City Girl Snickerdoodles

One of my favorite kitchen tasks is baking for birthdays.

Give me a birthday, and I’ll give you butter. Dietary restrictions, you say? Bring it on! I love a challenge. Lactose intolerant, gluten-free, or nut allergy…I revel in the hunt for an accommodating birthday treat that makes you say “wow!” (Or, maybe it just leaves you speechless. And full.)

In honor of my sister-in-law’s 30^th birthday today, I shipped off a package of “City Girl Snickerdoodles.” Why this recipe? Two reasons: First, my sister-in-law is a fabulously stylish city girl. Second, these cookies are so potently delicious that I’ve made them a right-of-passage cookie requirement for anyone turning 30 (I'm not yet 30 myself, but I'll keep eating them for the next couple years until I get there).

Snickerdoodles: essentially, sugar cookie meets cinnamon and sugar. It’s like converting a Cinnabon into cookie form. Brilliant, isn’t it?

As I continue to bake my way through my new favorite cookbook, today’s recipe obviously hails from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. My version was so very not vegan though…I definitely used real butter. Since we were out of Earth Balance (a non-hydrogenated vegan margarine), I went with the real deal. Sometimes, only butter will do.

(Side note: as you’re baking the vegan cookie recipes, I urge you to either use vegan non-hydrogenated margarine, OR real butter. Do not use regular margarine! That stuff should be taboo and is definitely not considered real “food.”).

Enough talk. Let’s get snicker-doodling.

Happy Birthday, Andrea :) Adam had to take a bite before we mailed them out (see picture below)

City Girl Snickerdoodles

(recipe from the oh-so-awesome Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar)

Authors Terry and Isa hail from NY and Portland, OR, respectively. Thus, they coined their version of snickerdoodles as the "city girl" adaptation. They'll melt in your mouth they're SO GOOD.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup non-hydrogenated vegan margarine (or real butter), softened

- 1 - 1/4 cups sugar

- 2 TBSP milk (soy or regular)

- 1 - 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

- 1 - 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

- 1/4 cup corn starch

- 1 tsp. cream of tartar

- 1/2 tsp. baking soda

- 1/4 tsp. salt

CINNAMON SUGAR FOR ROLLING

-1/3 cup sugar

-1 rounded teaspoon ground cinnamon

-pinch of nutmeg

Directions:

1) In a large bowl, cream the vegan margarine (or butter) and sugar together until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the milk and vanilla and beat until combined. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt, and beat the mixture until a soft dough forms, about 4 minutes. Chill dough for 30 minutes (or if desired, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight).

2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat baking sheets with cooking spray. In a small, shallow bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, and pinch of nutmeg.

3) Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough, roll in cinnamon-sugar, and roll into a ball. Place dough balls on cookie sheets about 3 inches apart. Sprinkle the tops with any additional cinnamon-sugar.

4) Bake 10 - 12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool a few minutes before removing from baking sheets and cooling on a wire rack completely.

5) City-person or Country-person, love your snickerdoodling self :)