Saturday, January 24, 2009

Snickerdoodles

A snickerdoodle is a sugar cookie and is made of cream of tartar as a leavening agent and rolled in cinnamon sugar.It is the cinnamon and the cream of tartar that differentiates this cookie from the normal sugar cookie.These days or in modern times the cream of tartar has been replaced with baking powder.The normal dough consists of sugar,flour,butter and eggs.I found a vegan snickerdoodle recipe here and also referenced here and here.


Ingredients:

All purpose Flour: 1.5 cups
Baking Powder: 1/2 tsp
Salt:1/2 tsp
Cornstarch: 1/2 tsp


Unsalted Butter/Margarine: 1 stick (1/2 cup)
White Sugar: 3/4 cup


Soymilk: 2 tbsp
Cornstarch: 1 tbsp
(Whip soymilk and cornstarch.)


Vanilla extract: 1/4 tsp


Rolling
Cinnamon:1tbsp
White Sugar: 2 tbsp
(Can be changed as per taste)


Preparation:

In a bowl,combine dry ingredients of flour,baking powder,cornstarch(1/2 tsp) and salt.If you like you replace the baking powder with equal amounts of cream of tartar and baking soda(1/2tsp baking powder = 1/4 tsp baking soda + 1/4 tsp cream of tartar).

In another big bowl,cream together butter and sugar until creamy.Add in vanilla extract and soymilk whipped in cornstarch.Stir in the dry mix and blend until a crumbly soft dough is formed.It will be like a crumbly mass and once the dough starts forming,it is better to work with hands rather than the electric mixer.Gather the crumbly mass to form a smooth dough ball.


Now I found that soy milk can be whipped in a blender with cornstarch and also we can use a fork and mix these together.I tried both ways and found that the blender whipping makes the dough a bit dry and it does not hold together and we may have to use extra soy milk so that the dough atleast holds together.I prefer the fork whipping method here -atleast we can form a dough.Thats my assumption,feel free to follow your choice or even use 1 single egg if ok


Once the dough is formed,if you feel it is too crumbly no matter what whipping method you used, you can refrigerate it for 1-2 hours and then bake.I did this when I used the blender whipping method.Also it is better to keep the dough chilled in between batches.


For baking,normally,you are supposed to pinch out around 3 tablespoons of dough or 1 inch thick circles ,form it into a ball and roll it in cinnamon sugar and place inches apart in a greased baking sheet.Once all balls are ready,gently flatten each ball with the bottom of a glass,so that they are only 1/2 inch thick.I did that and found that the cookies are too big,so I modified it bit .


I pinched out roughly around 1 tbsp of dough,formed a ball and rolled it in cinnamon sugar and placed in a greased baking sheet.Then using a fork or hand,gently flatten the cookie into a small circle.While shaping the cookies,they may actually look torn or cracked,which is ok.Visually that is how they should look.


Bake the cookies in a pre heated oven at 300F for 12-14 minutes and no more than that.Let them rest in the baking sheet for about 10 minutes after which using a turner gently remove them and cool them in a wire rack.The cookies look softer when taken out,but they firm on cooling and are little soft/chewy inside and crispy outside.If you want for crunchy cookies,bake more,but make sure they do not burn.You can even go for higher temperatures.


Cinnamon is my favourite spice and I have been wanting to make snickerdoodles,but kept postponing it as I thought other family members -my husband and daughter that is- would not enjoy it.So the first batch I went for very big cookies,which were immediately polished off by my family(surprise surprise).Since then,there is demand for them and I experimented different whipping methods also with the second and third times I made these.

Delicious Cinnamony Snickerdoodles are perfect for Cinnamon Celebration at Graces and a fresh warm batch is also on way to Alka of SindhiRasoi for Just for You event.

18 Comments:

Anonymous said...

this altogether is new to me and pretty interesting to experiment..thanks

Beyond Curries said...

I've also seen recipes for these cookies, but have not tried it so far. The cookies look different and good.

Sunshinemom said...

I love cinnamon too and I like that these are rolled in cinnamon!! Good minute instructions Sweatha:)

Cham said...

Look almost like patties... Love the fact is vegan :)

Unknown said...

hummmm intresting recipe dear have to try this mm itoo love that cinnamon flavor thanks for the recipe sweatha

Priya Suresh said...

I love cinnamon flavour in anything..Vegan snickerdoodles looks too good..quite a delicious one...

Yasmeen said...

melt-in-the-mouth delicious:).I bet your cutie,i mean beti(daughter) loved it.I keep forgetting to tell you,my big sis is also in NJ,guess we could meet some time when I visit her,not that I see her very often,its usually once a year, traveling long distance is a hassle with 2 naughty ones.Have a great weekend:)

Anonymous said...

Hi CL...Detailed instructions and tempting photograph...very nice and cheers! Like our blog title...truly that's what food is all about :).

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

I have always wanted to make these because I just love the name. These look really nice.
I really should but I now have such a long list of things I want to make.................

Deeba PAB said...

Wow...love your experiments. These cookies make a handsome bite!

grace said...

it's no surprise to most people that snickerdoodles are my favorite cookie, and yours look positively perfect. thanks for entering my little event!! :)

Vibaas said...

They look so yum. my first kid loves it.

Vaishali said...

These are just amazing, Curry. I love the creaminess, and I also love that you suggest how to make it vegan. Thanks for the recipe.

Unknown said...

Lovely cookies. Looking forward to your truffles post

Alka said...

Thts one real interesting recipe i had for our event,looks lovely...Thnks for sending it to Just For you,i truly appreciate the encouragement u guys are providing me.

PG said...

wow! lovely! soooooo very yummy!

Paru ... said...

Luv the doodles..Yummmmm

Sindhi Khaana said...

looks like smilies.

sindhi khaana

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