snickerdoodles + gingerbread = gingerdoodles

failed snickerdoodle attempt #1

Hehehe. Snickerdoodles.

That's pretty much the only reason why I wanted to make them so much. I know they're quite a common cookie in the US, but up until now, my whole knowledge of snickerdoodles just came from seeing people on TV make and eat them. With a name like that, they must be pretty good, right?


I tried to make them last year in Japan, but they didn't go so well - I couldn't find cream of tartar, and after a bit of research, tried to substitute the baking soda and cream of tartar called for in the recipe with baking powder. It did rise, but maybe due to the lack of cooking time, flattened out soon after taking them out of the oven. They were flat, chewy, sugary cookies, which tasted alright, but a little underwhelming for a cookie with such a good name.

I decided to give them a second chance after finding a new recipe, and the result was much better. The cookies were soft and buttery, with an almost cakey texture. I added extra cinnamon to the sugar used to coat them with for a little more flavour. A good, basic cookie with a great texture, but yeah, still quite run-of-the-mill and not that extraordinary. When would I ever find myself making this when there are other better, more exciting cookies to be made?

Soon after making this batch of snickerdoodles, I remembered that with Christmas coming up, it's time for me to some cookies for my cousins -it's almost become one of our new Christmas traditions - I make chocolate chip cookies, my cousins gorge themselves on them, and then get told off by our parents for filling ourselves on cookies before the rest of the Christmas lunch has even begun. Aaah, lovely Christmas traditions.

Looking to branch out this year, I decided to make another type of cookie to complement my choc chip cookies - something with that wasn't the same soft chewy texture of my choc chip ones, and not as sweet. Like snickerdoodles, but more exciting. And with my relatives from the UK coming this year, something a little more tradtionally festive, like gingerbread.

And thus the gingerdoodle was born.

Like all good Christmas stories, this new idea came out of a something under-appreciated and ordinary struggling to find its purpose, adapting and growing to come to the rescue in our hour of need. It's a Christmas miracle! I can't wait to see the claymation telemovie they make out of this story.

Gingerdoodles
(Adapted from Kitchendaily recipe)
Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt

• 250 g unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 5/6 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

Sugar coating mixture

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger

1. Preheat oven to 190°C. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (except for sugars)
2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter and sugar. Once creamed, add vanilla and egg.
3. On a low speed, gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture until just blended, scraping bowl occasionally.
4.  Roll dough into golf-ball sized balls, and roll them in sugar coating mixture before placing on a baking tray, 5 cm apart.
5. Bake until golden and cracks appear on top, about 14 minutes. Cool on tray for a minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.