[Cookie 007] Snickerdoodles

Well good news: I got my A-game back!! I didn't fail with this recipe! But let's get to it....

So, Snickerdoodles--a classic right? Truth be told, before this batch of Snickerdoodles, I wasn't much of a fan. I hadn't had a Snickerdoodle in years, and etched in my memory was some sort of crackly, blackened and burnt cookie that didn't have much flavor or intrigue. No chocolate?! Not fruity either?! Where's all the gooeyness/nuttiness/powdered sugar/general craziness?? But, it was my friend Thea's birthday last week, so of course it was her turn to choose this week's cookie recipe. She actually just wanted any soft and chewy cookie, but we all know that she likes sugar more than a hyperactive 7 year old on Halloween, so it came down to either Martha's Sugar Cookies or Snickerdoodles, and I had only ingredients for the latter.

So I got to baking. The recipe, obviously, is one of the easiest and fastest cookie recipes you can come across (unless all you have is 1 frozen stick of butter that refuses to thaw--my situation). But I managed to turn out two lovely batches, none of which were at all burnt! Not even the bottoms, which were perfectly golden! And let me just say, these cookies were so soft, too.

Cookies, in various stages of baking and transportation to the birthday girl

But what say my favorite critics? The crew I feed my weekly cookies to every week (so I can fatten them up and eat them later)? My friends' responses were only of the highest praise; these are really the epitome of Snickerdoodles. Now I understand why these cookies have become such a classic: a super easy recipe that yields great results! Simply tasty, really easy and fun to make, and you most likely have all the ingredients already floating around your pantry. Perfect for a last-minute gift to bring to a party, or to make with kids/friends/enemies/the elderly/yourself.

Snickerdoodles
Makes 1 1/2 dozen

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  
• 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons (divided)
  
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.
2. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into twenty 1 3/4-inch balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days (but you'll devour them in under 3 hours).

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{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 1/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 5/5
Tastiness: 3.5/5 (I still think that, flavor-wise, they are a little boring--but the texture makes up for it)
Attractiveness: 3/5 (Nothing that great to look at--not ugly, but not pretty)
Is it worth it?: Definitely. You want to make an easy recipe with ingredients that you probably already have lying around? This is it!