Snickerdoodles — The Cookie That Belongs to This Time of Year

I drove to Grinnell Saturday. Roger was in the garden — the garden that is his whole world now, the 81-year-old man who tends six tomato plants and twelve sunflowers with the same care he once gave four hundred acres. He's slower but he's still Roger. He still watches the crop reports. He still calls Jack on Wednesdays.

I made apple pie with Marlene crust this week — the fall version, the one that fills the kitchen with the smell that means this time of year, this stage of life, this specific Tuesday when the stove is warm and the family is fed and the feeding is the point. Kevin ate seconds. The man always eats seconds. The eating is the approval and the approval is the marriage.

The trees along the highway are turning — maples red, oaks gold, the Bradford pears doing their useless purple thing. Iowa falls are short and violent and beautiful. The kitchen shifts to slow mode: crockpots, Dutch ovens, the oven at 375 from September through April. The fall cooking is the cooking of a woman settling in for the long season.

After a drive to Grinnell and back, after apple pie and Kevin’s seconds and the maples doing their red thing along the highway, I wanted something smaller — a cookie that belonged to the same season as all of it. Snickerdoodles are what I make when the oven is already warm and the afternoon has gone quiet. They’re cinnamon and butter and not much else, which is exactly what fall cooking is supposed to be.

Snickerdoodles

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

Ingredients

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

Instructions

1. Heat the oven. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add vanilla extract, mixing until smooth.
5. Combine. Reduce mixer to low and gradually add the flour mixture, stirring until just combined. Do not overmix.
6. Make the cinnamon sugar. In a small bowl, stir together the 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon.
7. Roll the dough. Scoop dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and roll each one in the cinnamon-sugar mixture until fully coated.
8. Bake. Place dough balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until edges are just set and centers look barely done. They will continue to firm as they cool.
9. Cool. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 105 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 55mg