Snickerdoodles

Last night, BJ and I made snickerdoodles cookies to take to our playgroup's Halloween party today. He gets more and more capable every time we do this kind of thing.

His job was to take the dough balls and roll them around in the cinnamon and sugar mix, which worked out really well. He always does better when I can find a specific task for him to perform, preferably one that is well within his ability. Dough-rolling was right up his alley.

For some reason, he decided that he should pretend to be a cow the entire time. He informed me that his cow name was "Cinnamon 'BJ'" and he accompanied our cookie making with a catchy little ditty that went somethig like this:

Moo! Moo! Cinnamon BJ! Moo! Moo! Moooo! (Repeat.)

The cookies were quite yummy. (With all that butter, one would hope so.) Here's the recipe I use:

Snickerdoodles
1/2 c butter
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

about 2 tablespoons sugar (I combined white sugar with colored sugar crystals in purple and orange, to give it a bit of holiday color)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or to taste... I like it heavy on the cinnamon and double this or more)

375 oven

Beat butter with electric mixer until softened. Add about half the flour. Then add 1 c sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda, cream of tartar. Beat until combined, scraping bowl as needed. Beat in remaining flour. Cover and chill until firm (1 hour or so).

In small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in sugar/cinnamon to coat. Place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375 for about 12 min (until edges are lightly browned). Remove and cool. Makes about 30.

Oh, and you might be wondering -- why is BJ shirtless? He'd removed his polo, and when I asked him why, he told me it was wet with "mouth water." He'd been sucking on the collar and soaked it with spit. Mouth-watering, indeed! (Blech!!!)