Mindy Carlson

Snickerdoodles. The cookie with the name that is just as fun to say as it is to eat. It’s a cookie of every Iowan’s childhood.

Today it is supposed to be spring. Yet, it is 50 degrees outside and rainy and crap-tastic. There is only one remedy and it is the snickerdoodle.

When you bake a snickerdoodle it brings the smell of cinnamon and coziness into your home. It automatically pushes out clouds and rain and brings in sunshine.

So today this is a mandatory cookie baking and is, therefore, almost calorie free. I’m saving lives, people.

So, from the 1978 Cowbelles are Cookin’ cookbook I give you Mrs. Gladys Winters’s recipe for Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles

• 1 cup vegetable shortening or butter
• 1&1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2&3/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream together the shortening and sugar. Beat in the eggs until light and fluffy. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt and mix well.

If it hot outside chill the dough for about an hour. If it’s cold out, like today, skip the chilling and form them into 1-inch balls. Roll them in a mixture of 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.  Place them about 2-inches apart on a greased cookie sheet of on one of those neat Silpat mats like I have.

Bake at 400F (200C) for 12-15 minutes or until set.

And enjoy!! They are crisp on the outside with a bit of chew on the inside with a lovely hint of cinnamon.