Snickerdoodle Cookies

Snickerdoodle cookies are really the best thing we made in baking and pastry. They were not too hard and tasted so good. This was the recipe my group followed and I have never eaten a better cookie: Ingredients 1/2 cup salted butter, softened 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar 2 medium eggs 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons cream of tartar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon fine salt 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon Directions Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar and the eggs and mix thoroughly with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy and well combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt, and stir into the shortening mixture. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon. Shape the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls (1 tablespoon per ball), and roll each ball in the cinnamon-sugar. Arrange the dough balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake two sheets at a time until the edges of the cookies are set but the centers are still soft, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Transfer the cookies to wire racks for cooling. Repeat with the remaining dough balls. Store in an airtight container. Even the dough was amazing. I would have have just eaten the whole bowl of cookie dough if I could. They came out of the oven warm, soft, and perfectly cooked and I want to make this recipe again and again. It was really easy too even a 1st grader could make them. Even the picture makes me hungry just looking at it. They are cited in print from at least 1889 and were very popular in New England at this time. However, it has been said that Snickerdoodles originated from Germany with their name being interpreted from the German word Schneckennudeln, or cinnamon-dusted sweet rolls. Despite the confusion of their origin, Snickerdoodles are the best cookie and can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone. -Makenzie C