Snickerdoodles

My 8 year old son Everett is by and far my biggest fan.  He thinks I’m the best cook in the world, the prettiest girl around and just plain awesome.  He’s told me this.  This kind of flattery works really well when I’m fussing at him in the mornings, telling him to brush his teeth and get his shoes on.  By fussing, I mean yelling.  My 13 year old son used to have the same adoration of me, but now he’s, well…a teenager.  Mom is not awesome, not even a little bit cool.  He does, however, think I’m a great cook, which is at least something.

Everett is a big supporter of this little food blog.  He’s constantly coming up with ideas to post.  Things like cucumbers with ketchup.  This is a little concoction he whipped up at lunch one day with borrowed ketchup packets and the cucumber slices from his lunchbox.  He promises me it’s really tasty and everyone will want to make it.  There’s also ‘ladybugs on a log’.  Celery stalks filled with peanut butter and topped with dried cranberries.  This is a snack/meal he likes to make on his own.  Don’t cut the stalk into short lengths.  The longer the stalk the better.  The more cranberries, the more awesome.  His grand ideas go on and on.  He desperately wanted to help me with a post, so I suggested snickerdoodles.  It’s one of our favorite cookies.  Because they’re so cinnamon-y, he calls them Cinnadoodles.

Here’s the funny thing about snickerdoodles and my teenage son.   At the time I mentioned snickerdoodles to Evertt, Garrett had been in his room, across the house, playing a video game on his computer with headphones on.  Not 2 seconds after I said snickerdoodle, he appeared in the kitchen wanting to help.  I could make an unflattering remark about his hearing skills versus listening skills, but volunteering to  spend time with mom in the kitchen?  I’ll take that – no complaints.

I have been in love with snickerdoodles for a long, long time.  I have tried many, many recipes.  This recipe is by far the best.  I will go so far to say this is, in my opinion, the perfect snicker doodle cookie.  Thin and crisp, yet chewy on the inside.  Not to mention, oh so sweet and cinnamon-y.  This recipe comes directly from Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook.  Tell you what, between Cook’s Illustrated, America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country, Christopher Kimball and his staff know their stuff.  I am confident that anything I make from any of these magazines, shows or cookbooks is going to turn out spectacularly.  If it doesn’t, it’s usually because I didn’t read the recipe ahead of time, I jumped in feet first and had to adjust on the fly.  There have been many Saturday mornings where John and I have watched America’s Test Kitchen, only to immediately run out to the store,  buy ingredients and start cooking right away.  Actually, one of my dream jobs would be to work in on this show.  Doing anything – I’ll chop onions all day.

The beauty of making snickerdoodles with my boys is I don’t have to do much of anything other than drag out the mixer.  They do everything, including eating most of the cookies.  The recipe made a little over 2 dozen good sized cookies and the stack you see above is all I had left to photograph. Granted, John and I ate our share, but who’s counting?

Source Cook’s Illustrated Cook Book