Snickerdoodle Hospitality

Probably my husband’s and oldest son’s favorite kind of cookies is snickerdoodles. After a long day at school or work, or when everyone’s just sitting around in the evening and watching a movie, a plate full of snickerdoodles fresh out of the oven just adds to the moment. In fact, I just pulled out a tray of snickerdoodles. That’s my family’s kind of hospitality!

Usually I make the dough balls up ahead of time and put them in the freezer. Then I just pull out dough balls whenever I want them and only a dozen or so at a time—usually just one cookie sheet’s worth. That way we can have freshly-baked snickerdoodles on a whim. (Not only that, I’m not making whole batches all at once—which cuts down caloric intake for everyone!).

Here’s the snickerdoodle recipe I’ve been making for many years:

½ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup Crisco (or other shortening)
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
½ tsp. vanilla
2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
Cinnamon and sugar mixture (1/8 cup granulated sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon)

Cream butter, shortening and 1 ½ cups granulated sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend in flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough into tablespoon-sized dough balls. Refrigerate dough balls for at least an hour to firm up. (After they’ve firmed up—that way they won’t stick together—and I put them in a freezer bag). When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake about 8 to 10 minutes. Don’t let them brown, or they’ll get too hard. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.