Snickerdoodles

Cooks Illustrated claims to have perfected the snickerdoodle recipe. Typically, I make the recipe from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion which I consider my cookie Bible. That recipe does not use cream of tartar which is common to most snickerdoodle recipes.

This recipe uses cream of tartar and baking powder as leaveners which is supposed to make the cookies rise in the oven and then fall leaving cracks on the top of the cookies. These cookies are also bigger than the ones I typically make - a Tablespoon scoop rather than a teaspoon scoop.

CI claims that these cookies will be chewy in the middle and crisp on the edges. I found them to be crisp throughout which is how I prefer snickerdoodles anyway.

In the end, I found this recipe produced very nice snickerdoodles which were identical to the ones I always make (though larger in size). The cookies were delicious but they weren't as described in the recipe.