Snickerwhat?

Here are Snickerdoodles fer ya. They look more like chicken nuggets at this point, which is the pre-bake point, but boy do they look scrumptious afterward! They are for a special occasion. No, not exactly for the big obvious one of celebrating the Inauguration of USA's new president Obama (I give him big ups and am so happy he is the new Prez. Although he's gotten more attention from me than any other Canadian politician, I still don't know much about him. I do feel bad that this blog is not about him at all so all I can really say is CONGRATS!! and GOD BE WITH YA!!)




Okay so on to my own mini occasion. Today is my sister Jenn's bridesmaids' first get-together! I am, ahem, the maid of honour, being, of course, her best friend for over 22 years. Heeehee. So I think I've mentioned it before but yes, my sister is engaged and set to marry her lovely fiance Kevin in May! And she's asked her 6 best friends to be at her side on the special day. Today we'll be meeting up, sans Jenn, and discussing about, oh you know, fun things like bridal shower, bachelorette party and gifts!



Aside from the parties, my sister getting married is really exciting, you know. They're an excellent duo and I've gotten the best brother in law EVER! But I won't discuss the bittersweet-ness (more sweet than bitter) of my sister leaving me to become his wife, today. I just wanted to say that I've baked these little babies for our get-together today and I think the sweet and cinnamony cookies will suit the occasion just right!



So I found this recipe from the blog nosh with me after a long search for the right one. I needed a recipe that I can make right away, none of that refrigerate for 7 hours nonsense, and looked good in a picture. Haha. I was going to use another recipe but ended up with this one. But I realized AFTER I've baked them that this recipe doesn't use the traditional cream of tartar snickerdoodles use. I wonder if that makes a huge difference. I really like the cookies, but wasn't exacctly what I expected. These cookies are delightfully cakey and light, and the cinnamon sugar is excellent! But I was expecting a sort of airy inside and crunchy outside cookie... am I wrong? This was my first snickerdoodle ever, so I'm excited to try more recipes. All in all, though, they were delicious! Not too sweet, but in no ways plain.

Snickerdoodles

makes about 45

ingredients

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

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.
3. 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.
4. 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.