I love a good cookie. More specifically I love a good snickerdoodle. This may have to do with the fact my mother did not make snickerdoodles. She made lots of great cookies but never snickerdoodles. While they are tasty, they just don’t cut it when it comes to Christmas cookies… until you dress them up a bit.

These are a play on a traditional snickerdoodle. I change a couple of things. First I only use butter. No half butter half vegetable shortening crap, real cookies are made with butter, and we all know vegetable shortening isn’t really food so it’s best if we avoid it. Next, none of this baking soda and cream of tartar mix nonsense. Use baking powder people. It really is a magical creation of leavening. There are situations where you need cream of tartar and baking soda on their own but this is not one of them. Finally, the normal cinnamon sugar is replaced with a sugar mix of Christmas spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cardamom, and cloves).

There are a couple of things to watch out for with these cookies. First, as with all cookies, make sure you cream your butter and sugar well. Your butter must be room temperature all the way through. Second, the dough is more sticky than a lot of other cookies before it is rolled in sugar. To avoid the mess when using spoons use a cookie scoop if you have one. Finally, when you place the cookies on your cookie sheet make sure to leave at least 2 inches between cookies so you don’t end up with cookies that have melded together (those are the cookies you eat for “quality control” when they come out of the oven).

Christmas Snickerdoodles

• Dough:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 3/4 cups flour (use the scoop and swoop method)
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Coating:
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream your butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth. Add in the dry ingredients in 3 additions beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl mix the coating. Form one inch balls of dough and coat in the sugar and spice mix. Place on a cookie sheet covered in parchment or with a silicone mat. Place cookies at least 2 inches apart and 2 inches from the edge of the cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes rotating about halfway through baking. The tops of the cookies should appear a little cracked. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

For storage: Line a plastic container with wax paper. Place the cookies in single layers separated by sheets of wax paper and freeze until needed. Put the lid on the container. Make sure you use a tight fitting lid otherwise the cookies will get soggy when thawed. These cookies will last 2 months in the freezer (possibly longer, but we wouldn’t know, they never stick around long in our house). To thaw take the cookies you need out of the freezer and thaw on a plate. Do not refreeze.