Snickerbutters

After this week's time change, my  husband was a very sleepy guy.  Because of the effect of "springing forward" on the computers at his job he was up most of the night, but still got up for church in the morning.  He really earned a Sunday afternoon nap.  While he snoozed in a chair I thought it would be nice to make his favorite cookies to show my appreciation for what a hard working guy he is. He really loves Snickerdoodles so I happily started to get everything out to make them,  then discovered that I was out of the cream of tartar those cookies require. We did have some peanut butter on the shelf so I decided that peanut butter cookies would still make him a happy man when he woke up.  As I mixed the dough I realized that there was no reason  the cinnamon-sugar coating that makes Snickerdoodles so yummy shouldn't be delightful with peanut butter too.  The result was these cookies that my eleven year-old son named "Snickerbutters".  These were a  hit with both of my guys.

SNICKERBUTTERS

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1-1/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cinnamon sugar

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Beat together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, butter and egg.  Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
• Shape the dough into balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar.  Place on ungreased baking pan and bake for 10 minutes.

Snickerdoodles!

These are my husband's favorite cookies.  When I was a stay at home mom with a bunch of little kids, I actually baked these for him on a semi-regular basis.  They are fast and easy, the ingredients are always on hand, and kids love to help form the balls of dough and roll them in cinnamon-sugar.  The last few years my man has had a bit of a Snickerdoodle famine.  Once in a while he gets lucky when his darling daughter gets the urge to bake, but I have not provided him with a regular supply of his favorites for a long time.  Today I didn't have to go to work, and the changing leaves on the mountains outside my window put me in a fall-ish baking mood.  My husband has been out of town a lot lately too, so these make a pretty good welcome home.  The start aligned just right for me to bake Snickerdoodles and I can't wait to hand these over to him tonight!  Try these out:

Snickerdoodles


1 -1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
2- 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


Beat 1-1/2 cups sugar, the butter, shortening and eggs with electric mixer.  Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.


Shape dough into balls.  Mix 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon in small bowl.  Roll balls of dough in cinnamon-sugar.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet (I prefer stoneware cookie sheets).


Bake 10 minutes if using metal cookie sheets, 12 minutes if using stoneware.  Cookies should be slightly puffed and mostly set.  Don't overcook these or they'll end up hard and dry.