Snickerdoodles are soft sugar cookies with cinnamon and sugar, often served at Christmas. Their origins are uncertain, but they may be of German or Dutch origin. They are versatile and easy to make, and can be customized with additional ingredients. To make them, mix butter, sugar, eggs, flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar, and roll the dough in cinnamon-sugar before baking.
A snickerdoodle is a type of soft sugar cookie dusted with cinnamon and sugar. Usually, the snickerdoodle has a slightly dimpled or crinkled top, and snickerdoodle cookies are often served at Christmas. Some cooks add more shortenings and lengthen the cooking time to create a crispier snickerdoodle, while others add ingredients like nutmeg, nuts, and dried fruit. A traditional snickerdoodle, however, remains unadorned except for cinnamon and sugar.
The origins of the snickerdoodle are shrouded in mystery. In appearance, the snickerdoodle is a very simple cookie, and thus one that could easily have been made over and over again in kitchens around the world. The Joy of Cooking attributes the cookie to Germany, suggesting that the name is a corruption of the German word schneckennudeln, a type of sweet roll dusted with cinnamon. The cookie may also be of Dutch origin, with its name being a contraction of St. Nicholas. It’s also possible that the brownie is a relative of the British-inspired Christmas cakes and cookies common on the East Coast of the United States.
Like other holiday cookies, like gingerbread men, the snickerdoodle’s primary flavor is a spice. Because snickerdoodles use a sugar cookie base, however, a wide variety of holiday cookies can be made from one batch of dough, rather than having to mix multiple batches of different cookie dough. The versatile snickerdoodle is also quick and easy to make and is often used to teach children how to bake accordingly. Traditionally, after the dough is made, the cookies are rolled in a cinnamon-sugar mixture and pressed twice with a fork to create a distinctive grid pattern on the top of the cookie. Some bakers prefer to make snickerdoodles with a simple top, allowing the slight cracking that occurs during baking to create its own pattern.
To make snickerdoodles, spread one cup of butter or shorten with one and a half cups of sugar. Stir two beaten eggs into the shortening mixture. Sift together three cups of flour, a quarter teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of baking soda and two teaspoons of cream of tartar and add to the wet ingredients. Fill a shallow dish with the cinnamon-sugar mixture and as the individual cookies are scooped out, roll one side in this mixture before placing each cookie on an oiled cookie sheet. Bake at 200°C for ten minutes or until golden brown.
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