I spent the whole weekend cooped up at home, trying to kick a cold I got on Wednesday. I tried (unsuccessfully) to patch my bicycle tire on Saturday morning, and that was about as much activity as I could handle.
Luckily, I finally did get around to buying cream of tartar last weekend, the key ingredient in Snickerdoodles. For years, I've been wanting to make Snickerdoodles, only to be thwarted by the fact that I never have any cream of tartar on hand.
So what is this mysterious cream of tartar? Wiki sez:
I love crisp-chewy Snickerdoodles + I love tweaking recipes = Tweakerdoodles. Bring 'em to your next holiday function. The pepper, cardamom and ginger add a touch of warmth.
I have to admit that I didn't add any rosewater to this batch because I didn't have any, but I have a feeling that it would tie the whole thing together nicely. Add at your own risk. The flavor combination is a riff off some chai I bought from the T Bar in Australia. You could probably get even closer to the flavor combo there by adding orange zest and slivered almonds.
Tweakerdoodles
Makes 30 cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup plus 4 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. rosewater (optional)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1/4 cup chopped candied ginger
Grease two cookie sheets. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt together and set aside.
Cream butter and 1 cup sugar. Add two eggs, vanilla extract and optional rosewater; mix well. Incorporate flour mixture until blended.
Mix 2 Tbsp. sugar with cinnamon, cardamom and pepper in a shallow bowl. Toss candied ginger in 2 Tbsp. sugar in separate shallow bowl.
Make a 1 1/2 inch ball of dough. Dip once in sugared ginger bowl, then toss to coat in spice sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet 2 1/2 inches apart, ginger side up. Repeat until done. (If you have leftover dough balls, freeze and save for coming economic dark age.)
Bake cookies in oven for 9-12 minutes until edges look crisp and centers look soft but done. (If you're using two racks in the same oven, switch the top and bottom sheets halfway through baking.)
Luckily, I finally did get around to buying cream of tartar last weekend, the key ingredient in Snickerdoodles. For years, I've been wanting to make Snickerdoodles, only to be thwarted by the fact that I never have any cream of tartar on hand.
So what is this mysterious cream of tartar? Wiki sez:
I don't know who decided to collect the wine scum and cook with it, but the world is a better place for it.Potassium bitartrate crystallises in wine casks during the fermentation of grape juice. In wines bottled before they are fully ripe, it can precipitate on the side of the bottle in a sort of crust, thus forming what is called "crusted wine".
This crude form (known as beeswing) is collected and purified to produce the white, odorless, acidic powder used for many culinary and other household purposes.
I love crisp-chewy Snickerdoodles + I love tweaking recipes = Tweakerdoodles. Bring 'em to your next holiday function. The pepper, cardamom and ginger add a touch of warmth.
I have to admit that I didn't add any rosewater to this batch because I didn't have any, but I have a feeling that it would tie the whole thing together nicely. Add at your own risk. The flavor combination is a riff off some chai I bought from the T Bar in Australia. You could probably get even closer to the flavor combo there by adding orange zest and slivered almonds.
Tweakerdoodles
Makes 30 cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup plus 4 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. rosewater (optional)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
1/4 cup chopped candied ginger
Grease two cookie sheets. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt together and set aside.
Cream butter and 1 cup sugar. Add two eggs, vanilla extract and optional rosewater; mix well. Incorporate flour mixture until blended.
Mix 2 Tbsp. sugar with cinnamon, cardamom and pepper in a shallow bowl. Toss candied ginger in 2 Tbsp. sugar in separate shallow bowl.
Make a 1 1/2 inch ball of dough. Dip once in sugared ginger bowl, then toss to coat in spice sugar. Place on greased cookie sheet 2 1/2 inches apart, ginger side up. Repeat until done. (If you have leftover dough balls, freeze and save for coming economic dark age.)
Bake cookies in oven for 9-12 minutes until edges look crisp and centers look soft but done. (If you're using two racks in the same oven, switch the top and bottom sheets halfway through baking.)
Leave a comment