Recipes: World's Best Snickerdoodle Cookies (IMHO)

BY: Samuel Parks (August 2010)

This recipe first appeared on my facebook wall in August 2010. 

World's Best Sinckerdoodle Cookies (IMHO)

Some new twists on a perennial classic.  This updated version of the classic holiday cookie combines the crunch of demura sugar with a soft, buttery center that conjures mental images of a grandmother’s kitchen.  Like all snickerdoodle cookies, the essence of this recipe is tied to the contrasting textures of the cookie’s center and its crunchy cinnamon sugar coating, and of course the interplay between sweet and slightly tangy. 

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter (butter quality is important in this recipe so don’t use the cheap stuff...spend the extra dollar and buy Land O’ Lakes)

1 cup white sugar

¼ cup light brown sugar

¼ cup honey

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon whiskey (of course I recommend Jack Daniels)

2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt (as with all baked goods, I recommend a good dose of Morton’s Kosher salt)

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons turbinado or demura sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Let the butter stand at room temperature until softened.  Cream the butter until well mixed.  Pour 1 cup of the white sugar, brown sugar, and honey into the mixed butter and beat until well mixed.  Add the eggs one at a time to the butter/ sugar mix.  Mix in the vanilla and whiskey by hand.  In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.  Working with a third of the flour mixture at a time, slowly add it to the creamed sugars.  Mix until just incorporated (DO NOT OVERMIX THESE COOKIES!  The entire essence of a snickerdoodle is wrapped in its soft-buttery center, over mixing will undermine this attribute)

Roll cookie dough into a 1 inch diameter ball.  Roll the dough ball through the mixture of white sugar, turbinado sugar, and cinnamon.  Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet or silicon baking mat about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 6-8 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove from oven and immediately transfer to a wire rack

(Remember the entire essence of the snickerdoodle is tied to the contrast of textures found in the buttery center and the crunchy exterior.  By transferring to a wire rack immediately after cooking, you arrest the cooking process, and preserve this contrast). 

Yields:  Approximately 3-4 dozen cookies