Snickerdoodle cookies have been around for a long time, at least as far back as the 1800’s. According to The Joy of Cooking, these sweet, cinnamon cookies came from Germany. It is thought that their funny name is from the German “Schneckennudeln” which means “snail dumpling”. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take a Snickerdoodle over a Snail Dumpling any day!
Other sources say the cookies originated with the Dutch. Their word “snekrad” describes a snail-like shape (snails again!). Some say that the cookies are from New England. Old New Englanders used fanciful, whimsical names for their cookie creations. The final theory is that the cookies were named after a hero of tall tales from the 1900s named “Snickerdoodle”.
Whoever created these unique little cookies, I thank them!
Recently, my grandson asked if he could bake cookies with Nana. When I asked what kind he wanted to make he immediately responded, “Snick-O-Doodles!” They will hereafter be known as Snick-O-Doodles in this house!
Here’s the recipe we used.
Snick-O-Doodles
Ingredients:
- 2 ¾ cups flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tarter
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter -softened
- 1 ½ cups sugar (plus more for rolling)
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silpat.
- Combine the flour, cream of tarter, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixer until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Add in the vanilla extract (real, not imitation!). Stir in the dry ingredients until combined.
- In a small bowl, stir together 3 Tablespoons of sugar and 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon. Set aside.
- Roll the dough into balls using approximately 1 Tablespoon of dough for each. Roll each ball into the cinnamon sugar mixture and place on the cookie sheets about 2 inches apart (the cookies will spread a bit).
- Bake for 6-8 minutes. Remember, you don’t want to brown these, you just want them a bit firm on top. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet until you remove them to a cooling rack.
If there are leftover cookies, store them in an airtight container.
These are my husband’s favorite cookies (and apparently my grandson’s too!). Give them a try and see if these become your family’s favorites as well (just don’t call them “Snail Dumplings”!).
Read more of Ann’s contributions to allmomdoes here.
