Lime nutmeg snickerdoodles and Christmas gifts

This is the time of the year when my colleagues and friends with kids tell me that they have to buy Christmas gifts for their children’s teachers, and since the kids have so many teachers these days they have to buy tons of presents. This is when I suggest them to make cookies or brownies, to wrap them up beautifully and there, gifts are ready. :)

These snickerdoodles may be a good idea for a holiday gift: starting with a traditional snickerdoodle recipe, I swapped the baking soda and cream of tartar for baking powder – since not everyone has cream of tartar around or wants to buy it – and added a touch of lime and nutmeg (instead of the most common cinnamon). The cookies turned out delicious and they smelled amazing while in the oven – you might have to bake an extra batch for your neighbors. :)

Lime nutmeg snickerdoodles
own recipe

Dough:
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon table salt
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 limes
½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

To roll the cookies:
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lime
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, rub sugar and lime zest together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Add the butter and beat until creamy and light – scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally throughout the making of the recipe. Beat in the egg and the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients at once and mix on slow only until a dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F and line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

To roll the cookies: in a small bowl, rub sugar and lime zest together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Stir in the nutmeg. Roll 2 leveled teaspoons of dough per cookie into balls and then roll the balls through the sugar. Place onto prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are golden around the edges. Cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then slide the paper with the cookies onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 35

Stracciatella snickerdoodles

Last weekend, as I was baking these cookies and their wonderful smell took over my apartment, I thought that they deserved a fun name – I wasn’t a fan of the original (car-co-doodles), plus it would mean nothing to my Brazilian readers. The freckled dough in the bowl looked like the milk chocolate stracciatella ice cream I made a while ago and that was when I decided to call the cookies stracciatella snickerdoodles. “That name will surely make my readers curious about these cookies”, I thought, and that would maybe convince you to bake them. However, when I took a bite out of a cookie still warm from the oven I knew the convincing would be a lot easier: I would just have to tell you about the delicious, gooey melted chocolate bits dispersed in a cinnamon scented cookie. ;)

Stracciatella snickerdoodles
slightly adapted from the beautiful and delicious More from Macrina: New Favorites from Seattle's Popular Neighborhood Bakery

1 1/3 cups (175g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon table salt
85g (3oz) dark chocolate, chopped – I used chips and roughly chopped them before using
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (175g) packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temperature
1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the chocolate pieces and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and brown sugar until light and creamy. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and then the egg, mixing on low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape the bowl and add the dry ingredients, mixing until they are just incorporated.
Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 165°C/325°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a small bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
Let the cookie dough warm at room temperature for 20 minutes. Roll 1 leveled tablespoon of dough into balls and roll them in the cinnamon-sugar. Place 5cm (2in) apart onto prepared sheets. Slightly flatten the cookies and then bake for about 15 minutes until light golden brown. Cool on the sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Makes about 45 cookies

Chocolate snickerdoodles + my Oscar votes

Later on today we'll know who will take home the 2013 Oscars - if I could choose the winners, my list would be the following:

- Best picture: "Life of Pi"
- Best director: Ang Lee
- Best actor in a leading role: Joaquin Phoenix
- Best actress in a leading role: Naomi Watts
- Best actor in a supporting role: Philip Seymour Hoffman (I would give it to Leonardo DiCaprio, but...)
- Best actress in a supporting role: Helen Hunt

Probably none of the above will take home the award, but that doesn't matter - they're the ones I'd vote for. And while my Oscar choices may not be the most popular ones, at least my cookies are: these very simple to make yet delicious snickerdoodles were a hit with my husband's coworkers. :)

Chocolate snickerdoodles
from the always delicious Food & Wine

Cookies:
1 ¾ cups (245g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
55g (2oz) dark chocolate, melted and cooled – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For coating the cookies:
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a bowl, sift the flour with the baking soda, baking powder and salt. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add the melted chocolate, the egg and the vanilla and beat until smooth. Beat in the dry ingredients until incorporated.
In a shallow bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon to coat the cookies. Roll the dough into 2.5cm (1in) balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar. Transfer to the prepared sheets, placing them 5cm (2in) apart, then flatten slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed and cracked. Transfer to racks and let cool.

Makes 3 dozen – I used 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie and got 50 small snickerdoodles