Snickerdoodles

Background

Recipe

1/2 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour, all-purpose
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 to 1 ratio of sugar and cinnamon mixed together

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a medium bowl, beat butter or margarine and sugar for 5 to 8 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla until blended. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt over sugar mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon to make a stiff dough. Shape dough into walnut-sized balls; roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat. Place balls about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from baking sheets; cool on wire racks. Makes about 36 cookies.

Notes

I always make 2 batches at a time because one batch is never enough for a group of people larger than 10. I never sift the dry ingredients just because I'm lazy - but it has never posed a problem for me. When mixing the dry ingredients in with the wet mixture, a wooden spoon isn't really sufficient for getting an evenly blended dough. I roll up my sleeves, wash my hands, and mix the dough by hand. The heat from your hands will further melt the butter/margarine while you get rid of the dry spots. When the dough is ready, it's too gooey to roll into balls - so I put it in the freezer for about fifteen minutes, then roll the balls and coat them. After placing them on the baking sheet, they're usually soft again (but not sticky b/c of the coating). I press down on the dough with the base of a drinking glass to make it nice and semi-flat. This helps the shape of the end result.