12 Days of Cookies – Snickerdoodles
Turns out that Snickerdoodles are my sister’s favorite holiday cookie. This might not seem weird to anyone else, but to me, I was shocked when she told me. I don’t think my mom has ever made Snickerdoodles. I know that I haven’t ever made them. So I guess I’m not sure where she got this unexpected love of Snickerdoodles… But since they’re her favorite (and since she’s my favorite older-younger sister), I had to include them in my 12 Days of Cookies. Hi Brookie-Cookie!
I got this recipe from an insert that came with my Martha Stewart silicone baking mat. My dad gave me the mat for my birthday and I love it. Does just as well as my Silpats and I love the bright red color. You can see it in the picture of my Sugar Cookie post. Due to the large number of baked goods in our house, I decided to half this recipe. The dough comes together so easily, you could make these in a pinch. My half batch made exactly 2 dozen with my cookie scoop. I realized as I was looking at the recipe that I forgot to halve the amount of sugar used to roll the cookies in. Woops.
Snickerdoodles – from Martha Stewart – makes 4 dozen
2 3/4 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.
Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 20 (1 3/4-inch) balls (I just used my cookie scoop); roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.
My 12 Days of Cookies:
Day 1: Lumberjacks
Day 2: Peppermint Sandies
Day 3: The great Sugar Cookie Debate
Day 4: Fudge
Day 5: Cranberry Orange Cookies
Day 6: Chocolate Chip Snowballs
Day 7: Peppermint Chocolate Cookies
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
This has been a great hit this winter in “ski country” –easy to make with (pretty) easy ingredients to have on hand (once you buy the bag of sliced almonds, frozen cranberries, and almond extract!)
First time I made it as written. Delicious but very strong almond flavor. Second time I reduced the 1/2 c sugar on the cranberries to 1/4 cup, sub’d fine cornmeal for 1/2 the flour and reduced the almond extract by half. Pretty tart but almost all my friends liked it better (and if you want it sweeter you can add the whipped cream or ice cream…) and it is a nice counterpoint on a dessert buffet of sweeter brownies and cookies.
Thanks for the recipe! Hope you are doing well in Ohio.
beantownbaker — January 14th, 2013 @ 3:45 pm
So glad you’ve enjoyed this. I loved how simple it was to make! Almond extract definitely has a strong flavor, so I can see cutting it down for sure! Ohio is treating us well so far.