugar
- 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
- Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.
I love snickerdoodles!!! These look great. And be careful in those C&B stores…I want to buy everything!! 🙂
This might be a ridiculous question but what is shortening? I’d love to bake these :).
I bake mine without shortening and they still turn out amazing!
I have a confession to make… I have never tried a snickerdoodle! :O Horrifying I know
I have to try your recipe so I can say I have, and yours just look so damn tasty too!
I totally understand you! I’ve never tried a snickerdoodle until last week! now, I know what i’ve been missing! I adapted this recipe to make mine!
http://thekitchenkook.blogspot.com/2013/01/classic-snickerdoodle-cookies.html
Possibly my all time favorite cookie! Thanks for posting your take on it, I’ll have to try it out. 🙂
tfl- i totally know what you mean about c&b. 🙂
jean- according to wiki, shortening is “Shortening is a semisolid fat used in food preparation, especially baked goods, and is so called because it promotes a “short” or crumbly texture (as in shortbread). The term “shortening” can be used more broadly to apply to any fat that is used for baking and which is solid at room temperature, such as butter, lard, or margarine, but as used in recipes it refers to a hydrogenated vegetable oil that is solid at room temperature. Shortening has a higher smoke point than butter and margarine, and it has 100% fat content, compared to about 80% for butter and margarine.” you can replace it with butter. hope that helps!
jessy- omg! they are definitely in my top 3 favorite cookies. i hope you do try them!
mommyamy- you’re very welcome!
I’ve only ever baked snickerdoodles once, but it already moved up the list of my favourite cookies! Yours look wonderful 🙂
I absolutely love your blog! I should be sleeping because I have to get up in 5 hours, but instead, I’ve been looking at recipes for the past hour. Snickerdoodles are my favourite cookies in the world, and I’ll make sure to try this version out! Oh, I think we’re soulmates, and I say that in the uncreepiest way possible: I want to drop out of school to open my own bakery, and a C&B also just opened up, and I’ve spent half my paychecks there since then!
ovenhaven- thanks!
dessertchick- thank you so much! haha i know what you mean about staying up and reading food blogs when you should be sleeping. that’s about the story of my life as well. lol i also don’t find your comment creepy at all! ever since i’ve started my blog, i’ve found more and more people with the same story/passion as me. so we’re all in this together! 🙂
I love snickerdoodles!! And yours look absolutely amazing. How do you get the bottom edges to be so nice and rounded?? I confess that I have yet to get that particular skill down 100%, but then I don’t bake that often as it is.. although I’ve been in the kitchen more lately ever since I found your blog 😉 All your posts inspire me so! Keep up the great work!
tracy- thanks! i usually just roll them into balls and never flatten them. the baking pan that i use is a nice light metal, i never bake with dark pans. maybe that has something to do with it? thanks for all your kind words!
do you think replacing the cream of tartar with baking soda would make a big difference, because i didn’t even know what cream of tartar was until i looked it up and now i don’t know where to get it^^
hi! just wondering, what is a snickerdoodle supposed to taste like? the first(and my last) time baking them from betty crocker’s book didn’t work for me. Too sweet and texture was like cake! ended up throwing the whole batch away ):
Just made a fresh batch I was in the mood a couple of days and I didn’t identify your reciple. disappointed. Oh well, got back on your site today and I just made a fresh batch!! … for my stove, I only cooked them for 6 minutes, 8 minutes burned a little. It’s my stove. This the Best Recipe I’ve come across. Reminds me of the one my Aunt gave me many years ago. Thanks for Posting!
I can’t figure out how to print just the recipe. I made these already though. They are delicious.
I used a very similar recipe to make my snickerdoodles! except i didn’t use shortening (it scares me! haha. and also because I found that they actually make the cookies more cakey – and i like my cookies chewy!)
http://thekitchenkook.blogspot.com/2013/01/classic-snickerdoodle-cookies.html
I love the way these cookies came out!! Best snickerdoodle recipe yet 🙂
Just wanted to stop by to say thank you for this recipe! I have been using it for like a decade now – and I swear these might be my favorite cookies to make. I use all butter but other than that I follow the recipe as written.