Snickerdoodles - Flour Bakery and Cafe

I had decided to use Flour  (the book)for my baking.  I have to send, at least, one cookie from the book, to the soldiers.  Then, I want to find one from King Arthur's Flour, the second book, I had chosen.

When, I received Joanne Chang's delightful book, flour, with a small f, even though I have been capitalizing it. Old habits die hard and I capitalize titles of books.  Sorry Joanne.  My excuse is that I am a teacher.  What kind of an example would I be for my class?

There is a characteristic of Joanne Chang's personality that is very pleasant.  She talks about her path to baking.  She explains the magic of flour in baking.  She gives you tips and teaches her readers in a respectful manner.  She kept me with her, when I picked up the book.  I wanted to read her introductions to the recipes.  I am not telling you , she is exciting or dramatic.  She is more like an old friend who wants to bake with you.  The tone of the book is very comfortable.

If I have a criticism, it would be, there are not enough photos.  I love photos. I love to see what baked item look like.  I guess, it is humorous, but when there is no photo, I am shocked when my item looks like it should.  I found this recipe online and was thrilled to see the cookies looked like mine.  I think this is silly because there is no reason why mine should not look like the original and I know that.

There is a photo every 5 or 6 pages which means there are two or three recipes without a photo.  I don't think, I am alone, in enjoying the photos and modeling my "masterpiece" after the one on the page.  One of the pluses in our baking groups, Tuesdays with Dorie, Baking With Dorie, Baked or any of the others, is the fun in checking other blogs to see how people changed the original and how the creations look.  I think the visual is very much part of baking.

I have made snickerdoodles several times before and I don't remember refrigerating for more than an hour.  In the book, she recommends over night or at least three hours. Certainly, it made the dough easier to handle when dipping it into the cinnamon sugar.  All I know, is these came out rather nicely.  I am a cinnamon fan so this  would be something I like.  The cookie was a good consistency and it is the way I like it, not soft and not real crisp.  It was somewhere in the middle.  There must be words to describe this.  Suggestions are appreciated.

 Important note:  This recipe, taken from the Internet does not speak of refrigerating.  In the book, it definitely does.  I suggest you do for at least the three hours.  I put the dough in the refrigerator in an airtight container (also suggested by Joanne) and walked away and took care of other chores.  When I remembered the dough, it was after dinner and I was excited to make these.

Snickerdoodle Cookies by Joanne Chang from Flour

Yields about 3 dozen cookies.

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  2 oz. (2-2/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoon cream of tartar
 1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 Tbs. ground cinnamon

Tip: For the best results, measure your flour by weight instead of volume. (1 cup of all-purpose flour equals 4-1/2 oz.) If you don’t have a scale, be sure to use the proper technique when filling your measuring cups.

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Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. 

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar to blend. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and 1-1/2 cups of the sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the eggs until thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl again. With the mixer on low speed, slowly blend in the flour until incorporated, about 30 seconds.

In a small bowl, mix the cinnamon and remaining 1/4  cup sugar. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls into the cinnamon sugar and roll around to coat. Set the coated balls of dough about 3 inches apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake until golden brown on the edges and slightly soft in the center, 15 to 18 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 1 minute before transferring them to a rack to cool.