snickerdoodles

Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles

/ Jodi / 3 Comments

pumpkin cheesecake snickerdoodles cover

It’s the countdown to Halloween on Friday!

I can’t believe it will be NOVEMBER in a few days!  Where did the time go?  We hit close to 80 degrees F Tuesday, and it is still 70 degrees F as I write this post well into Tuesday evening with the windows wide open and the warm breeze blowing in.

I think we are going to be in for a brutal awakening in a few days as the weather forecasters are calling for that “S” word to hit for Halloween!  YIKES!

Since I don’t have children at home anymore to create costumes for or grandchildren yet (patiently waiting – fingers crossed! LOL!) and don’t even get any trick or treaters living a bit far back off the beaten path, what is a girl to do but bake pumpkiny “stuff” for Halloween – right?!?

With a few cans of pumpkin still in the pantry and everything else I needed for this yummy recipe on hand that I discovered on Bakeaholic Mama’s blog, I had to try these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filled Snickerdoodles that combine all the wonderfulness of pumpkin pie, cheesecake, and snickerdoodles ALL IN ONE COOKIE!

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Marty gave them a THUMBS UP (and hopefully will remember to take most of them to the office tomorrow so we don’t eat them all)!

Hope you are enjoying the last week of October, wherever this finds you, and hope you will try this yummy treat.

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Recipe from:  Bakeaholic Mama’s Blog

Cream Cheese-Filled Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Yield: about 2-3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

  • 3¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp. freshly-ground ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup light brown sugar
  • ¾ cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
Ingredients for the filling:
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Ingredients for the cinnamon-sugar coating:
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. ground ginger

Directions:

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

Beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed of electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Blend in the pumpkin puree. Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.  Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

While the dough chills, make the filling. In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Cover and chill this as well (for at least half an hour).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and spices for the coating.
Take one tablespoon of dough and flatten it into a pancake shape. Place one teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture in the middle of the pancake. Form another tablespoon of dough into an equally-sized pancake shape, and place on top, keeping the cream cheese in the middle. Gently pinch together the edges of the dough around the cream cheese to seal, then gently roll into a ball. Roll the ball in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat. Repeat with the remaining dough to fill baking stones or cookie sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart.  Flatten the dough balls slightly.Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until they are slightly firm to the touch and the tops are beginning to crackle. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

ENJOY!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

 

 

Old-Fashioned Snickerdoodles

/ Jodi / 17 Comments

snickerdoodle 1

I made some Snickerdoodles this past weekend to take along to Krautfest.  They are such a simple, old-fashioned cookie, but one that folks seem to really love.

Every time I bake these, I think of my friend, Janet and her sweet mom.  Before them, I had never heard of Snickerdoodles.  I recall visiting one day, and their house smelled so cinnamony wonderful with these fresh-baked treats cooling on the kitchen table.  I can remember tasting my first one and loving it.  They are a bit crispy and crunchy on the outside and tender and chewy on the inside. Nobody in my family had ever baked these – not even Grandma, but they have become one of our family’s favorites.  I have passed this recipe on to my daughter-in-law, Colleen, who has begun making them too.

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The nice thing about Snickerdoodles is you can make them in a pinch as you typically have everything you need on hand.  They can also be made pretty quickly, as this is one dough that really doesn’t need refrigerated before baking like I usually prefer to do.  I think because shortening makes for a firmer dough – but if there is someone out there that knows more about this than me, I hope you will offer your feedback.

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Snickerdoodles

1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup butter, soft
½ cup butter Crisco shortening
2 eggs
3 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

  1. Heat oven to 400ºF.
  2. Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, the butter, shortening and eggs in large bowl. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.
  3. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Press down slightly.
  4. Bake approx. 8 minutes or until set.  I usually give a gentle push on them with two fingers to flatten a bit more right before pulling them out of the oven to get them to “crackle” a bit.
  5. Cool on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes, then remove to cool on wire rack.

Makes 4 dozen cookies

My cookie secrets include: Always add a little extra flour (included in this recipe), underbake, bake on well-seasoned baking stones, use electric oven.

ENJOY!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi