Cinnamon Sugar Crackle Cookies -- Sitting at the Kitchen Table, Getting the Words Right

Halloween. The hollow does not get many trick-or-treaters. Connie made a small bowl of candy anyway. The neighbor's grandchildren came up. They got the bowl.

Worked on a basement remodel job in Lexington. The work was good. The pay was good. The body is tired.

Drove the truck to the dump Saturday afternoon. Saw three deer crossing the road on the way back. The mountains have been giving back this year.

The creek was running clear Sunday afternoon. I watched a kingfisher work the riffle. Did not move for an hour. Some Sundays the watching is the worship.

The neighbor up the road — Old Roy, eighty-seven, lives alone — had a small heart scare. We took him soup beans Tuesday. Cornbread too. He cried a little when he ate. We all cry over soup beans eventually.

Travis sent a photo of Earl Thomas riding on the mower with him at a job site. The boy is wearing a Hensley Landscaping T-shirt that's too big. Three generations on a mower. I saved the photo.

I sat at the kitchen table Tuesday night working on the recipe project. Mama's soup beans. I cannot get the words right yet.

Connie cut my hair on the porch Tuesday afternoon. She has been cutting my hair for forty years. The barber in Pineville cannot do what Connie does, which is also love.

Connie read aloud from a novel Tuesday evening while I worked on the bench. Some Appalachian writer she had picked up at the library in Whitesburg. The voice was the voice of where we live. We listened together.

Read the paper at breakfast Tuesday. The county news is not great. The mines have not come back and they will not come back. The young people leave. The hollows empty. We stay.

I split a half-cord of wood Saturday. Slowly. The back does not let me work fast anymore. It got done. The wood was for the smokehouse.

Amber sent the kids' school photos this week. Nadia is taller every year. Marcus has Amber's serious face. Little Betty has Mama's eyes.

Sunday service at Harlan First Baptist when we go. Pastor preached about Ruth and Boaz. The choir sang. Connie wore her gray dress.

My back was tight after the wood-splitting Saturday. Took an Aleve. Slept eight hours. Got up.

Connie made jam Saturday afternoon. Wild blackberries from the patch up the hollow. Twelve jars. The pantry is filling for winter.

The dog — old Beau, fifteen years old — slept by the wood stove all afternoon Tuesday. He used to be a hunting dog. Now he is a heating pad with opinions.

Drove to Pineville for parts Wednesday. The hardware store man knew me. We talked about the weather and the price of feed. Forty minutes for a five-minute errand. That is rural Kentucky.

I went up to Earl's grave at the Evarts cemetery Saturday. Brought a beer. Drank half. Poured the rest on the dirt. Some traditions are mine alone.

I checked the truck oil Saturday. The mileage on this truck is criminal.

I sat on the porch with bourbon at sundown Friday. The fog rolled into the hollow the way it has every fog of every year. The porch was the porch. The bourbon was the bourbon.

I sat at that kitchen table Tuesday night trying to find the words for Mama’s soup beans and could not get them right — some recipes live in the hands and not the head. When the writing stalls I go back to what I know, and what I know is the smell of cinnamon in a warm kitchen with the dog by the stove and Connie somewhere near. These cinnamon sugar crackle cookies are not Mama’s recipe, but they belong to the same world she built — the world where the pantry fills up in fall and the kitchen is where the family holds together. You do not need a reason to make them beyond the fact that it is October in the mountains and the hollow is quiet and something good ought to come out of the oven.

Cinnamon Sugar Crackle Cookies

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 27 min | Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat and prep. Heat your oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and 1 1/4 cups of the sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla extract until fully combined.
5. Combine wet and dry. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, stirring just until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix.
6. Make the cinnamon sugar coating. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
7. Shape and coat. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat completely, then place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
8. Bake. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set and the tops have crackled. The centers will look slightly underdone — that is right. They firm up as they cool.
9. Cool. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cool completely before storing in an airtight tin.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 112 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 15g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 62mg