Snickerdoodles

If I could select the top contender for the title of "Underdog of Cookies", the snickerdoodle would surely be my top choice. Snickerdoodles are believed to have originated from Dutch-German immigrants, and are kind of a cinnamon-y cousin to the sugar cookie. But though most people are aware of Snickerdoodles, they're a bit of an outsider when compared to the popularity of the big dogs, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and sugar cookies. Though I'd guess that peanut butter cookies come in just behind those three in terms of popularity, I even find those to be under-appreciated.

That can be the case for many good foods and even other things in life; we don't always think of them first but when we have them, we remember how good they are.

My personal experience with snickerdoodles reminds me of holidays when I was younger; they were the favorite cookie of someone who was close to my family, and so I will never forget seeing the little pre-made dough squares plopped onto a tray to prep for baking.

I've also known them to be kind of the last minute cookie. When you are out of chocolate chips and sprinkles, chances are you've still got cinnamon and sugar. In comes the snickerdoodle.

One of my personal baking goals the past year or so has been to cut back on sugar as much as possible in recipes. This has come up a few times, like when I bake a sweet pie and only lightly sweeten the whipped cream that goes on top. I'd argue that it's common sense that sugar is generally not good for you, but when it comes up in conversations sometimes people seem surprised. Look, I've got a baking blog - clearly I am not eliminating sugar completely from my life. I do, however, believe that small steps we take over time lead to big changes in our health, and cutting back on sugar is an easy thing to do. Besides, why add so much sugar when it's just not needed? There is such a thing as overly sweet. 

For this recipe, I used my old Snickerdoodles post. Originally, I used a cup and a half of sugar total (between brown and white sugars), and this time I decided to cut back significantly and use only 3/4 cup total in the dough. The final product is still rolled in powdered sugar, and I wasn't about to strip the Snickerdoodle of it's trademark sugar jacket, but that was another reason I was sure the dough could handle the scale back. This was kind of an experimental batch to see how they tasted and the final texture with the change.

These little guys start out like a sugar cookie, but with cinnamon added in. I also added nutmeg because I just love a dash of nutmeg in desserts; it adds a warmth to the flavor that gives me the feeling of the holidays.

I rolled the dough balls in a little cinnamon sugar in the final prep for baking.

And cookie perfection was had. Isn't a tray of evenly spaced cookies with symmetrical rows a sight for sore eyes?

Of course, my favorite part of all the baking experiments is selecting my little cookie model.

The final product came out with a slightly firm exterior and soft inside, just the way I like it. And you know what? I would never have even guessed there was such a significant drop in sugar.  I did do some reading on the actual impacts of texture in baking and based on that, I'm not surprised by my results.

Even with the sugar quantity cut so drastically, I found these perfectly sweet, and so did the people I shared them with. So why not cut back a little in general when baking? After this, I'm definitely continuing the great sugar scale back project.

Snickerdoodles Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and eggs until well combined. Mix flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a small bowl, then gradually stir into the butter mixture. Chill dough for 10-15 minutes in the fridge. On a plate or in a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Form dough into small balls and roll in the sugar and cinnamon. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.