Monday, September 22, 2008

Mix it Up Monday Double Decker

We have been baking up a storm this weekend. I finally got all my dough making skills together and made the pretzels. They are, ummm, okay. Which is a shame since a) I love me some soft pretzels and 2) they take a lot of time and really heat up your kitchen (475 degrees!). They were a little soggy and not as hard on the I outside as I think they should be. Apparently, this recipe is the "traditional" way to make them which includes boiling in baking soda. I really have no idea since I have never made them before. I might try them again one day, but for now I will stick to Aunt Annie's.
Also this weekend I made Snickerdoodles. Yum. It was Hollis turn to bring the snack to preschool. I had been promising him we would bake something together. I reneged on the "together" part and made them by myself at 9:00pm on Sunday night. Don't feel too bad for him though, I am paying $15 for him to have a cooking lesson at the Young Chef's Academy on Wednesday. Snickerdoodles are a great cookie and easy to make. They really are good to make with children because the dough is rolled in sugar and cinnamon before baking - perfect for little fingers. If you have never had them, well, that is a sad story and my heart weeps for you. So I sent Hollis off today with a Ziploc bag full of cookies in the big "snack basket". I even asked him twice if he wanted me to walk in with him and help him carry the snacks. He said no, that he could do all by himself. I was afraid to ask a third time, he might have asked to be dropped off at the corner.

Snickerdoodles
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. shortening
2 large eggs
2 3/4 c. all purpose flour
2 t. cream of tarter
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. sugar
2 t. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Beat 1 1/2 c. sugar, butter, shortening and eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium
Stir in flour, cream of tarter, baking soda and salt
Shape dough into small balls (I use a small melon baller)
Mix 1/4 c. sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish
Roll balls in sugar/cinnamon mixture
Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet
Bake 8-10 minutes or until set
Remove immediately to wire rack to cool

2 comments:

Mandee - I Think You Should said...

I'm so glad you are blogging. It's nice to have you cracking me up on a semi-regular basis again.

Do you read Smitten Kitchen? I seem to recall her making pretzels a while back. I naturally skipped that post as I seem to recall it requiring kneading. No knead bread is as far as I'll go in the baking realm.

Shanda said...

I'll have to try the snickerdoodles. Ryan loves them. I've never been a huge fan since I found out that they really have nothing to do with snickers.