What is a Snickerdoodle?
In case others are in the dark like I was, a snickerdoodle is a sugar cookie dusted with cinnamon and sugar on top.
Where Did the Snickerdoodle Get Its Name From?
The Wikipedia article on Snickerdoodles states:
The Joy of Cooking claims that snickerdoodles are probably German in origin, and that the name is a corruption of the German word for "snail dumpling" (Schneckennudeln, or cinnamon-dusted sweet rolls). Similarly, one author states that “the word 'snicker' may have come from a Dutch word 'snekrad,' or the German word 'Schnecke,' both describing a snail-like shape.” However, another author believes the name came from a New England tradition of fanciful, whimsical cookie names, and yet another cites a series of tall tales around a hero named Snickerdoodle from the early 1900s.
While the origin of the name snickerdoodle is unclear, it is clear that it has nothing to due with the Snickers bar.
Where Did the Snickers Bar Get Its Name From?
According the Wikipedia article on Snickers, Snickers bars got their name from a favorite horse of the Mars family.
Why the Sudden Interest in Snickerdoodles?
Wholly Wholesome was kind enough to send me some baked goods to try. They sent oatmeal raisin cookies, chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, and a crumble cake. The surprise favorites (at least to me) were the snickerdoodles. They were little pieces of cinnamon and sugar goodness and they led to an important discovery - snickerdoodles are Bride 2.0's favorite cookie! Of course, I had to make some snickerdoodle cupcakes.
Were the Other Wholly Wholesome Baked Goods Tasty?
I found the chocolate chip cookies and the oatmeal raisin cookies to be just average. I didn't love them. However, I gave them to Bride and Groom 1.0 to take to a BBQ and the report was that they were a HUGE hit. Apparently people were raving about them and everyone wanted to know where to buy them. I never would have guessed that they would be so popular.
The crumble cake also didn't blow me away, except for one important feature - the fresh berries. The cake packaging mentioned that it had berries, but I didn't expect quality, fresh-tasting berries, and tons of them. Real berries are rare in a store-bought cake and were a really nice touch. If you topped this cake with a little bit of ice cream, some whipped cream, and some more fresh berries, it would be a winner.
The best part of all Wholly Wholesome products is that they use real, all-natural ingredients. If you are considering store-bought baked goods, I'd feel comfortable recommending these. If you want to make your own snickerdoodles check out this snickerdoodle recipe.
The only time I had snickerdoodles is when I made them myself and they were ball-shaped, not the usual flat cookies. They were so soft and yummy and delicious. And yes, for the longest time before I thought they had something to do with the Snickers candy.
ReplyDeleteI have a terrific (and very easy) Snickerdooles recipes that I can share/post. Snickerdoodles are great to use for making ice cream-cookie sandwiches, a yummy summer treat!
ReplyDeleteI have a great Snickerdoodle cake recipe with a buttercream cinnamon icing if you would like me to share. I'm sure you can tweak it and make it better.
ReplyDeleteTanya - The ones I made are ball shaped too! I've got a pic in the next post. I'll get it up here soon. Glad you thought they had to do with Snickers too.
ReplyDeleteJessica - Oooh - an ice cream sandwich on a snickerdoodle sounds great! I would definitely be curious to see what recipe you used and how it's different from the one I ended up using. There's still a couple of days left in the ice cream cupcake event. How cool would a snickerdoodle ice cream cupcake be?
Deah - I'm curious about your cake. For my cupcakes, I used a burnt sugar cake recipe and it tasted just like a snickerdoodle. Was your cake also a sugar cake or did it have both sugar and cinnamon in it? I think that could also be really good. Go ahead and share it, if more people offer up recipes maybe we can have a snickerdoodle taste off at same point!
Why would a snickerdoodle have peanut butter in it? I can understand thinking it was made with peanuts, but snickers don't have peanut butter.
ReplyDeleteAnon - Good point! Guess I just lumped peanuts and peanut butter together.
ReplyDeleteSnickerdoodles -- by Jessica
ReplyDelete1 1/2 C flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t cream of tartar
8 T butter
3/4 C sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/8 t salt
1 1/2 t vanilla
for rolling: 1/4 C sugar & 1 T cinnamon
Mix flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar together in one bowl.
Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg, vanilla, salt and cinnamon.
Add flour mixture slowly.
Divide dough and roll into walnut-sized balls. Roll each ball into cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!
Thanks for the explanation! To be honest, I had no idea what they were. I had heard the name many times and always avoided them because they sounded weird.
ReplyDeleteHowever, sugar and cinnamon on a sugar cookie?! That sounds like my kind of cookie.
snickerdoodles are MORE than cinnamon-sugar on a sugar cookie because they also have the cinnamon in the cookie dough! sometimes, for even more "kick", I add some ginger, nutmeg, and allspice, too.
ReplyDeleteMadeline - What's not to like?!
ReplyDeleteJessica - Thanks for the recipe as you can see, the recipe I used didn't have cinnamon in it, just on it. Interesting.
http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2008/05/snickerdoodle-recipe-homemade.html
Odd! I'd eaten them before in grade school but still somehow thought they had something to do with Snickers.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm late to the blog, but my son had to modify an existing recipe for class a couple years ago, so we substitute all the granulated sugar with brown sugar and used apple pie spice instead of cinnamon. Awesome!
ReplyDelete