If you have read a few of these columns over the months, it
probably won’t surprise you that I am a big fan of cookies.
If you have read a few of these columns over the months, it probably won’t surprise you that I am a big fan of cookies.
Growing up, my two favorites were chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Oatmeal cookies and peanut butter cookies were OK, but lacking chocolate, not quite as interesting. Store-bought cookies also had their seasons: I went through phases of thinking Oreos were irresistible, and later Chips Ahoy.
When I lived in the Netherlands, I learned to love the small, crisp gingerbread cookies that were almost always served with coffee, whether at a business meeting or after dinner in a restaurant.
I don’t think I ever heard of, let alone tried snickerdoodles until much later. If I had seen them on a buffet platter, I probably passed them up in favor of something with chocolate in it. Then, when I worked at the Stanford Alumni Association, the design department started having an annual cookie contest.
People made fanciful cookies, like the mini-pretend hamburgers made of two vanilla wafers sandwiched by a peppermint patty, with green, yellow and red frosting imitating condiments. People made madeleines, the French scallop shells in their buttery tenderness. People made all variations of chocolate chip cookies, plus concoctions with marshmallows, nuts, pretzels, gum drops and even less likely ingredients.
And one of the designers made snickerdoodles.
Tender and chewy at the same time, cinnamon-y and sugary, the snickerdoodle was a revelation.
Of course, I asked for the recipe and was graciously given it. When I baked them according to the recipe, however, they came out like small, greasy crepes. I was so discouraged that I filed the recipe in the back of my binder and have made do with purchased snickerdoodles.
My curiosity and determination were revived when a reader e-mailed me a request. He had a good snickerdoodle recipe, he said, but he had trouble getting them to bake up looking like they look in cookbook pictures or in bakeries.
I was determined to go back to the lab and see what I could figure out. I looked up several recipes, and also checked “cookie chemistry” on the Web. At “Cookie Chemistry 101” at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.com, I learned that if you want cookies to spread less, you should use shortening instead of butter, use eggs as the only liquid (which most snickerdoodle recipes already do) and possibly chill the dough before baking.
Here is the recipe I used this time:
Snickerdoodles
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. white sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Step 1: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Step 2: Prepare baking sheets with silpat mats or parchment paper.
Step 3: Sift together the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt.
Step 4: Cream together the butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, eggs and vanilla.
Step 5: Add the flour mixture in small batches and blend well.
Step 6: In a small bowl, mix together the 2 Tbs. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon.
Step 7: Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls about the size of small walnuts. Roll the balls of dough in the cinnamon mixture and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.
Step 8: Bake eight to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets to a paper lined rack.
However, I must tell you that the resulting cookies, while tasty, were just as flat as the previous batch.
I’m stumped.
I found a number of “cookie troubleshooting” sites on the Web, but none that I found specifically addressed snickerdoodle problems.
I looked up “snickerdoodle problems” on the Web and found a recipe with lots of rave reviews on the Food Network Web site. This recipe was essentially the same, except it omitted the cream of tartar, which I thought was essential when using baking soda as the leavening.
I’m puzzled and, I admit it, frustrated!
So, I open the forum up to you, dear readers. I would love to be able to make snickerdoodles that are puffy and tender, with a crusty cracked top. If you have a recipe that works for you consistently, or some tips about cookie texture and consistency, please e-mail them to me at ee******@***oo.com.
Now turning to the opposite end of the taste spectrum, another reader has requested a method for making garlic fries as served at Pac Bell Park during Giants games. Here in the heart of garlic country, I’m sure there is a good recipe out there somewhere. Can you help?
Again, please send your ideas to me at ee******@***oo.com. Thank you in advance, and see you in the “lab.”
