Snickerdoodles

Ingredients

• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted and cooled to room temperature)227 g
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar133 g
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar (firmly packed)142 g
• 1 large egg50 g
• 1 large egg yolk50 g
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract9 g
• 2-3/4 cups flour (see note 1)330 g
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar7 g
• 1/2 teaspoon salt3 g
• 1 teaspoon baking soda5 g
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon2 g
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar50 g
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon8 g

Method

1. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then let cool to room temperature. Ensure it’s not hot to avoid greasy cookies.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cream of tartar, salt, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
3. In a separate bowl, mix melted and cooled butter with granulated and brown sugar until well emulsified. Add whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
4. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined, ensuring there are no streaks of flour. Avoid overmixing. Cover dough tightly and refrigerate 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 325°F. Stir together cinnamon sugar coating ingredients in a small bowl.
6. Portion dough into 45-gram balls (2 packed tablespoons) and shape them into tall balls. Roll dough balls generously in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Return shaped dough balls to the fridge for 15–20 minutes or until they firm up.
7. Place dough balls on a sheet pan lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat with ample spacing (about 6 at a time); bake 9–12 minutes. Avoid overbaking; slight under-baking is ideal! After baking, if any cookies have uneven edges, gently press them inward with a metal spatula. Remove tray from oven and let cookies rest on the sheet 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Watch out for: The tops-just-cracked pull cue; minutes don't transfer between 300F and 400F recipes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 1.5 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2.75 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Stir in the eggs. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. In a small bowl, stir together the 2 tablespoons of sugar, and the cinnamon. Roll dough into walnut sized balls, then roll the balls in the cinnamon-sugar. Place them onto an unprepared cookie sheet, two inches apart.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be slightly brown. Remove from sheets to cool on wire racks.

Watch out for: Over-whipping trades chew for cake — one cook who whipped it to a mousse read 3.0 chew on a thick cookie.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (softened)114 g
• 1/2 cup shortening* (or use all butter)102 g
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar300 g
• 2 large eggs100 g
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract9 g
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour330 g
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar10 g
• 1 teaspoon baking soda5 g
• 1/4 teaspoon salt2 g
• 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar (for rolling the dough balls)50 g
• 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon (for rolling the dough balls)8 g

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Dough: Cream together butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt and stir until combined.
3. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes, if possible (or up to 3 days).
4. Shape dough by heaping tablespoonfuls into balls, to make about 24 cookies.
5. Cinnamon sugar: In a separate bowl, mix the 4 tablespoons granulated sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place dough about 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.
6. Bake 8 to 10 minutes (don't over bake!). Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Watch out for: Raw/coarse coating sugar measurably fails edges and centers; humidity is the invisible enemy of a drying shell.

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 1.5 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2.75 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended.
3. In a small shallow bowl, stir together the 2 tablespoons of sugar with the cinnamon. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls and roll the balls in the sugar mixture. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Cookies should be slightly golden at the edges. Remove to cool on wire racks.

Watch out for: This is the profile a baking-powder substitution kills twice over.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (I used light brown)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars at high speed.
2. Add egg, vanilla, and beat until smooth.
3. In another bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
4. Pour dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mix well.
5. Preheat oven to 300° while you let dough rest 30-60 minutes in fridge.
6. In a small bowl combine topping.
7. Take about 2 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll it into a ball.
8. Roll this dough in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and press onto greased cookie sheet.
9. Bake cookies 10-12 minutes, NO MORE.
10. *Cookies may seem undercooked but will develop.
11. Don't roll your dough into too big of a ball; they may not turn out in that much time if you do that.
12. It happened to me.
13. lol.
14. If the cookies don't turn out, please try again.
15. It's a very good cookie, it's just all a matter of getting the cooking time right.

Watch out for: Chill DURATION is the real variable — 1-3+ fridge hours controls spread (1.5-2.0); brief freezer stints fail at 9.5-10 spread despite feeling colder.