Snickerdoodles are quite a subdued, subtle cookie: soft sugar dough rolled in cinnamon sugar, baked until either chewy or crispy. But the name snickerdoodle sounds boisterous and unruly, like the name of a cookie made out of M&Ms and pretzels and marshmallows. The name etymology is disputed, but possibly stems from the German for snail noodle. I prefer to imagine that snickerdoodle means small humorous drawing. Whatever it means, there is a serious goofiness discrepancy between the name and the cookie. If you can move past this incongruous naming, you will be rewarded with a really fantastic cookie. These ones fall on the crisp side of the snickerdoodle spectrum, they are thin, with a shattery, cracked top and just tender middles. They really spread while baking so I only baked 6 cookies at a time on a baking sheet. The sheet will seem too empty, but they will really expand in the oven.

snickerdoodles

from Martha Stewart

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
big pinch salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tbs cinnamon
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400°F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

Cream butter, shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat on medium speed until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Add dry ingredients and beat until evenly combined. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Scoop balls of cookie dough with a medium cookie scoop or ice cream scoop and roll them in the cinnamon sugar. Place far apart on a cookie sheet and bake for around 7 minutes, turning the sheet half way through baking.

Store in an airtight container for up to a week, if you have a lot of willpower. Mine didn't last a whole week...