My grandboys ages 7 and 5 are my Snickerdoodles, and this post is to give a shout out to them. They are smart, sweet, rambunctious, and true cookie lovers.
Although the word Snickerdoodle did not come into fashion until the early 20th century, treats with similar ingredients such as flour, spice, and sometimes nuts and dried fruits go back to Roman times. Such little cakes and cookies were popular in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In American colonial days they were called jumbles. I imagine folks back then enjoyed the spicy taste as much as we do today. Recipes for the first cookies actually called Snickerdoodles showed up in cookbooks starting in 1902. No one knows for sure where the word originated. Some say it came from a nonsense word, and some say it morphed from the German word for a snail like shape. I prefer the former, since I don’t want to eat anything shaped like a snail. Yes, I know it’s haute cuisine, but blech!
Some Snickerdoodle recipes make crisp cookies, and some soft. The following is for a crisp cookie. If you like cinnamon, you’ll love these.
SNICKERDOODLES
Ingredients: ½ cup lard, ½ cup butter, 1 ½ cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 2/3 cup sifted flour, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 2 tablespoons sugar.
Directions: Beat lard and butter until light. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl beat together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Add to the previous beaten mixture to form dough. In another bowl combine the cinnamon and sugar and set aside. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. The balls will flatten during baking. Remove and cool. Recipe makes 6 dozen cookies. I hope you have two little rambunctious Snickerdoodles to share them with.
Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Paranormal Fantasy Romance
What cute’, brave warriors’! There’s a saying in Romanian when seeing someones kids or grandkids: “May they live long for you!” I don’t know a synonym in British/American English for it.
The recipe sounds and looks something tasty; unfortunately never heard of cream tartar here. I would have tried it too. Thanks for sharing both the photo and the recipe!
What a splendid saying, Carmen! As for the recipe, you can substitute baking powder for the baking soda and cream of tartar. Do you have baking powder? Let me know how it goes:)
What a cute pic of your grandkids! 🙂
And I’ve always been a snickerdoodle fan. My husband’s grandmother made wonderful crisp snickerdoodles that I loved. Even the word is fun, LOL!
Cinnamon is one of my favorite flavors– from cookies to gum. You’re right– snickerdoodle is a fun word. Oh, to be a fly on the wall to hear when that first person came up with it. Say what?
Gorgeous little kiddlies. I am certain they deserve every snickerdoodle they get. 🙂 My great nephew loves gingerbread men. They are a very old kind of treat in England, adults as well as children liked gingerbread. This treat really hit its peak in the middle ages where some adults ate it gilded with gold leaf.