When I was young I used to make these cookies with my grandmother before Christmas. She passed away 11 years ago and I still make them to bring back happy memories.
They make great Christmas cookies, but they are delicious and could be made for any occasion.
I'd always thought that this was a Super Secret Family Recipe but upon doing some research I discovered that it originally came from the back of a Gold Medal flour bag. A very similar recipe can be found at the Betty Crocker website HERE
. The recipe there differs in shortening/butter content but I use the version that my grandmother wrote on a 3X5 index card.To prepare the cookies:
In a large bowl, mix together:
1 cup soft shortening (part butter)
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
In a smaller bowl, mix together:
2 3/4 cup gold medal flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time and mix together.
At this point you can either chill the dough or get right to baking the cookies. My grandmother preferred to chill them. It will make it easier to roll the dough into balls without it getting sticky.
Roll the dough into balls the size of a small walnut (about one inch) and roll in the following mixture:
2 tbsp sugar (I found another recipe on the Betty Crocker website for Holiday Snickerdoodles HERE. I experimented making green ones which can be seen in the photo. However, you could use any color sugar to tailor the cookies to any occasion.)
2 tsp cinnamon
Place the dough on an ungreased baking sheet about two inches apart.
Bake at 400 degrees until slightly brown but still soft (about 8-10 minutes). They will probably be done before they look done. I made the mistake of over-cooking my first batch. They will puff up at first and then flatten out.
This recipe makes about 5-6 dozen cookies. Enjoy!
