Nothing to snicker about…

Here’s a cookie to go with yesterday’s cocoa recipe. I’ve never made Snickerdoodles. Remember I’m not a big fan of baking – however I am a lover of this distinctive cookie. A simple recipe for this popular cookie caught my eye in yet another one of those cookbooks that I’m not sure how ended up on my shelf!

It’s titled The October Group of St. Peter’s Church presents the A B C’s of Cooking (1967). Chairmen of the cookbook project are listed as Lucy Schweiger, Osage, Iowa and Joan Marley, Riceville, Iowa. The recipe is actually very vague. No oven temp nor number of of cookies it yields – and not much direction on how to assemble. I did not prepare it as written – which can be risky for baking! Here’s the recipe (attributed to Mrs. Forest Chambers)* and I’ll share what I did differently at the end.

Snicker Doodles (yes, recipe shows it as two distinct words!)

Melt together thoroughly:

1 cup shortening

1½ cups sugar

2 eggs

Sift together and stir in:

2¾ cups flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Roll in balls the size of walnuts. Roll balls in mixture of 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Place about 2-inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in moderate oven until light brown but still soft. They puff at first but flatten themselves, having a crinkled top.

(Okay, here’s what I did: using a hand mixer, creamed shortening, sugar and eggs until well blended. Combined flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt and added it to the mixture, beating until dough came together. I made them more like the size of golf balls – and I baked them at 325 degrees.)

Wow!!! These are even better than they look. Moist and crumbly on the inside, crunchy on the outside. I tried to find out an explanation why they have a funky name but none of the explanations rang true. Let me know if you try them!

*All the women who contributed to this book are identified as Mrs. (their husband’s first name), (their husband’s last name). I remember when I was applying for a JC Penney credit card nearly 47 years ago and my mother and I got into a major argument when she saw me write my first name on the form. “No,” she insisted, “you are now Mrs. Gerald Sandler.” Loved you mom, but no!