Growing up, this was my favorite cookie. A typical sleepover for me usually meant making snickerdoodles, post-midnight (I now realize this  wasn’t normal–thanks to Brynn and Ali who humored me–and of course to the moms who woke up with 3 dozen cookies on their counters). I still love them, and of course, it’s fun for the whole fam to roll the cookies in the cinnamon and sugar. For some reason, the New Best Recipe doesn’t include this recipe, so this is from the first edition of The Best. Make sure not to make these cookies too big, or they don’t turn out as well.

Snickerdoodles

2 1/4 c. flour
2 t. cream of tartar (sold in the spice rack at the grocery store)
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
12 T. butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
1/4 c. shortening (helps with the texture–important to use)
1 1/2 c. sugar plus 3 T. for rolling
2 eggs
1 T. cinnamon

Adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle positions. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Pull out two cookie sheets.

Whisk flour, tartar, soda, and salt together. In another bowl, cream the butter, shortening and the 1 1/2 c. sugar together for about two minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each egg addition. Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine, about 30 seconds.

In a smallish bowl, combine 3 T. sugar with the cinnamon. Make the dough into 1″ balls and roll into the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place the cookies about 2″ apart on a cookie sheet (they spread) and cook for 9-11 minutes. Let cool for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a rack.