Check out this thread over on Home Dec.

Snickerdoodles

A CF favorite recipe is Eggnog snickerdoodles. I made them last year. and really enjoyed them Recipe from Alexa, thank you very much! I know I didn't have rum or brandy extract, so I used the real stuff. I think I used a mix of cinn and nutmeg to top as well. At least it looks that way from the photo.

Alexa

Eggnog Snickerdoodles

2 3/4c flour
1 1/2c sugar
1 c butter
2 eggs
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg (optional-but I like nutmeg)
1/2 tsp brandy extract
1/2 tsp rum extract
Sugar mix:
1/4c sugar
1 tsp nutmeg
Mix cookie ingredients. Shape into walnut sized balls. Roll in combined sugar mixture.
Bake 8-10 minutes @ 375 degrees Yields: 4 doz.

This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies, so I cut it in half the last time.

Snickerdoodles (I cut recipe in half)

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tbsp. sugar + 2 tsp.
cinnamon for coating

Preheat oven to 400°

Cream butter and 1 1/2
cups sugar together until fluffy. Add vanilla. Add eggs one at a
time, mixing well. Entire mixture should be light and fluffy looking.

Add flour, cream of
tartar and baking soda stirring until well incorporated.

In a separate bowl
combine 2 tbsp white sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon, set aside.

Take a spoonful of dough
and roll it between your hands to make a ball; roll in the
cinnamon sugar until well coated. Place on a cookie sheet leaving about 2
inches of space between balls.

Bake 8-10 minutes until the cookies are lightly golden and slightly firm to the
touch. The centers of the cookies will puff while cooking, but then
flatten out when they are ready.

Another vote for Alexa's Eggnog Snickerdoodles! I make them every holiday season! They are sooooo good!

Linda

My tip is to use baking parchment on your cookie sheets because snickerdoodles tend to scorch easily.

Here's a link for my T&T recipe from all recipes.com, called Mrs. Sigg's Snickerdoodles--*very* similar to the recipe Jasdip uses.

So delish! In fact, I just made some today! Carolb is right with the suggestion to use baking parchment on the cookie sheets.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/10687/mrs-siggs-snickerdoodles/?internalSource=staff%20pick&referringId=16420&referringContentType=recipe%20hub

Honestly, I bake cookies all the time but have never had good luck with SD -- it is my understanding that the traditional recipe has to have shortening in it.

The King Arthur Flour recipe and directions is very reliable and produces a classic snickerdoodle.

Betty Crocker's is the only recipe I've ever used. Seems to be the same as the ones previously posted/linked, but the page I linked does include a tip about the shortening...

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/snickerdoodles/7ffc92a9-d847-4869-9ecb-99de3b751b14

I always use a small amount of shortening in my cookies. Keeps them from spreading too much. I usually do half or 1/4 of the shortening as margarine. But I use organic stuff, don't want corn or soy GMOs. YMMV.

Hello everyone. I have spent the afternoon mixing and baking. My house smells divine! I'm really glad I asked here because it helped tremendously. I have always used just butter and always had pretty good luck. I made two batches. First I used the recipe Sooz posted.......Mrs. Siggs. That one used shortening and butter. Then I used the one Jasdip posted.

Now the verdict. Both were delicious! You're right, the one using the shortening stayed well formed and puffy, looked just like all the pictures. The all butter flattened and several actually ran into each other.

I had my husband judge and after eating several of each (what a job!) he declared Mrs. Siggs to be the winner. He liked the texture as well as the flavor. Honestly, even though they were not the prettiest, I preferred the flavor of the all butter. So for the occasion I will use Mrs. Siggs.

I used Crisco. Is there anything better. I know none is healthy, but just wondering.

Do any of you used lard? I do have access to lard made locally from happy cows.

Oh, and Grain Lady, I did take the temp of my softened butter.....67*! I never knew that about butter.

Again, thanks for the collective wisdom of this group.

Whistle

My grandmother's recipe. Always good.

Snickerdoodles

½ cup Crisco

1 stick butter

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

2 ¾ cup flour

2 t baking powder

½ t salt

1 t vanilla

lemon zest - ~1 lemon's worth

Topping

2 T sugar

1T cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Cream together butter, Crisco and 1 1/2 cups sugar, add the eggs and
the vanilla. Blend in the flour, baking powder and salt. Shape dough by rounded
spoonfuls into balls.

Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in
mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets and flatten with a
fork.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until just starting to brown on the edges,
don’t let them get hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

**************************

I've tried using all butter and didn't like the cookies as much. I do use really good cinnamon, and the lemon zest makes a difference.

My grandmother was from Sweden, and died in 1972 at the age of 90. Great baker. This is my favorite cookie, any time of year.

Happy holidays

Seems like lard would give them a certain taste . . . I love lard pie crust, don't know about cookies. I use organic soybean margarine. I don't like to use regular store bought margarine because I don't like GMO corn or soy. You can get something akin to Crisco at the health food section, I think it uses palm oil. Some folks are anti hydrogenated fats, but in a cookie, I figure it isn't ever going to be confused for a health food so go for it. I use as little margarine as possible to get the texture correct but still have the good flavor of butter.

As has been mentioned, butter will give you a different texture. My Grandma's Molasses Cookies are like that. I use half shortening and half butter because if I use all butter the cookies are flatter and crisper, it changes the texture.

I have made cookies with lard, but I think it actually gives a different mouthfeel, kind of greasy.

Annie

Yuck! Don't want greasy. Annie, what brand shortening do you use?

I would choose to use coconut oil - like LouAna brand found at Wal-Mart which doesn't have any coconut flavor - instead of shortening (found in the same area of the isle as shortening). As mentioned above, lard would give it a flavor unlike any Snickerdoodle you've ever eaten.... It's not a neutral flavor like shortening is.

-Grainlady

Grainlady, when I use the LouAna are the butter/shortening proportions still equal? I ask since the LA is liquid not solid.

Thanks for steering me right on the lard!!

Oppps! I see that LouAna is solid not liquid. Sorry to confuse the issue.

LouAna is solid until the ambient temperature gets warm (above 70°F), and then it softens, and eventually liquefies around 76-77°F. That's how you know it wasn't hydrogenated. Depending on the recipe I use coconut oil in, as well as what type of fat I am substituting, I will usually use it in equal amounts (at least the first time I make the recipe), or up to 25% less. "It just depends" isn't a good qualifier, but it just depends.....(lol) After years of using coconut oil as my primary fat for cooking/baking, my experience is what I depend on.

Here's a recipe using coconut oil and butter (and toasted coconut, which could be omitted):

http://homecookingmemories.com/coconut-snickerdoodles/

"Do any of you used lard? I do have access to lard made locally from happy cows." ? ? ? ? ? Must be very strange cows. . . . . . .

This thread has me anxious to bake cookies!

Rusty

OHHHH. I am soooo embarrassed!!!! Lard=pigs not cows and I grew up on a farm. Who else out there is still laughing?

As I was tasting the dough for the Snickerdoodles (the real test of a good cookie), I wondered if this would be a good dough for Choc. Chip cookies. I use Sol's recipe, and it's almost identical, except for brown sugar/white sugar.

I guess most cookies are pretty much the same ingredients and the same measurements. A few changes makes a stiffer dough, an extra egg makes something, etc. I'd never given it much thought, though.