Snickerdoodles

I've been enjoying discovering cookies in Alice Medrich's most recent book Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in Your-Mouth Cookies. I think the enjoyment I get has been heightened by meeting the author when she taught a class in the Bay area. She lives in the area, and she baked cookies for our class herself in her own oven.

That felt very special. It's been about 9 months since that demonstration, but I still love picking up the book and discovering new flavor combinations.

These cookies, though are a classic. Snickerdoodles are a favorite because they have cinnamon sugar coating on a sugar cookie, and they're pretty simple to make. I used Vietnamese cinnamon because of its spicy flavor, and I pressed the cinnamon sugar on to the cookie balls so that the cinnamon would really stick. It must have worked because these were flavorful, if a tad over baked. Watch them carefully and check two minutes before they are supposed to be done. If the edge resists a tiny bit when you nudge it with your finger but you can feel that the edge is the only part that's done, the cookies are perfect chewy cookies. If you like a crisper cookie, bake them a minute or two longer. You can find the recipe here.

Speaking of a crisp cookie, if you're wondering what the wide, flat cookie is, that's the shatteringly thin chocolate chip cookie. I'm not a thin and crispy fan, but these blew me away. Maybe they're next...