Snickerdoodles

Junior High Home Ec. Classroom, circa 1996: Crisco and white flour abound. Crackly sugar cookies topped with cinnamon come fresh out of the oven. Not being familiar with this type of cooking (my mom hated Crisco and favored whole wheat flour), I am enamored with these simple and charming cookies. Maybe because I am twelve and can make them independently. Maybe precisely because they are so different from my mother's cookies and I can call them my own.

Fast forward a few years and the novelty of the snickerdoodle has worn off. Why would I want a plain ol' sugar cookie like that when I could have so much more, like chocolate chip, oatmeal and pecans? I just can't get behind such a boring cookie.

Skip to the next chapter of my life, and my husband loves--wait for it-- snickerdoodles. I recently made a batch for him, and while they're still not my favorite, I will say that they have a certain appeal. They are buttery, sweet, crunchy around the edges, and chewy in the middle. And cinnamon sugar is a combination that will always work for me. As classic as Home Ec.

Snickerdoodles
(Print Recipe)

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture.
2. In a small bowl, stir together cinnamon and remaining sugar. Shape dough into about 20 golf ball sized spheres. Roll balls in cinnamon sugar. Space cookies 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden--12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.