Growing up, we had a neighbour who was known for her cookies. Perfectly crunchie, yet chewy, hers were the most highly prized food currency in the neighbourhood. A party wasn't a party unless Karen brought her cookies.
I don't think I have eaten another snickerdoodle since we moved away. How could I even compare, baking not being my greatest strength in the first place, then having the bar oh-so-high. And so I didn't bother, stuck to the basics of chocolate chip...until last week when I decided to make it my mission to recreate the cinnamon flavoured bites of sweetness. You see, I am not a huge chocolate fan, but cinnamon, well that is a whole other story.
I have now made 4 batches in 5 days, tweaking them each time. As I am sure you can imagine, my family were more than happy to be the guinea pigs. So much so, that on the one day I didn't make them, I was roundly told off my Ms Georgia, wagging finger and all. "Mama, why you no make cookies? Bad, mama."
However, 4th batch in and I am pretty sure they are as close to perfect as they are going to get. Softer and lighter than I remembered, they are just divine dipped in coffee. I am imagining them with cinnamon or coffee buttercream and made into whoopie pies. But perfection is here and its fair to say I don't need to make another batch for awhile.
Just don't tell Georgia.
Soft Snickerdoodles:
1cup of room temperature butter or margerine
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup demererra/ raw sugar
2 eggs
1t baking powder
3cups of flour
pinch of salt
3T white sugar
3T cinnamon.
mix butter, sugar and eggs thoroughly. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix.
Place the extra cinnamon and sugar in small bowl and mix. Roll small balls of dough in the cinnamon sugar mix.
Place on cookie sheet about 2in apart. Flatten with the bottom of a glass or jar.
Bake at 350F/180C for about 8 minutes until just brown.
Dunk in coffee.
Reach nirvana.