Intro to my kitchen and Snickerdoodles
Lately I've been baking a lot. If you know me a bit you know that this is my ultimate unwind and relax activity. Really, I might be rather ADD about many things in life but I can spend hours in the kitchen. Mind you, these days I bake in my living room because that's where the laptop is and enough work surface but you get the point. I'm baking for work once a week, so I figured I might just as well share the goodies with you guys. Visually anyway.
I promise I won't turn this into a cooking baking blog. But maybe there are other like-minded souls out there who are looking for good recipes. Also, this way I can make notes on how stuff turned out. My memory sucks if I don't write these things down. ;)
(And as a cautionary note: I do American baking, sans scale, whenever I can. To my European friends: Try to get your hands on a set of cup measures, it's the last thing I bought in Montreal. Or use conversion websites, they work just fine, too, it's just more of an effort. ;))
Snickerdoodles
Let me start with a confession first. I've never had Snickerdoodles before. I'm not sure if they're a solely American thing but everybody "over there" seems to know them rather well. The first time I had ever heard of them was in what can only be described as the German baking Bible (really, if you're a German baker, you will know this -- ironically enough: American -- lady and most likely own at least one of her books) but I never got around to make them. So I have no clue what they're supposed to taste like but these babies turned out wonderfully. They're a bit on the crunchy side while I usually prefer chewy. But they don't crumble like crazy and taste like I put a pound of butter in. (I didn't, I promise!)
I got the recipe from Lovin' from the Oven, a wonderful blog to check out if you're into baking (or just yummy pictures). It called for cream of tartar which I believe does not exist in continental Europe, so I had to sub a bit...
Ingredients
For rolling:
1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer on high speed. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
2. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
3. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.
4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees while you let the dough rest for 30 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator.
5. In a small bowl, combine the sugar with the cinnamon for the topping.
6. Take about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the dough and roll it into a ball. Roll this dough in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and press it onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat for the remaining cookies.
7. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes and no more. The cookies may seem undercooked, but will continue to develop after they are
removed from the oven. When the cookies have cooled they should be soft and chewy in the middle.
Makes 16 to 18 cookies.
So, yup... mine definitely didn't look undercooked. They're quite flat and crispy. Guess I needed the cream of tartar after all. It's just a bit of a pain to get it because I don't need it for any other recipe. I'll see who I can beg to import some for me. Or maybe I'll bring some with me on my next trip to... well, wherever they have it. ;)
I promise I won't turn this into a cooking baking blog. But maybe there are other like-minded souls out there who are looking for good recipes. Also, this way I can make notes on how stuff turned out. My memory sucks if I don't write these things down. ;)
(And as a cautionary note: I do American baking, sans scale, whenever I can. To my European friends: Try to get your hands on a set of cup measures, it's the last thing I bought in Montreal. Or use conversion websites, they work just fine, too, it's just more of an effort. ;))
Snickerdoodles
Let me start with a confession first. I've never had Snickerdoodles before. I'm not sure if they're a solely American thing but everybody "over there" seems to know them rather well. The first time I had ever heard of them was in what can only be described as the German baking Bible (really, if you're a German baker, you will know this -- ironically enough: American -- lady and most likely own at least one of her books) but I never got around to make them. So I have no clue what they're supposed to taste like but these babies turned out wonderfully. They're a bit on the crunchy side while I usually prefer chewy. But they don't crumble like crazy and taste like I put a pound of butter in. (I didn't, I promise!)
I got the recipe from Lovin' from the Oven, a wonderful blog to check out if you're into baking (or just yummy pictures). It called for cream of tartar which I believe does not exist in continental Europe, so I had to sub a bit...
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
For rolling:
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer on high speed. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
2. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
3. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.
4. Preheat oven to 300 degrees while you let the dough rest for 30 to 60 minutes in the refrigerator.
5. In a small bowl, combine the sugar with the cinnamon for the topping.
6. Take about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the dough and roll it into a ball. Roll this dough in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and press it onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat for the remaining cookies.
7. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes and no more. The cookies may seem undercooked, but will continue to develop after they are
removed from the oven. When the cookies have cooled they should be soft and chewy in the middle.
Makes 16 to 18 cookies.
So, yup... mine definitely didn't look undercooked. They're quite flat and crispy. Guess I needed the cream of tartar after all. It's just a bit of a pain to get it because I don't need it for any other recipe. I'll see who I can beg to import some for me. Or maybe I'll bring some with me on my next trip to... well, wherever they have it. ;)