Tinkering with a recipe

by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett

While we are no longer in "lockdown," Mr. L and I are sticking close to home. We're doing curbside pickup for just about everything. I figure we've saved a lot of money because there's no impulse buying. However, since the pandemic arrived, I've spent a lot more on baking supplies.

I made some snickerdoodle cookies at Christmastime, and Mr. L really enjoyed them so I recently made them again. Oh, boy, did he like them. He couldn't stop talking about how much he liked them.

To backtrack, the first snickerdoodle I ever ate was from a cookie kiosk at Eastview Mall. They were different from any other snickerdoodle because they were crisp and had rice crispies in them. Boy, did I like those cookies. I always thought they were supposed to have rice crispies in them. (What a disappointment to find they didn't, and believe me, I looked for a similar recipe.)

So, in December I made them according to the recipe below.

SNICKERDOODLE COOKIES
Ingredients
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 ¼ cup granulated sugar, divided
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter with 1 cup granulated sugar and the brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time and beat to combine. Fold dry ingredients in until combined.

In a shallow bowl, combine remaining ¼ cup of sugar with cinnamon.  Using a medium cookie scoop (or a spoon), scoop and roll the dough into 1-½"-inch balls, then roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar. Arrange about 2" apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes. Let cool on the trays for 5 minutes, then use a thin metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. dozen cookies

Yield: approx 2½ dozen cookies

Last month, I made the recipe as is, but added a cup of rice crispies. They were good--but not as crunchy as I would have liked. I read online that cream of tartar is what makes them chewy, so I omitted it (one of my readers suggested I use baking ammonia for a crunchier cookie, but I don't have any), and added 2 ¼ cups of rice crispies. We're almost there! Maybe next time, I'll put in 3 cups because you know there's going to be a next time!

Do you tinker with recipes?
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For today's giveaway, I'm offering ebook copies of my two cookbooks, Recipes To Die For: A Victoria Square Cookbook , and The Best From Swans Nest.

To enter, comment below and tell me your favorite cookie recipe and why.  Come back tomorrow to see if you won by checking out the list of winners at the top left of this blog. The winner should contact me at LLBartlettauthor @ gmail.com (close up those spaces!).