It seems like every year, my daughter comes to me around this time of the year and lets me know her class is hosting a bake sale at school. Fortunately, I have my own go-to recipe for a generous batch of cookies that stays soft and chewy for weeks: snickerdoodle. I love snickerdoodles and, in the spirit of helping them sell fast at the sale, I tend to press a chocolate candy into the center of each cookie for more elementary school appeal!
Having recently gotten some chocolate hearts on sale, that's what went onto the most recent batch, but you could also watch for discount Easter candy in about a week and use that. Of course, these cookies are great without the chocolate too, but hey — it's a nice way to make them a bit more fun. Other options include working some colorful decorative sugar into the cinnamon-sugar mixture or pressing several smaller candies onto each cookie.
Because they are fairly large cookies, it's easy enough to put each cookie in a snack bag or fun decorated bags like those pictured. Dollar stores are a great place to look for inexpensive packaging ideas. Then, get ready to help the kids cover the costs of upcoming field trips, end of school parties, and graduation events!
I Love Snickerdoodles
- 2 cups butter
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 5 ½ cups flour
- 1 tablespoon cream of tartar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 48 chocolate heart candies
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Mix the butter, 3 cups of sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.
Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
Blend the dry ingredients into the butter mixture.
Chill the dough for about 10-15 minutes in the fridge.
Meanwhile, mix the ⅓ cup of sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
Scoop 1 inch balls of dough into the sugar/ cinnamon mixture. Coat by gently rolling the balls of dough in the sugar mixture.
Place them evenly spaced on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Remove the cookies from the oven and gently press one chocolate heart into the center of each cookie. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to a cooling wrack; cool completely.
- Yields: 48 cookies
- Preparation Time: 40 minutes