Raisin Snickerdoodles (9-17-11)

This is an alternative to the previous Snickerdoodle Cookie post.  After I made the Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies, my hubby asked if I could make Raisin Snickerdoodles... So... here are the short notes for them!

Have your 16.5 oz roll of refrigerator sugar cookie dough sliced up.  I also had about 1 cup of raisins and the 1/3 cup sugar (Splenda in our case), 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon nutmeg blend (i.e. "Snickerdoodle Spices").

To blend the raisins into the cookie dough, I just grabbed a bunch and smooshed it into the dough (yes - "smooshed"... We get real technical here at Nifty Novice! LOL).

Roll each one up into a ball, roll it into the "Snickerdoodle Spices" and place on your sprayed pan about 2 inches apart.  You'll notice 2 cookies on the far left side of the picture... My hubby asked me to put some coconut flakes on there, hoping the toasted coconut would taste real good...

Baked at 350 for 10-13 min until golden brown... Although... I couldn't really tell about the edges of the cookies... Since it turned into one huge cookie!

It did, however, split up easy enough to go on the cooling rack.

The toasted coconut didn't turn out quite as he had hoped.  There was a bit of a toasted coconut taste to it, but not quite enough.  Maybe next time, I'll give him a bit more coconut. ;-)

The cookies actually tasted pretty good.  I just wish there was a way to get them to hold their shape like the Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies did... I'll have to figure out what the deal is with that.  And, while the "Snickerdoodle Spices" tasted ok, I think we'll skip them next time and just have raisin cookies.  (But, check out the bottom of that cookie!!  PERFECTION AGAIN!!!)

We're getting a bit more creative... Definitely getting interesting!  LOL

Easy Snickerdoodle Cookies (8-27-11)

Hi everyone!!!

Feels like it has been forever since I've posted - even though it has just been a few days! Hope everyone's having a great day!!

Let's give you the background here... I had a quota to meet on one of those book-buying sites (kind of like the "book version" of Columbia House), so I bought a bunch of baking/cake books. One of which is called The Ultimate Shortcut Cookie Book. This book has 745 recipes that start with refrigerated cookie dough, cake or brownie mix, or ready-to-eat cereal.  It has so many great ideas in there!  I have a feeling that this book and I will become very fast friends!!

One of my favorite cookies is the snickerdoodle.  I don't know why, and it's only been over the past few years that it has entered the sacred category of "Favorite Cookies," but I find them MMM-MMM GOOD!  As a side note, please do not mistake this being a snickerdoodle with what my mom calls her snickerdoodles which are Snickers baked into a cookie dough (I may feature that as a future blog as well).  This is for actual snickerdoodles.

So... HERE GOES!!  Easy Snickerdoodle Cookies!!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup sugar (I used Splenda which can be used in place of it at a 1:1 ratio)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 16.5oz roll of refrigerated sugar cookie dough, well chilled

I actually didn't even use the silver spoon or the butter knife.

First, mix in the sugar/Splenda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  I used the teaspoon measuring spoon and just mixed it all up together using that.

(It would have been nicer if the nutmeg was a bit more "ground"... O:-) )

Next, I sliced up the cookie dough.  The recipe said to do it into 22 slices.  Seriously?  That would be like a MINI-bite cookie.  I have a big mouth.  I don't do mini cookies.  So, I did 12 slices.

(Ignore the fact that you can only see the end of the tube on one side.  The other side stayed in the wrapper when I cut it and...ummm... I had to...ummmm... taste-test it!  YUP!  It was still good! O:-) )

Next, take each slice and roll it into a ball.  I thought it would be a bit firmer, but it was super easy to squeeze it and roll it into a ball!

Now, take each ball and roll it into your sugar mixture.

Be sure the baking sheet is either non-stick or you spray it with a non-stick spray (or use some sort of other liner). Here's what the finished pre-cooked balls looked like:

Now, put them in the oven at 350 for 10-13 minutes (until edges are golden and centers are just set - per the book.  I don't really know what "just set" means though...).

Next, I did what probably few people do.  I realized I have never (that I can remember) really watched a cookie bake.  Watch it go from the ball shape into the flatter cookie shape.  So, I pulled the chair out, turned on the oven light, and watched.  Please excuse the drips down the glass.  I hadn't thought about doing this until I put the cookies in, so I could clean the outside, but not the inside.

Let the cookies cool in the pan for 2 minutes and then put them out on the cooling rack...

(The brown on the top of the cookies isn't burnt cookie.  It's extra cinnamon/nutmeg.)

Here is the top and bottom of the cookie.  LOOK, MOM!!  I DIDN'T BURN THE BOTTOM!!!  Check out that perfect brown on the bottom!!

And since I am one of the most impatient people EV-ER, I had a cookie after only about 2 minutes on the cooling rack.  In case you are wondering, 2 minutes does not result in a cookie being "completely cooled."  This results in the cookie curving a bit in the first pic! O:-)  I probably should have left the cookies in a bit longer.  The insides weren't completely cooked thru.  It wasn't like it was raw, just "soft."  I'm sure now that it has had some time to cool, it is finished all the way.

Update: After cooling for almost 2 hours, it was the same amount of "softness" in the middle. Again, not horrible, but I probably could have left it in the oven for another minute or two.

Definitely happy I made these... Now, have to get to flipping thru that wonderful book for an idea to use with the refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough I bought!!