This is what I do on a snowy, winter day – bake cookies.

I put out a call for requests and this was one.  Not having made these for many years I reached for my King Arthur Flour cookbook but knew instantly it wasn’t the right recipe.  The one in my memory called for cream of tartar so I dug out the 1950’s version of the Betty Crocker and there it was.

The ingredients –

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose or unbleached flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

The shortening, butter, eggs and sugar are creamed together, then add the dry ingredients until incorporated (except the additional sugar and cinnamon).  Couldn’t be simpler.

I use a tablespoon cookie scoop and place the dough ready for rolling on parchment paper.  It looks like scoops of vanilla ice cream doesn’t it?

Mix the 1/4 cup of sugar with the cinnamon, roll the dough into balls and then coat with the mixture and set on the pan about 2 inches apart.

I line my baking sheets with parchment as well.  Have I told you about my love affair with parchment?  It changed my life a few years ago when I discovered I didn’t have to grease and wash my cookie sheets when I was done baking. (Ever notice how those pans never fit in a dishwasher or the sink?) This is the one time-saving device I would have a hard time giving up – that and the cookie scoop due to my ocds about size and shape but that’s a whole different blog.

Put the cookies in a 400 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes, they will just barely be getting brown.  This is another cookie that I drop the pan on the floor (see Soft Molasses Cookies).

Let these babies cool for a few minutes and serve warm, preferably with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

By the looks of today’s forecast I will be pulling out the parchment paper in Enfield tonight.