Snickerdoodles are my dad’s favorite cookie. Have you ever wondered where the name “snickerdoodles” came from? Well, I looked it up in order to enlighten you, but it turns out there are a bunch of theories of where the name comes from so unfortunately I won’t be able to pass any useless knowledge on to you today.
These cookies are fairly simple to make and I’m sharing my mom’s recipe with you today. One of the great things about these cookies is that you probably have all these ingredients in your pantry (although I did not have shortening because I don’t use that much for baking).
Snickerdoodles Makes about 2 dozen
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
For topping:
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix butter, shortening, sugar, and eggs. In a separate bowl, mix flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and then mix until combined. Shape into balls using a tablespoon or small ice cream scoop. Roll in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Place on cookie sheets and bake 10-12 minutes.
Have I mentioned you NEED one of these? This small ice cream scooper is probably one of my favorite gifts ever! It helps ensure your cookies are evenly sized which makes them look nice and pretty.
Here’s what they look like before they are baked… Ok, you also NEED a Silpat. It’s a silcone-coated baking sheet which helps things not stick to your pans. Another one of my favorite things!
Do you use your crock pot much? I rarely use mine. John will sometimes use it to keep chili warm (he makes the best chili!!) but we don’t use it much for meals. I don’t often make recipes more than once because I like to keep trying new ones – but this is one that I thought was worth making a second time! Basically you just throw everything in the crock pot in the morning and then when you get home you have an awesome meal to eat with no prep work!
Tex-Mex Chicken Chili Serves 4, adapted from Martha Stewart
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 jar mild or medium salsa
2 tablespoons chopped chilies (from a can, in adobo sauce)
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken stock
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 small red onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
Stir together the beans, salsa, chilies, flour, and chicken stock in your crock pot. Place chicken on top, season with salt and pepper. Scatter onion and bell pepper on top. Cook on low for 8 hours. (Don’t open the lid or stir) Take out the chicken, and shred (using 2 forks) if desired, then return the chicken to the pot. Serve in bowls, topped with a little sour cream on top and corn muffins on the side. Enjoy this perfect dish for a chilly fall day!
I used some of the veggies to make potato leek soup and a zucchini and goat cheese pizza. For dessert I made apple dumplings, but they turned out looking more like “apple blobs” due to my horrible puff pastry skills. They were good though – it’s hard to go wrong with puff pastry, cinnamon, apples, and vanilla ice cream! Sorry there are no pictures this time!
