Snickerdoodle Cookies
Snickerdoodle cookies are a great family learning recipe. Lots of measuring going on, and even the little ones can help. Let your older children measure and mix, and the younger children can form the cookies and roll them in the sugar mixture at the end. Cookies are a very rewarding "applied math" lesson!
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Mix the butter, eggs and sugar together until well blended. Add in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; mix thoroughly. (Add the flour a little at a time for easier mixing.) Chill the dough completely in the refrigerator or freezer.
To make the cookies: Pre-heat oven to 400°. Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish. Remove a portion of the chilled dough to work with, leaving the rest to stay chilled. Pinch off the dough and make balls about 1-inch in diameter. Roll the balls in the sugar/cinnamon mixture*, coating well. Place about 2 inches apart, on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. They will puff slightly, then fall back down with crinkles all over the face of the cookie. They should still be slightly soft when removed from the oven.
* If you're not overly fond of cinnamon, try rolling in just sugar and then lightly dusting the cookie tops with cinnamon from the shaker before cooking.
