Snicker Delight

My boyfriend (Andrew/gb) is allergic to milk, so I often have the challenge of trying out new recipes that are dairy-free. Luckily, he can have milk as long as it is baked into something, so that broadens my baking horizons a little bit. I have recently just been substituting soy milk in icings as well and will probably be more soy-dependent in the future.



Anyway, he really enjoys sugar cookies and snickerdoodles, especially his mom's recipe. As I didn't have much experience with cookies that aren't chock-full of nuts and chocolate and such, I've been searching endlessly for a recipe for superb snickerdoodles.



I'm assuming I found the recipe a while ago, because it was just randomly saved onto my computer; if I remember correctly, I found it on a forum somewhere after I had googled "Snickerdoodles" in hopes of finally finding that one recipe. I didn't remember ever having made them, so I decided the other day that I should bake him some cookies.



These were rewarding; they weren't as magnificent as his mother's, but they were pretty darn good. Andrew was pumped about them and promptly devoured three or so when I gave them to him. I added some vanilla to the recipe because it seemed a little to utilitarian to be considered as whimsical as Snickerdoodles should be. I thought about adding a little bit of cream of tartar because I have never actually seen a Snickerdoodle recipe without, but in the end I decided to give it a whirl and they turned out just fine.



Snickerdoodles
Makes about 3 dozen cookies

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl (I recommend using a fork to combine these more thoroughly). Shape dough into 1 3/4-inch balls; roll in cinnamon -sugar mixture. Space 3 inches apart on greased baking sheets; press each ball down gently with three fingers.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.