Something New

I was pretty exciting this morning, when I made the decision to bake again. It had been a few days, and I was feeling at a loss of what to do with myself.

This morning I wanted to bake something difference, full of sugar, ridiculously bad for me, and imaginably yummy.
No more of this fancy nonsense, I felt like being grandmothery - and whats more grandmothery than cookies!

I'm not normally a fan of cookies or biscuits. They were always too hard and too bland. I never felt any pleasure biting into a thin, burnt, and breeze-block consistency cookie.
But one of my favourites, surprisingly is the silly named cookie: Snickerdoodles!

I like them because firstly, they are soft. Secondly they have cinnamon, and thirdly, they have shortening. When I first noticed the recipe called for shortening I was sceptical. Being a massive 'dough-testing' girl, I found shortening to be disgusting with sugar and flour. Ew. Adding fat to a cookie recipe was beyond comprehension, but dutifully, I followed orders and I've changed my mind - for the shortening, adds a depth in the taste that would be lost if it was missing, an almost savoury flavour, but I think it enhances the cinnamon, without being too sweet. 

The Recipe:

Adapted from amandeleine.com

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening 
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs (I used my own duck eggs, which are larger and yellower - if possible, try using fresh eggs, they always make baking taste that much better)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I left this out, and didn't cause too much trouble, although do put it in if possible)
• 2 3/4 cups plain flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons white sugar (try for a little more granulated if possible)
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (this mixture made a little too much for me, which isn't a problem as I can put it away for next time... but if your are a 'no-waste' kinda person, reduce amount)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F).
2. Cream the butter, shortening and 1 1/2 white sugar until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then blend in the vanilla.
3. Whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Add to wet mixture and blend in.
4. Mix the 5 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon in a small ziploc bag.
5. Create small balls with your fingers and place it into the cinnamon sugar bag. Shake the bag and roll the dough around until completely coated. Place, within two inches of each other, on the tray lined with baking paper.
6. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets
7. Depending on the size of your cookies, you could make approximately 4 dozen cookies.

WARNING:smaller cookies are quicker to eat!! Be aware that they will disappear quickly!