Snookums Snickerdoodles

I think "snickerdoodles" is just one of the most fun words for my mouth. I have a bunch of words that I love to say, like snoochums, snickerdoodles, muffin, ma cherie (which might be more of an expression), sushi, supercalafredjulisticexpealadocious, and many more which might actually be better than these, but when I put myself on the spot, I just can't remember them all.

What I can remember is that these cookies are T-A-S-T-Y tasty. I love snickerdoodles. And I like my snickerdoodles fat and soft, pillowy even. I'm not one for those thin, crispy ones. If you're like me you're gonna want to try these little babies.

They're in need of some tweaking, next I'm going to try making them with butter instead of shortening and with a little less cream of tartar, but I thought I'd share the unmarred recipe and then you will be free to try them yourself, or wait and see if I can make them better. The choice is yours.

Ingredients
1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Method
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

In a large bowl, mix together the shortening and 1 1/2 cups of white sugar until smooth. Stir in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each. Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; stir into the batter until blended.
Roll the dough into balls the size of small walnuts. Roll in a mixture of 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned, but still soft.

One side note: I was a bit startled by the dryness of the dough. When I try this recipe again, I think I might decrease the flour by a smidge, but not much. I figured that the dough was wet enough for the cinnamon sugar to stick to it, but not so wet that the sugar melted and burned during baking. That is a good thing. Trust me, no one really likes that burnt sugar flavor.

And another one: cook these 8 minutes...no more!! Possibly 7 minutes. I tried various times and anything over 8 minutes equals one hard cookie after it cools. Not cool. :)

**Amendment!!! 10/18/2010**
I tried this recipe again, but I only used 1/2 tsp cream of tartar instead of 2 tsp and 1 cup butter instead of 1 cup shortening.
Results: USE 1/2 tsp cream of tartar unless you like tart cookies!! 1/2 tsp = perfect. 2 tsp=WAYYYYY too much.
As for the butter, it made my cookies more flat, but still very soft. So they were tasty, just not pillows like I like 'em. So I think I'll stick the shortening 'cause goodness know I love me some pillowy cookies.