Snickerdoodles... sort of!

Good morning friends! Thanks for stopping by. I'm just hanging out with two lovely Golden Retrievers and my delicious iced coffee (check back later this week for that amazing recipe) on this beautiful Sunday morning. Not quite as beautiful as yesterday morning, but still great!

I know I haven't been putting as much effort into my blog lately as I would like to, but sometimes life just goes that way doesn't it?

Here's what I've been up to lately:

Coming to the end of a crazy and insane busy season at the accounting office I work for. It seems so much crazier than last year... not sure why, but it just is. The last two weeks, I haven't been working quite as many hours, but I'm still feeling a tad burnt out. I have also been getting more responsibility on the enagement's I've been staffed on and that seems to come with more stress and accountability, so I have been learning to adapt to that role without going crazy from the increased stress!!

For the past five weeks I've been trying to change my lifestyle so that I can lose some weight, get more active and just generally improve my health. You can imagine how tough that is with all this delicious baking around... but it is necessary... my goal is to lose 53 lbs over the next year. So far in five weeks I've lost 15.2 lbs and lost 13.5 inches. I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment and hope it continues to come off that quickly! I've been getting more exercise and trying to make my health a priority. So, you may see more healthy recipes coming through here in the future (don't worry, I'll still post yummy and sinful recipes too, just probably not as many!!).

I'm also in the final year of getting my CA (chartered accountant) designation. Its a stressful year - I have to pass two more modules - one of which is known to be very technical and diffucult - in order to qualify to write the final UFE (uniform final examination). So, this summer is going to be filled with studying for the UFE and to pass those courses. I'm just praying I pass everything in the first go so I can say goodbye to this stressful part of my life and move on to a life that is non-student!!

But, enough about me for now! Lets get to this yummy recipe! These aren't traditional snickerdoodles, but I'll give a suggestion below on how to make them taste more traditional. If you make the recipe as is, they will taste more like a sugar cookie coated lightly with cinnamon and sugar. They are delicious as is, but not traditional tasting!

Snickerdoodles... sort of!
Recipe adapted from Anna Olson's Back to Baking

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp cinnamon (add this in for more traditional tasting snickerdoodles - note this was not included in the original recipe, so omit if you want a less traditional snickerdoodle)

For the coating:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and the sugar together until fluffy (about 2-4 minutes). Beat in eggs one at a time until well blended. Add vanilla extract and stir until incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar and cinnamon (if using). Add to the butter mixture and blend well (don't over mix of you will get tough cookies).
4. For the cinnamon sugar coating, in a small bowl mix both ingredients together well. Using a large cookie scoop, scoop out portions of the dough and roll them into balls and then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat completely. Place on a baking tray and press lightly to flatten them.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 15-17 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies. As soon as the edges start to turn light brown, they are done. You want the center of the cookie to still look soft. Don't worry - it will finish cooking once you take it out of the oven and will be completely cooked on the inside.

And thats that! Those are easy cookies to whip up in an evening. Your family will love them... I mean, who doesn't love Snickerdoodles?!

Sorry for the long post today! I just wanted you to know whats been going on with me, especially since I haven't written much on my blog lately. Hope you enjoy this recipe! I've got the Secret Recipe Club April challenge going up on Monday (its a good one that I'm really excited about!!!), and the Daring Bakers' Challenge going up on the 27th, so its going to be a delightful week of recipes. Hope you'll stop by to check them out.

Happy Baking my Friends!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes!

I made these quite a while ago and was on the fence whether to post them. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the photos, but in the end, the taste won out... these are delish! I made them for my sister's birthday party along with mini oreo cookies and cream cheesecakes and mini raspberry swirl cheesecakes... is anyone picking up on a theme here? You would have to be quite the baking nerd to pick up on it... but I had a bit of an obsession with Martha Stewart Cupcakes at that time and as such, these are all cute desserts from her cookbook. I borrowed the cookbook from my friend D and I honestly didn't want to give it back... but I did what any good friend would do, I scanned half the recipes onto my computer then finally, reluctantly returned the cookbook.

Any way, I am trying to pack for camping this weekend, so I'm gonna make this post a quick one... without further delay, here is the recipe for snickerdoodle cupcakes. Top with seven minute frosting and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and you are set. Any seven minute frosting recipe will do... they are all pretty much the same. Here is one you can try.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Martha Stewart Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


• 1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self rising), sifted


• 1 tbsp baking powder


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon, plus 1/2 tsp for dusting


• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature


• 1 3/4 cups sugar, plus 2 tbsp for dusting


• 4 large eggs, room temperature


• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract


• 1 1/4 cups milk


• 1 recipe seven minute frosting (link above)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt and 1 tbsp cinnamon.


2. With a stand mixer on medium high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combine after each addition.


3. Divide batter evenly among 28 lined cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks and cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to two days at room temperature, or frozen up to two months, in airtight containers.


4. To finish, combine remaining 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 2 tbsp sugar. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe frosting onto each cupcake. Hold bag over cupcake with tip just above top, and squeeze to create a dome of frosting, then release pressure and pull up to form a peak. Using a small, fine sieve, dust peaks with cinnamon-sugar. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are frosted; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Enjoy!! Happy Baking my Friends!!