image borrowed from simplestthings.com
baking lore tells us that snickerdoodles are an old-fashioned soft cookie–stuffed with butter and rolled in cinnamon-sugar. meant to be crispy on the outside and deliciously chewy on the inside, the snickerdoodle is close to one of the most perfect cookies around. and, i have to say, pretty easy to make. in the early days of my foray into baking, i disturbingly “fudged” every possible cookie there was. (not including fudge, which i have still not attempted to make.) burnt, too sweet, too salty, inedible, full of rancid almonds…there was literally no end to the way i could mess up cookies.
my mom shared my great-grandmother’s recipe for snickerdoodle cookies with me at some point. i had no idea what a snickerdoodle was. but the first time i made them, they came out perfectly, and were so uniform they looked almost store-bought (unlike the uneven mess that usually came out of the oven for me).
then, not-too-long-ago, i discovered cougar mountain cookies. these became one of my guilty pleasures, especially as i had discovered the lemon snickerdoodles on one of my speedy trips through a local grocery store to procure treats on the way to the outdoor cinema. what a lucky discovery! recently a colleague of mine was selling this cookie dough by the pound for her daughter’s school fundraiser. needless to say i bought it and baked it up. i took them to work and they were a big hit!
then i realized–why not make lemon snickerdoodles myself? i have a great recipe, just sub in lemon extract for vanilla, and voila! fully homemade lemon snickerdoodles! one lovely detail i’ve seen is to sprinkle poppy seeds on top. it’s like a breath of spring in this lovely season.
image borrowed from twopeasandtheirpod.com
makes 48 cookies
1 cup of shortening or margarine (or 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup shortening)
1.5 cups of white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of lemon extract*
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2.75 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
.25 teaspoon of salt
set aside some white sugar in a bowl (1/4 cup)*
1. preheat oven to 400 f
2. cream the shortening and 1.5 cups of sugar with a hand mixer or stand mixer. add egss and vanilla/lemon extract and mix again with mixer.
3. add in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt and mix until doughy.
4. roll dough into 1 inch or so balls.
5. roll dough in the sugar you set aside
6. place onto an ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
7. flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass.
8. bake 8-10 mins
9. remove immediately and let cool.*note: for traditional snickerdoodle cookies, use vanilla instead of lemon extract, and mix cinnamon into the sugar set aside for rolling the dough in.
the recipe doesnt have cream of tartar in the ingredients but the directions do. do i need it? and if i do how much do i need?
yes! my apologies, 2 teaspoons!