Snickerdoodles (aka Sneakerdoodles)

Snickerdoodles are great cookies, and this is my favorite snickerdoodle recipe. Any cookie with this much butter and sugar has got to be good!

This Snickerdoodle recipe is from our friend Sneaker's mother, thus the name. I've tried other versions, but they're not nearly as good. These cookies start out fantastically soft and chewy in the middle, and become delightfully crisp overnight. The best of both worlds.

Here I've given the base set of ingredients, all ready for substitution. Note that this snickerdoodle recipe is a perfect base for making SnickerPoodles.

Step 1: Ingredients & Tools

Sneakerdoodles

Ingredients
3 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
2 cup sugar (this goes into the cookie dough)
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 Tablespoon sugar (this is for rolling the cookies before baking)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Tools
Mixing bowl + fork (for dry ingredients)
Mixing bowl + wooden spoon, or stand mixer (for wet ingredients + combining)
cookie sheet(s)
small bowl or ramekin for sugar-rolling
oven
cooling rack

Step 2: Cream Butter & Sugar

Beat the 2 cups sugar into two softened sticks of butter until the result is light and fluffy.

Save the butter wrappers to grease your cookie sheets.

Step 3: Dry Ingredients

Assemble all of the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, cream of tartar) in a bowl, and stir until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. You'll be pouring out of this bowl, so a spout comes in handy.

Step 4: More Wet Ingredients

Stir the vanilla into the creamed butter/sugar mixture, then add the milk and eggs.

I didn't have milk, so instead diluted yogurt with water to create a similarly liquid dairy product. There were no noticeable differences in baking or taste due to this substitution.

You can crack the eggs into a bowl and stir in the milk before adding them to the mixer; this decreases the chance of spills or wayward shell fragments.

Give everything a good stirring to make a nice moist, fluffy base.

Step 5: Add Dry Ingredients

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet base, stirring as you go. Make sure you get all of the dry ingredients thoroughly incorporated. The dough should be a bit sticky, but dry enough to handle. Let it sit for a minute to allow the flour to absorb more of liquid before handling if you like.

Step 6: Grease Cookie Sheets

Use the butter wrapper to grease your cookie sheets. Reuse is good for everyone.

Step 7: Roll in Sugar/spice Mix

Mix sugar and spices to your taste. I use garam masala (the pumpkin pie spice type) instead of just cinnamon, and mix it with sugar to a light brown. This works equally well with different ratios, so taste your mix to see if you're happy. Raw cookie dough also tastes good rolled in the sugar/spice mix, and is great for sampling if you're not worried about salmonella.

Roll a small ball, about 1 inch across, and coat it in the sugar/spice mix. Drop it on the greased cookie sheet, and squish it slightly flat. Add more balls, suitably gridded onto the cookie sheet.

Step 8: Bake

Bake at 350-375F for approximately 10 minutes, depending on your oven's individual quirks. You want them to spread and just get crispy at the edges, but they should still be dough-colored. If the bottom edge starts to turn brown yank them out of the oven immediately.

Remove from the cookie sheet immediately and cool on a wire rack.

Step 9: Serve and Store

Serve immediately for best results: warm, slightly squishy Sneakerdoodles are fantastic with milk, hot chocolate, or coffee.

They store well, getting firmer/crispier with time. (Though they aren't likely to stick around past a day or two.) Store in sealed tupperware or ziplock baggies. When crispy, the cookies are especially good dunked in the beverage of your choice.

Now, go take a hike to make room for more cookies.