Sugar Cookies and Snickerdoodle cookies

Difficulty: Beginner/Moderate

Reason: Slightly time consuming, dough can be difficult to mix by hand

These are the cookies I have been asked about many times. My friends especially love the snickerdoodles, because they are softer and fluffier than most snickerdoodle recipes, which usually turn out hard, thin, and crunchy. There is only one difference between the sugar cookie version and the snickerdoodle version, and that is the cinnamon-sugar coating on the snickerdoodles. You'll need:


1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 and 3/4 cups white flour


For Snickerdoodles: About 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1-3 teaspoons cinnamon, judge by sight


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine butter sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add vanilla and egg. Sift flour with baking powder and baking soda, making sure the baking powder and soda are well-distributed through the  flour mixture. (I made the mistake of not mixing the baking soda and powder with the flour the first time I baked these cookies, and they turned out salty and fairly gross.) Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Roll dough into small, 1.5 inch balls.


For Snickerdoodles: Mix the cinnamon and sugar and roll the dough in it before placing on baking sheet.


Bake for 11 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet until the tops of the cookies are no longer glossy and the edges show a slight hint of browning, then remove from oven.