Snickerdoodles

Growing up I was never a huge fan of any kind of cookie besides a chocolate chip one or my grandma's ice box cookies. My aunt would always make her famous snickerdoodles and I never really cared for them, but as I got older and started to like so many more things I started to love these!  They are soft even days after cooking and delicious! My friends ask me to make these all the time, which is why I made them tonight.

Here is the recipe which makes about 4 dozen cookies.
1/2 cup crisco
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cup flour
2t cream of tartar
1t baking soda
1/2t salt
1t vanilla extract

3tbs sugar
1/2 tbs cinnamon


I took lots of pictures just for you!!
First you cream the butter, crisco, and 1 1/2 cup of sugar with a mixer.  I am too unpatient to wait for the butter to soften so I stick it in the microwave for about 12 sec before I mix it in.

Next you will beat in 2 large eggs.

It looks about the same, but with a yellow tint to it. Now you need to add the dry ingredients. My aunt said to sift in the dry ingredients, but I never do this.  I use a shortcut that my mom taught me when I was little.  She would just make a little bowl in the flour and then mix the dry ingredients with a spoon before beating it again.  Hey it saves a bowl from getting dirty.

Now you need to mix in the flour with a mixer for at least 2 minutes or until a dough like ball is forming.  At first there will just be a lot of chunks of dough, so you need to keep mixing until the dough starts to stick together.

I love eating this dough, so becareful that you dont get addicted just like I am :)

Now for my secret ingredient! My aunts original recipe does not call for vanilla extract but I think adding a teaspoon makes the cookies so much better. Mix the vanilla in at the very end.

In a seperate bowl mix 3tbs of sugar and 1/2 tbs of cinnamon.  I normally never measure my cinnamon sugar mixture so you can eyeball it and taylor it to fit your taste.

In my aunt's recipe she puts the dough in a loose ball, covers it with plastic wrap, and puts it in the freezer for atleast an hour.  She says it is much easier for her to roll the dough after doing this but I never put the dough in the freezer and still dont have a problem rolling the dough.

I make 1 1/2 inch diameter balls of dough.

Now roll it into the cinnamon and sugar mixture until the ball of dough is completely coated and place on a greased cookie sheet.

The cookies don't grow that much as they cook, so you can place them fairly close together.  I only place them 1/2 to an inch apart.  Make sure your oven has been pre-heated to 375 degrees F.  My oven is old and cooks really hot, so I set my oven to 350 degrees F. I have made these cookies in a newer oven and cooking on 375 works well and you only need to bake the cookies for 6 mins.  DO NOT OVER BAKE.  The cookies do not get very brown, if you wait for them to brown then they are burnt haha

This is what my cookies look like after 5 minutes. If you notice the cookies are still mounded in the middle.

After 6 minutes the cookies are perfectly round, and level so you know they are ready.  If you stick a finger in the cookie if will feel like it is still kind of doughy, but trust me they are done.  The best way to tell that the cookie is that the bottom of the cookie is no longer doughy.

This is after 6 mins

They are ready!! Pull them out and plop them on the counter so that the softness will sink into the cookie.  Place them on a wire cooling rack or paper towels (laid out on the counter) so the cookies can cool.  Once they are cool, they will firm up and be ready to serve!!

I hope you enjoy these yummy cookies and share them with your friends :)