52 Cookies - Chapter 33

You may have noticed a bit of an absence on my part on the blog this week.  It's the week before school starts and my 3 kiddos have me working overtime to pack in as much summer fun as we can these last few days.  On top of that, soccer practices kicked up into high gear last week and PTO activities at school have me running already too!  So much for the lazy days of summer.  And speaking of lazy, I didn't even bake this week's cookies!  Not completely anyway.  Truly, I just oversaw the process and offered advice and suggestions. 

I welcomed my girl, Jenna, into the kitchen this week.  She's been after me to make snickerdoodles all summer long and I just haven't taken the time because, well, I have made snickerdoodles before and so, they wouldn't count as a new cookie recipe for my Cookie Journey.  Soooo, I decided to let Jenna make them, because, after all, SHE has never made snickerdoodles before.  Bending the rules a bit, I realize, but desperate times call for desperate measures. 

I thought I'd take a little different approach to this week's cookie post.  I decided to interview Jenna and see what she thought of the snickerdoodles.  Here's how the interview played out...

Me:   What kind of cookies did you bake?
Jenna:   Snickerdoodles

Me:   Why?
Jenna:   Well, um.  Because I like snickerdoodles?

Me:   Where have you had snickerdoodles before to make you like them?
Jenna:   They serve them for lunch at school sometimes.

Me:  Do you like to bake?
Jenna:   Yes, especially with you!

Me:   What's your favorite thing to bake?
Jenna:   That's hard.  Um.  Chocolate chip cookies!

Me:   What's your favorite thing that your Mom bakes?
Jenna:   Grilled chicken, meatloaf and brownies.

Me:   Do you own any cookbooks?
Jenna:  Yes, two.  One by Paula Dean and the other Betty Crocker.  Who is Betty Crocker anyway?

Me:   What would you like to make next?
Jenna:  Your brownies.

Me:   Sorry toots!  That recipe is top secret!  What do you want to be when you grow up?
Jenna:   Lot of things.  I can't decide.  A teacher, poet, artist, swimmer, soccer coach, professional soccer player.

Me:   Are you looking forward to school starting soon?
Jenna:   YES!  I love school!

Snickerdoodles
Here's What You'll Need:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus more
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3-4 teaspoons cinnamon

Here's What You Do:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cream the butter, sugar and eggs.  Sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.  Now slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture with the mixture on low.

In a small bowl, stir together the cinnamon (use the amount you prefer) and about 4 Tablespoons of sugar.  Shape the dough into balls about 1 1/2 inches in size.  I use my smaller cookie dough scoop to make it easy and make the cookies all uniform in size.  Gently roll each ball of dough in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.  Bake about 8 minutes and cool on a rack when done.

Very simple, very easy, very good!  Perfect tea party cookies!

Jenna enjoyed brushing up on her fractions skills

using the measuring spoons and cups!

And reading skills too!

"What's shortening?"  Never mind, Jenna. 

It's all butter around here.

Don't you love the absence of all those teeth?

When Evan realized they weren't chocolate chip, he was outta there.

However, Owen thought the snickerdoodles were quite tasty!

Good for dunking in milk, I do believe he said.