Archive for: snickerdoodles
Cream of tartar, more technically known as potassium hydrogen tartrate, is a fine white powder with many culinary applications. It is a byproduct of the winemaking process as the powder forms inside wine barrels during fermentation. It comes from tartaric acid, a naturally occurring substance in grapes and some other tart fruits that in the principle acid in winemaking. It helps to help control the pH of fermenting grape juice (wine) and that also acts as a preservative for the wine.
Tartaric acid has been used in winemaking for centuries (when separated from grapes and purified, it is a white powder that is similar to cream of tartar) and cream of tartar has been around just as long, put to use by creative cooks in a variety of culinary applications. It is an acid and it is often used as a major component in baking powder, combined with baking soda to react when the mixture is moistened to ensure that baked goods will rise well. Although it is an acid, the cream of tartar and the baking soda will not react when dry, so the entire reaction is saved for the mixing bowl and the oven. More visibly, since most of us do not mix our own baking powder, cream of tartar is used as a stabilizing agent and is added to beaten egg whites to increase their stability and volume. It is also sometimes added to candies or frostings to give them a creamier texture because it can help to prevent the crystallization of cooked sugar.
In some situations, vinegar can be substituted for cream of tartar, although there is no exact substitute for the powder. This can be done when beating egg whites or making meringue, and it can also be done in a baking recipe that calls for separate measures of cream of tartar and baking soda. For candy making, it is best to refer to the recipe and see if substitutions will work because the recipes are often very sensitive to substitutions.
The thing that makes the snickerdoodle cookiea snickerdoodle is the cinnamon-sugar coating that the otherwise plain sugar cookie dough is rolled in before baking. It is simple, but makes the cookie delicious and highly recognizable. With that said, you can’t just add a bit of cinnamon sugar to anything and call it a snickerdoodle. The cookies are always a bit heavy on the cinnamon to ensure that they have a noticeable color and the topping is definitely the dominant flavoring; a mere sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on something strongly flavored just isn’t going to be quite snickerdoodle-y enough.
I tried to keep these two things in mind when I set out to snickerdoodle-ify some french toast. French toast seemed like agood candidate for this treatment because, while tasty on its own, it tends to be plain until you add syrup or some other topping to it when serving. For years, I used a sprinkle of sugar in place of syrup when I ate my french toast because I enjoyed the crunch. That sugar was always added after the toast was finished cooking, but it wasn’t a big leap to add the sugar and cinnamon mixture before-hand.
I used a soft white bread (buttermilk, actually) as the base for this french toast, but any fairly plain bread that you like will do. I whipped up a simple and basic custard, adding in only a splash of vanilla for flavoring alongside the eggs and milk. Once the bread had been dipped and had soaked up a lot of the custard, I topped half of the bread with a generous amount of cinnamon sugar and placed it sugar-side-down into a preheated and lightly greased frying pan. While that side cooked, I topped the other side (the side facing up) with cinnamon sugar so that it would be ready to go when the french toast was ready to be flipped over.
The sugar caramelized beautifully and gave a bit – but not too much – of crunch to the otherwise very tender french toast. The flavors went perfectly with the mild vanilla custard flavor of the toast and it really did end up tasting a lot like a snickerdoodle cookie! This is one breakfast dish that definitely doesn’t need any sugar or other toppings. It is perfect and ready to eat hot off the stove.
And, if you were wondering, this post was not simply an excuse to use made-up words like snickerdoodle-y and snickerdoodle-ify. But given the chance I couldn’t pass it up.
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Traditions are very well and good, as are traditional recipes. But every tradition can use a little spice now and again, if for no other reason than to cultivate a new appreciation for the original. This is evidenced to an extreme by the rise of the molecular gastronomy movement, which was accompanied by a hugely renewed interest in traditional comfort food. Here, we’re taking the “spice” literally and merely updating a classic cookie with a few new flavors.
Snickerdoodles, which I have mentioned before, are one of the great standards in American cookies. In spite of their plain appearance and total lack of chocolate (often a deal-breaker for some cookie eaters), the chewy vanilla cookie with the crunchy cinnamon sugar coating is pretty close to perfect in both texture and flavor. It is a unique and hugely satisfying balance that you won’t find in many other cookies. They’re the kind of cookie that absolutely everyone enjoys.
The standard recipe calls for you to roll the unbaked dough in cinnamon sugar before placing the cookies on a cookie sheet. For these, I updated the flavors from the old standbys to a somewhat trendier combination of chai spices, using cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and allspice both in the dough itself and for the coating.
These spiced up cookies cookies are wonderfully crunchy on the outside – thanks to their sugary coating – and chewy on the inside, just like the classic. The chai flavors come through enough to twist the traditionally basic flavor of the cookies, but aren’t strong enough to dissuade die-hard traditionalists from enjoying a classic.
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Snickerdoodles are sugar cookies that are coated in cinnamon sugar. They usually have a cracked appearance and I have had ones that are both crisp and chewy. There is an added bonus to the cookies in that they have a fun name to say. Snickerdoodle
Snickerdoodles are probably the single least offensive cookie that there is – which is to say that they will appeal to everyone. There are people who don’t like chocolate, nuts, raisins, etc. and these cookies don’t have any of those things. They are buttery and sugary, though not really overly sweet as the sugar is tempered by the cinnamon and vanilla flavors. I have no doubt that, while they might not be the first cookie offered up by people who are asked about their favorite type, they will always be among the first to go at a party.
My theory on the popularity of this cookie is, I think, validated by the recipe I used. This recipe is Mrs. Snigg’s Snickerdoodles from AllRecipes. It has over 1200 positive ratings and 1000 positive reviews. Almost everyone gave it 5/5 stars. How could I not make them?
As I suspected, this batch of cookies was excellent. They had a perfect balance of flavors and were addictive enough to make you reach for a second. My personal preference is for a slightly crisper cookie, so if you go with the high end of the baking time, you will get a crisper cookie, while the low end will get you a chewier one. Regardless of which way you prefer your cookies, they will be delicious.
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