Snickerdoodles

To be honest, I never thought I would like snickerdoodles. It seemed like just another sugar cookie with cinnamon sugar. And it is really a sugar cookie covered in cinnamon sugar, except that.. wow.. cinnamon and cream of tartar makes a huge difference. I'm guessing it's the cream of tartar that gives these a distinctive chew because my sugar cookies never end up with that kind of texture and the recipes are very similar. To be honest, these were a little bit on the cakey side and if I didn't flatten the cookies first, I probably would have ended up with snickerdoodle cake bites. I can't wait to try another recipe...maybe one with more butter (that should do the trick). Here's the recipe if you're interested.

Chewy Snickerdoodles
Cook's Illustrated

3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
10 tablespoons unsalted butter at cool room temperature
1 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and adjust a rack to the center position. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and optional nutmeg in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Beat the butter and one and one half cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until well incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and beat on the lowest speed until the moistened, increase to medium and beat 30 seconds.
3. Mix together in a small bowl the remaining three tablespoons sugar and ground cinnamon. Shape the dough into walnut sized balls (approximately two tablespoons each), dip in cinnamon sugar, and place on prepared cookie sheet three inches apart. (You can use a small ice cream scoop to portion out the cookies.) Bake one sheet at a time until the cookies are very lightly colored around the edges, the tops have cracked and the cookies have puffed and started to deflate, about 12 minutes. Cool on a rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Makes about 24 cookies.