How to Snickerdoodle

I think that "snickerdoodle" should be a verb. Whenever I hear it, I don't think of delicious cookies covered in a fine dusting of cinnamon, I think of someone doing the twist with great vigor while giggling uncontrollably.

The Snickerdoodle looks like this, only sillier.

This may be a result of some crossed wires in my brain, or maybe it comes from how darn much I love snickerdoodles; they make me prone to boogieing.

There are two types of snickerdoodles in this world:

1. The Soft Variety: These snickerdoodles are soft and chewy and vanilla-y. They're basically sugar cookies rolled in cinnamon and sugar. I'm a big fan of these, but I've only ever found them at professional bakeries.
   
2. The Crispy Variety: The equally delicious crispy snickerdoodles make a pronounced "crunch" as you bite into them. The uncooked dough is more like that of a butter cookie (dense, smooth, and a little sticky) than the dough of a sugar cookie (dry and sort of flexible). These are what the below recipe makes.

This recipe comes from Emeril Lagasse of "BAM!" fame. I never would have thought that Emeril, king of beefy sandwiches and Cajun cuisine, could dream up such a delicious cookie, but these are just about perfect. My only change was to add a little more sugar to the coating mixture for extra sweetness.

These are easy that I don't know why I've never made them before. All you do is mix the ingredients as directed, scoop the dough into rough 1 1/2" balls, roll them in cinnamon and sugar . . .

flatten them into chubby little pucks . . .

and bake. You don't even have to worry about making the flattened pucks perfectly round--the cookies rise and spread into perfect circles all on their own.

The recipe suggests that you take the cookies out of the oven when just the edges are browned, but that's pretty much impossible since the cookies are covered in brown powder. The way I could tell when my cookies were done was that they looked like the above picture: the centers were still puffy, but the edges had gone flat and crispy.

These are the first Christmas-y thing I've made this month. Here's the rest of my to-do list:

• gingerbread (the cake-y kind, not the cookie variety)
• soft and puffy sugar cookies
• puppy chow
• peanut brittle
• something involving Red Hots
  
• cinnamon rolls (and lots of them!)

Wish me luck! 
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Snickerdoodles

By Emeril Lagasse

From FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 3 tablespoons
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

With a handheld or standing mixer, beat together the shortening and butter. Add the 1 1/2 cups sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.

Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll the dough, by hand, into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar. Flatten the balls into 1/2-inch thick disks, spacing them evenly on unlined cookie sheets. 

Bake until light brown, but still moist in the center, about 12 minutes. Cool on a rack.